Ron Patnosh will add another accolade to a long list Saturday, one he tried to get out of receiving.
St. Raymond will retire the legendary former baseball coach and athletic director’s No. 1 jersey in a ceremony following the team’s game against Regis at Ravens Field. For years, Patnosh maintained that retired numbers should only be for St. Ray’s alums. He attended St. Francis Prep when it was in Brooklyn.
“I tried to discourage them from doing it,” said Patnosh, who retired after the 2010 season.
Current coach and former Patnosh assistant Marc DeLuca and athletic director Ben Aguirre, a former baseball player for the coach, would have none of it.
Philip Hall
Legendary former St. Raymond coach Ron Patnosh's number will be retired in a ceremony Saturday.
“He’s the foundation of St. Raymond’s sports,” Aguirre said. “Over the last 40 years, any championships we’ve been a part of, any awards we’ve won, he’s been a part of that.”
Patnosh, who played baseball with Joe Torre at St. Francis Prep, got his first teaching job at St. Raymond in 1962 and started the baseball program there four years later. In 45 years at the helm, he won two CHSAA city titles (1980 and 1989), nine division titles and also went to the championship game in 1985, losing a one-run game. The Ravens were one of the city’s premier teams in the ’80s.
He retired after the 2010 season as coach due to bouts with vertigo, staying on as the athletic director. This year, he retired as athletic director to take a position as assistant to the principal, dealing mostly with alumni, until a stroke sidelined him in December.
When he was rehabilitating from the stroke, it reminded him even more of how many lives he touched. Former players were omni-present in the rehab center and his home during the last few months.
“My ex-ball players have been tremendous,” said Patnosh, who is 73 years old. “That’s always rewarding. They’re so grateful.”
Patnosh implies that he doesn’t understand why he meant so much to so many players and students. DeLuca puts it simply.
“He definitely doesn’t see himself as that iconic figure that to everyone else he is,” said DeLuca, who was Patnosh’s assistant for six years. … “He’s definitely a second father to some of these kids, always helping out if they need help in school, always staying after school. If they need money for school, he’s there. He’s definitely not just a coach.”
Patnosh received some bad news in the last few days. It was the family of one of his former students, who was killed in the tragic accident on the Bronx River Parkway last week. In 50 years at St. Raymond, though, he ended up mentoring many through good times and bad.
Next >
1
2
St. Francis Prep, Ron Patnosh, St. Raymond ebook download, St. Raymond, athletic director, St. Raymond coach Ron Patnosh, Raymond, baseball coach, Ben Aguirre
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder