Coach Joseph Cervino Obituary

Richard Manno '60 said:

Coach Cervino --- Part 4

But let's end on a happier note ---
That same year was apparently the 1st or 2nd for the County championship,
which again I later read that Coach had been a driving force in organizing.
And we won the game against E*#$%wood handily.
So Coach was unquestionably still the County Coach of the Year, and deserved even more.
I still have my jacket with the sewn-on County Champions badge, never having played an inning,
and find occasion to wear it every few years, even outside of Teaneck.
One more point for being in the right place at the right time, even if you're not the right person.

And in conclusion, if it wasn't yet clear,
I consider myself EXTREMELY fortunate to have been under Coach's direction for part of 6 or so of my formative years;
I suspect that many of my Classmates feel the same way;
and Teaneck was unquestionably the better for his presence.

AVE ATQUE VALE, FRIEND AND COACH, JOSEPH ANTHONY CERVINO

Richard Sur Manno, THS 1960

Richard Manno '60 said:

Coach Cervino --- Part 3

A few innings later, probably 7th-8th inning, we finally get our chance.
We score a run.
Now 1-3.
Mike, of all people, somehow got on, and is now on 2nd base. 1st and 3rd empty.
2 out.
Top of our order.
Batter hits a SHARP single to right (again, !#@%^&(*_)+ right field).
(I'm coaching 3rd, which is what I've done all season, and Coach is coaching 1st).
Their right fielder has a decent arm, not great, but average/decent
(as 3rd base coach, I naturally watch their pre-game infield and outfield practice to ascertain such-like).
He's playing about where he should, given the field, maybe 10 feet in front of the berm/fence.
Again as he should, he doesn't just wait for the ball to come to him, he comes in a step or two to field it,
and comes up with his momentum behind him, ready to throw.
Mike meanwhile is rounding 3rd and, quite properly, not watching the fielder (for which he'd have to turn and slow down),
but looking/listening to me, the coach.
He's raring to score (properly), but about a step or 2 from 3rd base I hold him up and after a step or 2 to slow down,
he halts and is ready to return to 3rd base, being only a step or 2 beyond.

Why do I do it?
The "normal" play here is for the runner on 2nd to score on a single.
BUT:
Mike's speed is adequate, but not better than that.
We need 2 runs, not 1 --- if Mike is out, the rally dies,
we'd be 2 runs short and this is the only inning we've made progress,
and we'd be taking the bat away from our best hitters.
And even if Mike scores, we're still 1 run down and need another hit).
(NOTE --- the situation is WAY different if Mike is the tying or go-ahead run.)
If their right fielder throws home, there's no doubt in my mind, then or now, that Mike is easily out by 2 or 3 steps,
due to the combination of decent arm; he started shallow (he's close to the plate, short throw); momentum behind him.
BUT their right fielder wasn't as certain of this as was I;
and so, willing to give-up the (semi-meaningless) run #2 to us,
HE THROWS TO 2ND BASE to keep the batter from advancing to 2nd on a(his) throw to the plate.
That means that Mike could have scored had I "sent" him.

Coach was obviously VERY disappointed, and yelled across the infield to me
"Why didn't you send him? Was he dogging it?".
To which I, foolishly (I should have run over to explain privately), simply said "No. I just didn't think it was worth the risk.".
I should state that neither was Coach's query in a critical tone, nor was my response wise-guyish.
Anyway, with our men now on 1st and 3rd, the next batter grounded out to 2nd base, making 3 outs,
and the game ended an inning or so thereafter, for a 1-3 loss.

To make matters potentially worse, HAD the throw been to home, and HAD Mike been safe,
the batter would have gone to 2nd on the throw to the plate.
Our #2 batter was a righty. so to keep our (now) runner on 2nd close to the bag,
it would have been the responsibility of their 2nd baseman, jockeying in and out of position
--- meaning that the #2 batter's grounder to 2nd might have caught their 2nd baseman
differently positioned such that the ground-out might have gone through for a single, scoring the runner from 2nd,
and tying the game.
BUT that presupposes Mike to have been safe at home, which I still don't believe was likely, barring (an always possible) error.

Anyway, consider the disappointment that Coach must have felt.
The 1st State tournament.
He had helped to organize it.
He had a maybe-once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the whole thing in the profession to which he's dedicated his entire life.
Without a more complete explanation from me, he was probably certain that I had cost him this.
AND YET HE NEVER EVEN CAME CLOSE, EITHER THAT DAY OR WHEN I SAW HIM TWICE IN LATER LIFE,
TO CRITICIZING ME.

And my regret ---
I never fully explained to him the situation, which I believe would have eased his mind
about something which I think had to at least occasionally have popped into his thinking over the years.
And when I resolved to do so, MANY years later, it sadly, for many reasons, was several years too late.

Richard Manno '60 said:

Coach Cervino --- Part 2

And now a regret.

Coach took us to the state championships in our senior year.

