Hall of Fame weekend leaves lasting impact on Phantoms
The current crop of Phoenixville Area High School baseball players watched intently as one of their own former Phantoms, Michael Joseph Piazza, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday afternoon.
The entire group of Phoenixville fans who made the long trek to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the ceremonies were all so proud to witness Piazza reach the very top of his profession.
The family members, coaches, friends and former teammates felt fortunate to witness the historic occasion for Phoenixville and area baseball. The 1986 graduate of PAHS, despite being a 62nd round draft choice by the Los Angeles-Dodgers, went on to become a Hall of Fame catcher as a New York Met through hard work, dedication, determination and commitment to the game of baseball that he loved so much.
During his emotional half-hour induction speech, Piazza thanked the numerous peoplewho assisted in his rise to become a Hall of Famer as a legitimate underdog, who beat the odds to become such a great player. The first person Piazza named was his high school
head coach, John “Doc” Kennedy, who guided the Phantoms for 20 seasons prior to his retirement in 1998.
Phoenixville player Zach Masalski is a former Phantom catcher who is now a pitcher, first baseman and third baseman for head coach Neil Herman’s team. Masalski spoke about howhe responded to Piazza’s speech while being a player who represents the same school district many years later.
“It is pretty awesome,” said Masalski, “especially for me. He’s been my idol. My number was 31 when I was a catcher because of him. It was not only baseball, but competition. He shouted out, ‘I am from Phoenixville.’ It sounded great. His coach was one of my coaches, “Doc” Kennedy. He was a mentor for me. He taught me everything on the way up.”
Masalski has been playing baseball since he was 8 years old and has been playing travel ball since he was 10 while being a lifelong resident of Phoenixville. He likes the direction the Phoenixville baseball pro-
gram is taking, both in senior high school and summer months, under Herman.
Luke LeBeau, a catcher/ third baseman, was impacted by the entire special weekend that ended Monday with a tour of the Hall of Fame Museum. Piazza’s special engraved plaque is now on the walls at Cooperstown along with the rest of the game’s greats.
On Monday, Piazza and fellow inductee Ken Griffey Jr. were on hand for a question and answer session at nearby Doubleday Field, where the Phantoms were scheduled for a workout. Unfortunately, a rainstorm didn’t allow the Phantoms’ practice, but it didn’t dampen the weekend.
“That was a pretty cool experience,” said LeBeau, who topped the Phantoms in hitting during the spring along with pitcher Matt Osisek-Byrne and shortstop Nick Opalkowski. “A kid from our town made it to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. I liked how he said he was from our school, a small steel town, and went on to be a big-time baseball player. He mentioned Doc Kennedy. He had power to all fields. He was a raw power hitter. It shows if you put in
the work, you can do it. It is interesting how he was a low-round draft pick who worked and worked all the time. All the work started to pay off and click.
“Sometimes you have to sacrifice something to get where you want to be. You can still be well-liked as he was. This (whole weekend) is pretty special.”
A huge crowd of some 50,000 people attended the ceremonies, which was one of the best HOF induction ceremony turnouts in history.
“I liked how he started with when he came from Phoenixville and how he came up through baseball to the big leagues,” said third baseman/pitcher
Kevin Cushing. “It is definitely one of my most memorable baseball experiences.”
The Hall of Fame now includes 312 retirees since it was established in 1936.
“It was very inspiring to hear him mention his high school, where we go,” said Opalkowski. “It’s just awesome. It’s very cool. He showed how passionate he is about his hometown, and his speech was inspiring.”
Piazza became especially emotional when offering thanks to his father, Vince; mother, Veronica; and four brothers: Vince Jr., Danny, Tony and Tom; for all their support during his long career in baseball from his youth and scholastic days on up to the majors. Mike also now has a wife and three children of his own.
“It is awesome to be a part of that 50,000 crowd,” said Opalkowski. “It is one of the biggest crowds ever. It shows how much time youhave to put in every day. He hit off the tee, and the amount of work you have to put in is unbelievable.”