Corradi celebrates 40 seasons of Buc Baseball

April 6, 2012

By Dan Crowley, Sandwich Enterprise

He was a kid from Bourne who liked to play baseball. After his graduation in 1962 from Bourne High School, he headed for Moravian College where he played baseball and football for the Greyhounds. He later transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating in 1967.

Bob Corradi then returned to Cape Cod and began coaching football, basketball and baseball at Falmouth High School. In 1973 he arrived at Massachusetts Maritime Academy where he took over the Buccaneer baseball program. By the next year he was coaching football, as the offensive coordinator, and baseball. In 1991 he became the school’s athletic director. This year Corradi celebrates his 40th season coaching Buccaneer baseball, and four decades later, he brings the same dedication and enthusiasm to the field that has endeared him to generations of student-athletes.

Summer baseball on Cape Cod has always been a passion for Corradi. In 1986 he coached the senior Babe Ruth program and over the course of seven seasons took his teams to four World Series. In 1992 he moved to American Legion Post 188 baseball and over the course of more than a dozen seasons built a program renowned for its success.

He was instrumental in bringing the current Bourne Braves franchise of the Cape Cod Baseball League into existence in 1988 and in 2000 helped establish the Cranberry League Sandwich Braves.

“Summer baseball means allowing young people from Cape Cod the opportunity to be better ballplayers,” Corradi said. “Many kids never get to play beyond high school. It was all about giving young people the chance to go over the bridge and be successful. Back then people didn’t think kids on Cape Cod could play baseball. Hey, I’m a Cape kid. I wanted to show people that we could play. We needed something that would give kids the chance to play in college and maybe someday in the Cape Cod Baseball League.”

His love for the game, combined with his devotion to his players, made kids want to play for Corradi.

“I’m a controversial coach; I know that,” Corradi admitted. “But there are young people and parents who believe in what we’re doing. I care deeply about Cape Cod kids and our student-athletes. I could have coached in the Cape League. I was the president of the Bourne Braves. I could have named myself coach. But, I didn’t want that. I love coaching, but I wanted to be with Cape Cod kids. I always wanted them to have every possible chance to move up in the game.”

In many ways baseball and coaching for Corradi were the catalyst that allowed him to help young athletes succeed, not only in sports but in life.

“My whole life has been devoted to giving Cape Cod kids a chance,” Corradi said. “I’ve been surrounded by great people and nothing that I have accomplished would have been possible without them.”

A friend of 40 years who coached alongside him through Babe Ruth, American Legion and at Massachusetts Maritime, Dick Ferris has seen the dedication Corradi has to young people. “He’s absolutely passionate about teaching the game of baseball and the life skills that come with it.” Ferris said. “Bob is a perfectionist. He expects the best from his players and he usually gets it. His teams overachieve. When we coached Babe Ruth and Post 188 we might not always have won the league, but we were always one of the top clubs.”

“He has helped a lot of people.” Bob Allietta who coached American Legion Post 188 with Corradi said. “I’ve known kids who have gone to showcases and camps and come away with nothing. They go to Bob. He understands when a kid should play and what level is best for that kid to succeed. With all his contacts, he can make a phone call and help someone. Sometimes the kids end up in college playing against him and beating him. That’s Bobby. He hates to lose, but the kids and their success is what is important.”

In the late 1970s and early 80s Corradi had arguably one of the most successful baseball programs in the region at Massachusetts Maritime. Then a change to the school’s academic calendar moved Sea Term to January, reducing the preseason to a matter of days.

“We work as hard as we can to get ready for the season,” Corradi said. “It’s not that we don’t have the talent; it’s just that by the time we get into the swing of things the season is mostly over. But we’ve learned through the years to get better at it. We’re teaching life skills—not excuses. Our kids love and respect the game of baseball. When they come down off the gangway, they get right on a bus and head for Florida.”

On April 15, 2009, Corradi reached the 500 career-win mark with the Buccaneers, a record that continues to grow.
Assistant baseball and football coach Mike Kelly, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate and member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, played baseball for four years under Corradi.

“Nothing has changed in the 17 years I’ve known him,” Kelly said. “Bob is the heart and soul of Massachusetts Maritime Athletics; he bleeds blue and gold. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”

“I thought that over the years the fire might die, but it hasn’t,” the assistant baseball coach and head men’s soccer coach at MMA, Greg Perry said. “Bob is definitely all about the kids and he never strays from that. He instills life skills in his players; he is a teacher. Everything revolves around the kids.”

“I have had the privilege of serving as Coach Corradi’s athletic trainer for the past 35 years,” Massachusetts Maritime Head Athletic Trainer Greg Folino said. “Needless to say that the humorous stories are endless. But the clear message Bob relays to his players is always one of respect for one another as well as the game they play; that they are students first and athletes second, and that you must always make the right choices in life.”

His players, whether summer league or at the Academy, always come first. Their success on and off the field and in the future remains the paramount concern for Corradi.

“The kids come to Massachusetts Maritime for the regiment and the mission of the school,” Corradi said. “Baseball is second and all my players know that. Athletics are a privilege. I tell the kids to be thankful for everything they have, including the chance to play. I want our athletic programs to be Division I programs at the Division III level. It’s about tradition and pride in the institution. I want every kid who comes here to one day leave with pride in the blue and gold.”

Corradi admits that much of what he has been able to accomplish over his career at Massachusetts Maritime has been in conjunction with the support and assistance of others.

“Admiral (Maurice) Bresnahan and Admiral (Richard) Gurnon stuck their necks out for me,” Corradi said. “Without them I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Admiral Gurnon supported me and without his support nothing I have done for the kids would have been possible.”

“There is no one with more passion for the cadets or the organization, by that I mean the entity that takes the students from wide-eyed freshmen to professionals, than Bob Corradi,” Massachusetts Maritime Academy President Admiral Richard Gurnon said. “If we didn’t have an athletic director who advocated so strongly for the kids, we wouldn’t have what we have today. He has a genuine love of people and an unbridled love for the athletes and the process at the Academy. I think he was surprised that they paid him for doing something that he loves so much. He is maybe the best athletic director in Division III anywhere in the country.”

“I know someday it will end,” Corradi said. “I have a wonderful family at home and another here at school. I am so fortunate. I loved my experience at Falmouth High School and with summer baseball, the Braves and the opportunity to be at Massachusetts Maritime. How could I ask for more? So many people along the way have worked beside me and it’s because of them that we’ve been able to help out the kids. Every day I come to work, I want to be here.”

Members of the 2012 Buccaneer baseball team designed and wear a shoulder patch this season with the initials MTC embossed over the number 40, honoring the memory of Coach Corradi’s late mother, Mary Theresa Corradi.

“Can you imagine the kids coming up with that idea and doing it for me?” he asked. “I never expected it and I’m so grateful to them. I never thought I’d coach here for 40 years. How much longer it will last, I don’t know.”

Over the past 40 seasons, Corradi has built a legacy of pride, tradition and dedication to the young people who have passed through the doors of Massachusetts Maritime. Many who return to the school to visit with Coach “C” are successful career professionals, better off for having once been a Buccaneer.