Andre Chiefs

Steve Calabresi, the Chiefs' longtime "Coach Cal", passed away suddenly on Tuesday, April 25. Coach Cal has been involved with the Chiefs' organization since 1989. He will be missed. His obituary is below. 

Stephen Calabresi, 65 of Stoneham, formerly of Medford, beloved husband of Jean M. (Coleman) Calabresi, passed away on Tuesday, April 25th at Tufts University Medical Center in Boston. Born in Boston, he is the son of Margaret (Mongiello) Calabresi and the late Zorro Calabresi.

Stephen grew up in Medford. Stephen was employed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Office, as an Executive Assistant of the Land Court until his retirement in 2016. Stephen continued working part time at the Registry after his retirement.

Stephen’s real passion was baseball. On the field, he was affectionately known as “Coach Cal.” He was the Bench Coach for the Andre Chiefs, the former assistant baseball coach at Arlington Catholic High School and MIT and the coach for the North Medford Little League. Stephen was also the vice president for Medford Babe Ruth League. He loved being with the team. For 40 years, Coach Cal helped players excel at the game. It was his passion and he will truly be missed by all the players whose lives he made a difference in.

In addition to his wife of 35 years, Jean, he is survived by cousins: Joseph Mongiello and his wife Roberta and Patricia Howes and her husband Brad; sisters-in-law: Joan Coleman and Janet Coleman; brother-in-law: John Coleman and his wife Leslie, along with his loving nephews Daniel Coleman and his wife Abby, Brian Coleman and his wife Melissa and Michael Coleman and extended family and friends.

Funeral from the Barile Family Funeral Home, 482 Main St. (RT 28) STONEHAM Monday, May 1st at 8am followed by a Funeral Mass Celebrating Stephen’s Eternal Life in St. Patrick Church, 71 Central St. Stoneham at 9am. Family and friends are cordially invited to gather and share memories with the Family on Sunday, April 30th from 4-8pm in the Funeral Home. Parking attendants and elevator are available. Interment Lindenwood Cemetery, Stoneham. In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations in Stephen’s Memory to Northeast Animal Shelter, 347 Highland Ave. Salem, MA 01970. For more information, www.facebook.com/BarileFamilyFuneralHome Share this entry

Mike Pagliarulo, who was a member of the Chiefs Coaching Staff in 2016, was recently named Hitting Coach of the Miami Marlins. Below is a story written by Sun Sentinel Sports Reporter Tim Healey.
 

There are two things you should know about Mike Pagliarulo, the Miami Marlins' new hitting coach.

The first is his last name is pronounced Pal-lee-ah-ROO-low — or, as Pagliarulo put it, "however it comes out." Most people just call him Pags.

The second is that Pagliarulo, 56, is a researcher of sorts, always passionate and sometimes obsessive. The guy does his homework. From an amateur career that brought him to the University of Miami to his major league days when he was teammates with Don Mattingly to multiple stages of a post-playing career, Pagliarulo has made research and preparedness a hallmark of his baseball life.

Pagliarulo would have never ended up in South Florida if not for his research. He was a suburban Boston kid in the 1970s, an all-state player as a junior but not sure how good he really was, playing maybe two-dozen games a year in a part of the country where the winter comes early and stays late. So he started reaching out to college programs to gauge potential interest Florida Stateand Rollins College in the Sunshine State, Southern California and Arizona outside it. And then there was UM. Pagliarulo's grandparents lived in Pembroke Pines, and during one family get-together he arranged a visit to Coral Gables, too. That's where he met Ron Fraser, the late and legendary Hurricanes baseball coach, and assistant Skip Bertman. A 6-foot-2, switch-hitting shortstop? Pagliarulo had their attention. He ended up with a scholarship and a successful three-year collegiate career. "I felt like that was where I was born in baseball," Pagliarulo said in a telephone interview Wednesday, a day after his hiring with the Marlins was announced.

The New York Yankees picked Pagliarulo in the sixth round of the 1981 amateur draft. Three years later, he made it to the Bronx and played third base opposite Mattingly, the All-Star first baseman and MVP candidate. It was the start of Pagliarulo's 11-season big league career with five teams, plus a one-year layover in Japan. One of his best seasons came in 1991, when he was on the World Series-winning Minnesota Twins.

Pagliarulo spent half of his major league days with the Yankees, with whom he learned further lessons in research — in this case, research on a given game's starting pitcher. The detailed scouting reports commonplace now were much less so then. "The Yankees had reports on everything," Pagliarulo said. "I can say I was always prepared for first pitch."

Research has remained the common career thread for Pagliarulo, but in his post-playing days it took on a more central role. Research became his job, as opposed to the preparation for his job, as he transitioned into the scouting world. Pagliarulo and Willie Fraser — a contemporary and fellow journeyman who also had a Japan stint and joined the Marlins as an advance scout last season — became part-owners of iScout, Inc., in late 2001. They consulted with major league and Japanese teams interested in bringing in players from the other country, a service complete with video scouting reports — a rarity for a turn-of-the-century enterprise.

By the end of last decade, Pagliarulo joined the Los Angeles Angels as a major league and advance scout. In 2013-14, he was the hitting coach for Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh Pirates' farm system, Pagliarulo's only professional coaching gig until this week. Gregory Polanco, Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer were among his charges. After two seasons, Pagliarulo wanted more. "I knew I could have an impact on a major league club," he said. He started plotting his next move, getting back to his research roots: Now what? Instead of a high school kid looking for a college, Pagliarulo was the middle-aged father of two grown children and looking for another direction. He reached out to people in the game he knew to see where might be a fit. He thought hitting coordinator, usually a sort of organizational floater/overseer spending time with various minor league teams, would be a logical next step.

