For Drew Legend Masco, Baseball a Lifelong Labor of Love

It's already happening to Vinnie Masco.
 
As baseball players stop by his office, Masco can't help but feel the mixed emotions that come with the transition of leaving something after 28 seasons.
 
The 61-year-old savors such moments, knowing, for the first time since 1984, he won't be coaching the Rangers.
 
"It's an empty feeling," said Masco, who will remain at the school as associate athletic director. "I've been on a baseball field since I was seven, and this will be the first time I won't be out there. It will be very difficult to handle. I'm going to miss it."
 
The Madison school in early August hired Lehigh University assistant Brian Hirschberg as its new head coach. Masco postd 387 wins, more than any coach in any sport in school history.
 
His tenure included five Eastern College Athletic Conference and four Mid-Atlantic Conference Freedom playoff appearances.
 
The move from the dugout has been pending for nearly five years. The school wanted Masco as a full-time administrator, but needed to raise enough money for a full-time baseball coach.
 
That finally happened this spring.
 
Through his nearly three decades in uniform, the former Trenton State pitcher and third baseman took pride in the many coach/player relationships that became life-long friendships.
 
When he won his 300th game, he received a letter from Jim Cegielski, the pitcher who earned win No. 1 for the coach. He recalls the only no-hitter thrown under his watch—the fifth by a Drew pitcher—by the late Peter Arthur on April 15, 1995, against Upsala College.
 
Countless alumni keep in touch with Masco through email and phone calls, or at least follow the program.
 
"You make good friends," Masco said. "The biggest satisfaction is that I've coached kids who are working on Wall Street, coaching, doctors and lawyers."
 
One of those kids is renowned artist James Fiorantino, the shortstop on the 1996-99 teams.
 
"I had an awesome time playing there," said Fiorentino, who now lives in Hunderton County. "There were so many good memories and a lot of them come from playing for Coach Masco. He had a wonderful career at Drew."
 
Masco actually had two careers at Drew, having simultaneously coached the basketball team from 1986-95. When the school found money in the budget for a coach, Masco had to pick a sport.
 
Though he loved basketball, it couldn't top baseball for a kid who grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in East Orange, but later switched to the Giants and his hero, Willie Mays.
 
That love, which began at Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, remains today, especially when Masco realizes the effect it has on the players.
 
"It was a great opportunity to coach here," he said. "When you see your former players have success, you're pretty happy. You just hope they enjoyed their time playing."