Announcement
Home Grown RGMVM Star Goes Back To His Roots And Gives Back..
Posted by Patrick Piteo on
Nov 14 2005
at
04:00PM PST
Although it may seem to be worlds away from his Glendale roots, the stadiums in the Atlantic League are right in Greg Modica’s backyard. At 5’11”, 150 pounds, the undersized right-handed pitcher just completed his fifth season of professional baseball winning a championship with the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League. A product of the RGMVM Little League, Modica was playing on many of the same diamonds that local little leaguers are still playing on today. He used the fundamentals learned on these fields as he attended Archbishop Molloy High School. Modica never starred at Molloy, nor did he play very much but his persistence would pay dividends in the future. After his Molloy team won the city championship in 1998, he left the city life behind for a chance to play baseball at a small university, Culver-Stockton College, in Missouri. Modica began to make a name for himself in the Midwest. In his freshman season, his school went to the NAIA World Series where they finished 3rd in the nation. Greg not only pitched a win in the series, but was also named to the All Conference team as well. Never known for a blazing fastball, he began receiving lots of attention his junior season when scouts started seeing radar gun readings over 90 miles per hour. Soon Modica was pitching to an audience of scouts every game and signed with the San Diego Padres shortly after the Major League Baseball Draft in 2001. In his two seasons with the Padres, Modica never advanced out of A-ball and didn’t put up the greatest numbers. It was a tough adjustment to pro baseball but that didn’t stop him from playing. He continued his career in the independent Frontier League where he was an all-star for both his seasons before coming to the Atlantic League this season. While in the Atlantic League this season, Modica worked with many ex-major league pitchers including Brian Tolberg who spent 3 seasons in the majors with San Diego and Brad Clonz who was a part of the Atlanta Braves championship team in 1995. “Nothing has been easy,” Modica said. “You take everything in stride and learn from your experiences. You try to improve every season and hope that the failures of the past lead to success in the future.” They just might be. Modica threw game one of the Championship Series. He went 7 innings for the victory, helping manager, former Yankee Cy Young Award winner, Sparky Lyle capture his third title with the Patriots. Modica, unsure of how much longer his baseball career will last or even how far he will make it, has been preparing for the future. He has been taking his time to help others for the last 4 years. He stayed and coached at his college in Missouri for two years and now has been giving lessons at Batter Up in Howard Beach for now his second year. Modica will be offering a free pitching seminar to local little leaguers ages 9 to 13 on December 3rd at Batter Up (162-87 Crossbay Blvd) at 10am. “It is good to try and give back to the community. I’ve had a chance to work with a lot of people in baseball. From talking with Trevor Hoffman, to becoming good friends with Major League journeyman Carlos Reyes, and all the other players and coaches I have worked with, I have tried to be like a sponge and take in information from everybody. If I can’t make it to the Major Leagues, maybe I can help somebody else get there.” Anyone interested in attending the seminar should contact Batter Up at (718) 738-4487.
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