Talks with the Marlins and Boston Red Sox last winter didn't result in a job. A year later, with the Marlins moving on from Barry Bonds after one season as hitting coach, Pagliarulo got the job. As he works with assistant hitting coach Frank Menechino, Pagliarulo will be tasked with helping Marlins hitters digest the occasionally intimidating library of information available to them — including video, an aspect of the club's offensive game Mattingly stressed needed to get better as Miami's season petered out to a disappointing end in September. Pagliarulo is confident he can do that. The skill set he has developed over the course of decades is one of a modern major league hitting coach. "I'm so glad the technology is as advanced as it is," Pagliarulo said. "From my lived experience, with that technology, I can expand on what I've learned and what [players] need to learn."

thealey@sun-sentinel.com, @timbhealey Copyright © 2016, Sun Sentinel

Frank Andre, age 94, a longtime resident of Medford, passed away peacefully, September 21, 2016. He was the beloved husband of Norma (Luongo) Andre and together they shared seventy years of marriage. Born in Worcester he was one of five children of the late Michael and Phyllis (DeRosa) Andreottola.

Frank was raised and educated in Medford and was a graduate of Medford High School. Frank was a prominent local businessman and a true entrepreneur enjoying success in different business ventures. He owned and operated the Medford Cinema for many years as well as Andre Construction Company Inc., which built hundreds of homes in Medford in 1950's and 1960's. He also loved thoroughbred horses, owning and operating the Andre Stable for many years that had a string of horses that campaigned at New England racetracks. However his greatest joy was his family. He was an avid sports fan and he cherished being the number one fan of his son and then two grandchildren whenever they were participating in different sports over the years. He especially enjoyed being a fan of his son's semi-professional baseball team, The Andre Chiefs of the Intercity League. 

In addition to his beloved wife, Norma, Frank is lovingly survived by his devoted son, Chuck Andre and his wife Kathy of Medford. He was the doting and loving grandfather of Michael Andre and his wife Gwen of Medford, and Carla Andre of Medford. He was the cherished brother of Lena Mills and her husband Frank of Medford, the late Frances Belmonte, Anthony Andre and Nicholas Andreottola. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held from the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main St., MEDFORD, Monday, September 26th, at 9:00 AM followed by a funeral mass celebrated in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 441 Fellsway West, Medford, at 10:00 AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours at the Dello Russo Family Funeral Home will be held on Sunday from 3:00 thru 7:00 PM. Services will conclude with burial at Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford. To leave an online message of condolence please visit www.dellorusso.net

The pre-game ceremony the Oldtime Baseball Game, that was held on Thursday, August 25, included the presentation of the sixth annual Greg Montalbano Award to former Brandeis University pitcher Tim Dunphy, a native of Cambridge.

The award is named in memory of Greg Montalbano, a former Red Sox minor-league pitcher who was only 31 when he died of cancer in 2009. A native of Westborough and later a standout at Northeastern University, Montalbano was a participant in the Oldtime Baseball Game in 1997 and ’98. Selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 1999 amateur draft, Montalbano played six seasons of professional baseball before illness ended his career. In 2001, he was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year by the Red Sox.

The award, instituted in 2010, is presented to a former participant in the Oldtime Baseball Game who best exemplifies Greg’s spirit, competitiveness and good nature. Dunphy, who graduated from Brandeis in 2006 with a degree in American Studies, now teaches history at Full Circle High School in Somerville. He continues to pitch for the Andre Chiefs in the Intercity League.

As has become custom, Dunphy participated in this year’s game. He wore the same throwback 1927 St. Louis Cardinals uniform that Montalbano wore when he played in the 1998 Oldtime Baseball Game.

Melrose, MA- The Chiefs 2016 run came to an end on Tuesday night when they dropped game three of the championship series 5-4 to the Lexington Blue Sox at Morelli Field.

Lexington took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Chiefs' ace Jared Freni. A Taylor Ferguson infield single, followed by a walk to Dan Graham, and then a two RBI double from Julian Alvarez, led to the runs.

The Chiefs answered with a run of their own against veteran righty Matt Karis in the bottom of the first. Tony Deshler reached on a one out single, moved to second when Peter Copa was hit by a pitch, and scored on Jordan Pallazola's RBI single.

The Blue Sox upped their lead to 5-1 in the top of the third. Walks to Ferguson and Graham, another Alvarez double, and a Julian Rojas single did the damage.

Former California Angels righty Anthony Sullivan came on in relief of Freni to start the fifth and pitched a second scoreless inning before the Chiefs cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning. Mike Barbati led off with a gap shot double to left-center and scored on Deshler's two out single.

Sullivan got the Lexington side in order in the top of the sixth and the Chiefs closed to within a run to 5-4. Copa drew a walk from Karis and Pallazola greeted reliever Rob DiFranco with two run homer to center.

It was another 1-2-3 inning for Sullivan in the top of the seventh.

The Chiefs made a bid to tie the game up in the their last at bat but came up short. DiFranco hit Witkowski with a pitch to open the bottom of the seventh and Tony Serino bunted him to second. Jeff Blount then struck out Deshler, and then got Billy Mottram to ground to Rojas at first base, to end the game.

Karis went five innings plus to get the win.

Freni worked four innings and allowed four hits, was charged with all five runs, walked five, and struck out two. Sullivan went three scoreless frames, allowed only one hit, walked one, and struck out four.

The Chiefs conclude the season with an overall record of 23-12-1 and had to settle for the hard earned regular season pennant.

More on the 2016 season to follow.