Prep dedicates field for Frates
DANVERS — In his sophomore year at St. John’s Prep, Pete Frates hit a home run so far that his father, John, jokes the baseball is still traveling to this day.
Neither John nor the rest of the family will have to embellish Frates’ legacy at the school anymore after the Prep bestowed Frates, the creator of the Ice Bucket Challenge, with an unprecedented honor yesterday.
Headmaster Edward P. Hardiman announced Frates, a 2003 graduate, as the school’s 2018 Distinguished Alumnus. The Prep’s baseball field will be dedicated in his name and his No. 3 jersey will become the first retired number in school history.
Frates, 32, who is battling ALS, starred in football, hockey and baseball for the Eagles before embarking on a four-year baseball career at Boston College.
“What a tremendous honor that I humbly accept from the school and community I love so much,” said Frates in a statement read by his wife, Julie. “As I read the headmaster’s letter that delivered the good news, the tears started to flow. There is no way I could ever express how unbelievably thankful I am.”
And while thousands of decorated athletes have played at St. John’s Prep, school administrators were reluctant to retire any number before finding the perfect candidate.
“The right person has come along at the right time,” said athletic director and Frates’ football coach, Jim O’Leary, who said the No. 3 will be retired on Oct. 20 at a home football game. “He’s not representing just St. John’s, he’s representing thousands of student-that have been here since 1907. There can’t be a better role model.”
In March 2012, Frates was diagnosed with ALS, an incurable disease that degenerates the muscles affecting physical function. The Beverly native spearheaded the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, which went viral and brought unprecedented funds in search of a cure for ALS and raised more than $220 million for the cause.
“It’s a really special day,” said Frates’ brother, Andrew, who graduated from St. John’s Prep in 2006. “For Pete to be awarded with distinguished alumnus — over 15,000 alumni — we are truly blessed. We’re a St. John’s family through and through.”
John Frates recalled his son’s determination in sports, a trait that suited him well in his ongoing fight with ALS.
And now John won’t have to call up stories to keep his son’s legacy ongoing at the Prep. All he’ll have to do is look and point at the baseball field and the retired No. 3.
“This has to go in the top three for all that has happened for Pete,” his father said. “It’s a permanent legacy.”