Our ace was Mike Degerick, a year or two behind us.
Mike was slim and light.
You'd think he could barely throw the ball as far as the plate.
Heck, I could throw at least 10mph faster than he could.
But whereas no pitch I ever threw came even close to making contact with the strike zone,
Mike was a master of control, even in high school.
His Dad, Art, was the local milkman
(ask your grandparents about that, I'm certain you youngsters have no idea what I'm referring to),
and had been a minor league pitcher.
So from his earliest years, Art had worked with Mike to make him a pitcher --- and he succeeded.
He had Mike concentrate on 3 things --- control, control, and control.
Mike wasn't allowed to throw a curve ball till high school (10th grade in Teaneck) in order to save his arm
until it was more fully developed.
BUT wherever a catcher put his mitt, there was the ball delivered.
Never straight over the heart of the plate; always nipping the corner yet still a strike.
Incredibly effective --- he later was signed to a large bonus by the White Sox --- but that's later than the story.

So mostly behind Mike (we had 2 other good pitchers and some very good hitters, of course), with Joe's coaching,
we won the League championship and went to the 1st round of the State championships
(I recently read that it might have been the 1st year of the State Championship, and that Coach might have been
instrumental in getting it started).
Anyway, we were up against (I think) Jersey City.
It was a neutral field, but really not suitable.
Left and center fields were fine and normal.
But right field was WAY too short.
I think I recall pacing it off prior to the game at only 230 feet down the line to the foul pole
(you usually want in the neighborhood of 300 feet, maybe a bit less for high school).
AND the foul pole was small (not tall), especially given the short distance from home plate.
So somehow in the middle of the game they get 2 men on base, and a batter comes up from the bottom portion
of their batting order.
Mike gets ahead on the count, possibly 2 strikes, and throws a sucker pitch which completely fools the batter.
It's a curve ball, which if it goes straight, will be a strike.
But (Mike is a right-handed pitcher, and the batter is a righty) being a curve, it will break away from the batter,
both low and outside of the strike zone.
The batter starts to swing, realizes he's been fooled and the ball is curving away from his swing,
and semi-throws his bat at the ball in desperation.
He barely connects and hits a pop-fly down the line to right field.
EXCEPT there can be NO pop fly to right field on THIS field.
The right fielder would ordinarily be about 240-250 feet deep, and easily catch this ball;
but here, 240-250 feet is BEYOND THE FENCE.
We had the 3rd-base bench, so I had lined myself with the first-base/right-field chalk/foul line as usual.
To make matters worse, the pop fly was higher than the small foul pole.
I probably had the best view of anyone present as to whether the ball was fair or foul, since I didn't have to move,
but the home plate umpire did, and then make his judgement.
I can't fault him.
Since the foul pole didn't reach high enough, the call could have gone either way from where I sat and observed.
It might even have just nicked a higher foul pole (which would have made the ball "fair") --- or maybe not.
Anyway, the umpire called it "fair" after a second's hesitation
and even a barely audible involuntary utterance of a degree of uncertainty
(I was that close to him, the batter, and home plate);
so it was a home run then and forever, and the score was now 0-3.

Richard Manno '60 said:

Coach Cervino --- Part 1

Really a great, great guy.

I played softball for his Sagamore Park team in the summers for several years,
and he always made it fun, though we were ever instilled with his competitive spirit, even at that level.
But even with that "advantage" (being among the better players on that particular team),
he was smart enough to never let me even near the pitcher's mound or batter's box in a varsity THS baseball game.
If you made a mistake, you were never in his bad graces for more than about 5 seconds,
and then the emphasis was again on "the next time".
I was a lineman in football, so I never had him as coach then (he worked with the backs),
and I never heard a word spoken against him.
As a gym teacher, again he made things fun.
I never heard him criticize anyone despite our "skills" varying greatly depending on the activity for the day.
And he always paid attention even at that level, never failing to notice a minor tactical innovation,
whether successful or not.
Keeping himself in good shape always, I remember him always running from the locker room to the athletic field
and back again at class end.
I've never liked running, and never appreciated the uphill at class end.
And at this point in my life, I like uphill even less --- but that's ok, Coach. I forgive you.

As a baseball coach, he was without peer.
The team was always well drilled in the fundamentals. Always.
The little things.
Always know what to do if the ball is hit to you.
Pitcher covering first on grounder to the right side.
When the infield was practicing, having someone hit fly balls to the outfield for their practice (everyone ALWAYS working).
What to do if you caught their runner twixt bases.
How to execute a rundown.
And even esoterica which would never-to-be-used, such as counting the time the pitcher took to wind-up and deliver a pitch.
EXCEPT, in our sophomore year, Arnie Thorsland and Joe Tyler of H*#@$%sack teamed up to pitch a double no-hitter.
Somehow Billy Pasche got to 3rd base (maybe a walk, fielder's choice, error --- I can't remember),
and from the bench I could see Billy automatically timing the wind-up and pitch.
He was the only baserunner, so Joe was taking a full wind-up with only a runner on 3rd, instead of working from the "stretch".
After confirming the timing on the 2nd pitch, I saw Billy look at Coach, who gave an imperceptible nod.
AND BILLY STOLE HOME!!!
1-0 in favor of TEANECK, a double-no-hitter, and the League title due to careful and meticulous coaching
of even the points of the game which will never make a difference.