Back row: Al Tomassini - assistant coach, Billy Reed, Billy Ronca, Stu Dunlap, Pete Tomassini, Bob Ianatelli, Dick Grady, Tom Lipsky, Mike Norton, Hy Wagman - coach.
Back row: ?, Mike Noferi, ?, ?, Tommy Stock (holding sign), Albert (Sonny) MacDonald, ?, Rollie Morin, Russell Pennington, Red Pennington - coach.
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One memory I have from those days is looking into the window of Rico's grocery store, which abutted the sidewalk next to the drugstore, and seeing the trophies for the league champions, batting champions, all-stars, etc.
In those days, there was a "farm system." Players on the Pharmacy team came up from Hopedale Police. The junior division was from years 8 - 10 and the upper division was from 10 - 12, so it was possible to play with the same players for four years. Some of the other teams were the Hopedale Coal & Ice, the Hopedale VFW, and the American Legion.
Also in those days there were only four teams in each division. I still can remember playing at Draper Field on hot evenings in the all-wool uniforms. Spectators would surround the field outside the fence with their cars. There were two, maybe three baseball fields with games going on simultaneously. The fields would be separated by snow fences, which were the boundaries of the outfield and were the target for home run hitters.
I also have another Little League photo of my earlier team, the Hopedale Police. What makes it interesting is that, in the background at Draper Field are the huge bleachers which were torn down shortly thereafter. There were some people in the bleachers at the time of the photo, around 1957. Tom Lipsky, May 2007.
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