They sat in the office at T M Baseball Academy in the Bronx. The parents, and some of the 250 or more youngsters who are a part of learning more about the game and striving with their academics heard the wisdom from longtime scout Tom “T-Bone” Giordano.
And wisdom it was. To many in the game, Giordano with 71 years of baseball under his wing is considered a “Godfather” to the game and to the many who have come across him. Wednesday evening, the 91-year old Giordano kept his commitment to the kids after comprising another scouting report at Yankee Stadium monitoring the pitchers and hitters on the field in his role with the Atlanta Braves organization.
The Yankees completed a series with the first place Los Angeles Dodgers. “T-bone” walked into the warehouse that has been converted into a baseball training facility. He greeted Tony Melendez and his wife Jessy, who put this foundation of baseball and youth together ten years ago.
“It is a pleasure to be here,” Giordano said. “I have heard so many good things about what goes on here.”
And then the wisdom began, as Giordano sat down in a chair with a small cane that assists with his walking. He resembled a Pope giving mass for over an hour. He talked about how “T-Bone” became one of those unknown legends in the game of baseball. The journey started with old school grandparents of Italian descent and there was the recollection on how he hit more home runs than Hank Aaron. the real all-time baseball home king as a minor leaguer.
“Parents are the most important part of this,” he said. The parents gave their nod of approval. The youngsters, who train and play organized games in the summer and fall months could not get get their eyes off the scout who signed Manny Ramirez and Cal Ripken Jr. to Major League Baseball contracts and a ton of others.
The fondest memory was asked. “T-bone” talked about his association with the late and great Yankees greats, Joe DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto. The youngsters only know those names by viewing video on social media.
The cane became a demonstration on how one should approach the at bat. “T-Bone” stood and the youngsters were told about never giving up. “Be positive and when in a slump say you can come out of it.”
Wisdom from a scout, and to those youngsters at T M a Baseball God.
Comment Rich Mancuso: [email protected] Twitter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso