A Man's Legacy

Sometimes you can have everything all planned out, then life gets in the way.  I had today's blog topic all ready to go.  That was until I found out this morning that a friend of mine passed away.  And when I started thinking about what he meant to me and how I wanted to remember Vinny DiLauro, the only thing I thought appropriate would be to do what I do best.  Write.

A man's legacy isn't always easy to define.  But with Vinny DiLauro, it is.  Baseball is his legacy.  Specifically the West Haven Twilight League, which, I fear, won't be the same without him.

I first met Vin when he hired me to be the Operations Manager of the WHTL about 10 years ago.  We had been put in touch through a mutual friend, and we hit it off immediately.  Vince liked to joke that he was the "young guy" on the WHTL board, which was one of the reasons he wanted me to come aboard.  Even after I moved to New York, he always asked me to come back and help out at the regional tournament the league hosts every year, and I did just that a few times.

His love for the game was apparent, too.  That's one of the reasons we got along so well.  He was the president of the league, but his company also sponsored one of the teams.  And you could tell how important both the team and the league were to him.  I don't think I ever saw him happier than the first time his team qualified for the regional tournament.  They'd lost in the playoffs year after year.  But this time, they finally broke through.  This time, instead of just running the tournament, his team was going to be playing in it.

We quickly bonded over our shared love of baseball.  Specifically, our love of one particular team.  The one that wears pinstripes and plays in the Bronx.

Vince was a season ticket holder (with pretty good seats), and he was incredibly generous when it came to his tickets.  There were a number of times when he couldn't go to a game and asked me if I wanted to use his tickets.  (Of course, I'd say yes.)  And I remember attending many a Yankees-Mets game with his daughter, Rachael (a fellow Yankees fan), and her husband, Todd (a Mets fan).

My final game at the original Yankee Stadium was also courtesy of Vin.  It was during their final homestand of the 2008 season (is this really the 10th season in the new one?), which was right around my dad's 60th birthday.  I told him that I wanted to do something special for my dad, so he offered his seats for a game against the White Sox.  Making this game much more special for me was the fact that it wasn't just my last game at the original Stadium.  It was also the only time that I saw Ken Griffey, Jr., my favorite player of all-time, play live.

There are plenty of people who knew him that have similar stories.  And they all come back to one central theme.  Vinny DiLauro was an incredibly caring, thoughtful man with a love of baseball that he wanted to share with others.  His relationship with everyone involved with the West Haven Twilight League over the years, from players and coaches to umpires, staff and sponsors was the same.  Professional and respectful.  And it made him a friend to all.

To his family, to his wife, his daughters and his beautiful grandchildren, words can only provide so much comfort in times like this.  Trust me.  There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of my mom.  And there won't be a day that goes by that you won't think of Vince.

Cherish those memories.  Hold them close to your heart.  Because the pain you're feeling now will pass.  But you'll fondly remember this wonderful man forever.  Just as all of us will.