[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here are an awful lot of people who have stories about Dom Cecere. That part is hardly surprising; when you’ve been a fixture in the community for over half a century, the tales begin to pile up.
But as hundreds of people gathered on Eastchester High School’s baseball field on Monday night to hold a candlelight vigil for the longtime baseball coach, who died on April 1 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, one thing was evident. As great of a coach as Cecere was, he was an even better teacher. And the lessons he imparted went far beyond the scope of the diamond.
Cecere took the helm of Eastchester’s baseball program in 1964, and, over the course of 52 years, established himself both as New York state’s winningest coach—his 737 career victories rank first in state history—and maybe one of the finest men to ever be tasked with leading the area’s young men. If you didn’t know Cecere, that might sound hyperbolic, but if you did—or if you heard the way his former charges spoke about him—it begins to make a lot more sense.
MSG Varsity’s Kevin Devaney, who played on Cecere’s baseball teams in the 1990s, told the crowd about how he once sought the coach’s opinion when he was contemplating quitting football. He didn’t fit in, he said. He didn’t love football, and he wanted out.
Cecere listened carefully to what Devaney had to say, mulled it over and then spoke to him about personal responsibility and what it meant to honor a commitment.
Devaney took his coach’s advice and stayed on the team. Twenty years later, he’s made his mark as the pre-eminent high school football writer in the tri-state area.
That, he said, was Coach Cecere in a nutshell; a stern but loving voice of reason who always saw the big picture.
Cecere’s current players echoed those sentiments. In their words, the legendary skipper loved teaching the intricacies of the game of baseball, sure. But his true mark was in teaching his players how to be men.
“A firm handshake,” they said. “Look people in the eye, and always do the right thing.”
And it wasn’t just Cecere’s own players who benefitted, either.
Current Eastchester football coach Fred DiCarlo recalled watching the Eagles’ coach working with a Pelham player on his swing in a middle of a game between the two rival schools.
For Cecere, the idea of passing up a teachable moment was simply unheard of.
The first time I met Coach Cecere, I knew him only by reputation. I was a high school senior one town over, looking for any avenue I could to establish myself as one of the best pitchers in a league that also featured a few standouts in New Rochelle’s Tom Koehler and Mamaroneck’s Chris Vasami that would go on to play professional baseball.
For some reason, still unknown to me this day, Cecere invited me to come into Eastchester’s gymnasium over Thanksgiving break, where I spent an hour working with him and one of his underclassmen catchers on my mechanics and my changeup.
In nine years of covering his Eastchester teams for the Review, I never brought this up to him, but it had a profound effect on me, knowing that there was someone out there who was willing to put time and effort into teaching the finer points of the sport to someone who was never going to play for his team.
I regret that I didn’t thank him more for what he did that night, but in speaking to those who knew him best, the only thing he would have asked is that when I got the chance to mentor someone, I would do my duty and pay it forward.
Cecere was laid to rest on Wednesday morning at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, and will share a final resting place with other baseball greats like Babe Ruth, Billy Martin, Bobby Thompson and Ralph Branca. And while Cecere may not have the national recognition of those former major league stars, one thing is certain: there might not be anyone who’s had a bigger impact locally, both on and off the field.
Not that he would want us to make a big deal about it, or anything. He’d be happy simply knowing we were living our lives the right way.
Thanks for everything, coach.
