Burg Little League Honors 1995 Chambersburg honors well deserved Times, The (Trenton, NJ) - Saturday, April 22, 1995 Author: TONY PERSICHILLI, Times Staff Writer When the Chambersburg Little League opens its 44th season tomorrow, there will be cause for a little more celebration than usual. After the kids parade through the neighborhood surrounding Columbus Park , they will make their way back to Catherine Ford Field for ceremonies dedicating the leagues new scoreboard. More importantly, they will pay a long overdue tribute to three men who, over the years, have meant as much as anyone (and a lot more than most) to the league and the kids who play in it. In front of the impressive new scoreboard, which was donated by the good folks at Italian Peoples Bakery, there will be a monument area. In that area tomorrow, busts will be placed of Mike Mister Crea, Al Parrot Nicolai and Anthony A.J. Frascella, and it cant be said enough: Nobody deserves it more. MISTER CREA (as one man will always call him) was a favorite of the kids who grew up in the Benton Street-Tyler Street-Pearl Street area playing ball next to his sons Mike and Roger Kid Crea. In 1955, when Grazianos Florist decided to sponsor a team, Mister Crea became the manager. He stayed at the end of the Grazianos bench until his death in 1992. Through those years, he influenced literally thousands of kids, including one who now has an office on the fifth floor of the Mercer County Administration Building, in ways that they never realized _ until they grew up. Sure, Mercer County Executive, and former Graziano shortstop, Bob Prunetti said, Mister Crea taught me how to play baseball, but there was so much more to him than that. He always stressed the fundamentals on the field, but off the field he stressed the importance of being a gentleman. He may not have said it quite that way, but he always stressed being a good sport. He used to tell us not to pout when we lost and more importantly not to gloat when we won. IN ADDITION to his chores on the bench, Crea served as District 12 assistant administrator, league president and vice president and oversaw the operation of the concession stand. Nicolai has been with the CLL even longer than Crea was. An outfielder for the 1931 Trenton Post 93 Schroths team that won the New Jersey state championship, Parrot is a charter member of the CLL.He managed Petes Steak House, which was one of the original clubs in the four- team league, and then, in 1958 took over for the newly formed Roma Savings and Loan team. You can still find him on Romas bench. LIKE NICOLAI, Frascella was around when the league was formed. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees, was chairman of the leagues Board of Directors for 12 years, a member of the Executive Board and ran the concession stand with Mister Crea. What makes the celebration all the better, and more meaningful, is that all three are neighborhood guys who devoted a large chunk of their lives to neighborhood kids. There will be a dinner held in honor of the trio tonight at Baldassaris Regency on Morris Avenue. Tickets for the dinner, which begins at 6 oclock, are $30 a pop, and you wont spend the money any better. If you played in the Chambersburg Little League, if you have a kid who played in the Chambersburg Little League, or even if youre just a fan of the Chambersburg Little League (or any Little League in this city), you should make your way over to Baldassaris tonight or Catherine Ford Field tomorrow.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 13:59:07 +0000
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