18 August, 2004


Curreri put his Y-D Team ahead of Diamondbacks Call

When one door closes, another one opens. Just as the Cape Cod Baseball League season was coming to an exciting end, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox catcher-DH-ambassador-of-the-game Frank Curreri was already listening for the next knock on the door.


Massachusetts’ own Frank Curreri won the John Claffey New England Top Prospect Award in leading his Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox team to the Cape Cod Baseball League title.
Staff photo by Merrily Lunsford

     The knock he heard last week was more of a bang and the visitor, no Avon Lady. No, the solicitor was a representative of the Arizona Diamondbacks, back for a second time, and the offer was a major league baseball contract.

      “I’m going to go home and sit on my butt for a few days,” says Curreri, who, along with his 2004 Cape Cod Baseball League teammates, has earned some much-deserved R&R this week. “I’m going to relax and visit with family and then I fly out again on Tuesday.”

     Curreri, on the heels of a Cape Cod Baseball League season that pushed him to the top of the scouting reports, will head to Idaho where he will meet his new teammates, the players of the Missoula Osprey. 

     Curreri became a popular player at each of the Cape’s ballparks this summer, with his homegrown resume being one that Massachusetts fans applauded loudly. Raised in Quincy and Weymouth and then playing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Curreri unintentionally proved that northern players can hang with the warm-blooded in their midst.

     “I didn’t come here with anything to prove,” says the 22-year-old son of Len and Karen Curreri, and brother to Keri, Joanne and Katie. “A lot of people think the players from the Northeast can’t be as good as the guys from down South or California. I decided that I would just come here and play. Maybe I’ll be as good, maybe not as good, or maybe better, but I knew all I could do was come and play hard.”

     Curreri completed his mission of day-in and day-out, hard-core baseball, a journey he started in late June. Before long, Curreri became known as the “local kid” with a promising future. And part of that future was the present.

     As part of the Y-D franchise, Curreri hovered around the top of the league’s hit list all season and became known as a clutch player at the plate. His batting prowess and hard-nosed style behind the plate earned him all-star honors. Curreri led Y-D with his .293 average and .432 on-base percentage. This week, he added the title of Best New England prospect to his CCBL credentials. 
When it appeared apparent that the Red Sox would make a run for the playoffs and then the finals, Curreri was ever-present. During playoff baseball, the BC High graduate hit .357 with five RBIs and found his way on base once for every two at-bats.

     As the Cape League accolades and attention started surrounding him, Curreri stayed true to his mission. Hoping to help Y-D collect its first championship in 14 years, Curreri passed on signing with the Diamondbacks during the playoffs so he could finish the season with his teammates.

     “People don’t think it’s a lot of time. I’ve only met these guys this summer. But they are like family and I wouldn’t leave them before we could finish this job. Actually, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make.”

     With a passionate cheering section behind the Y-D dugout, Curreri knew their friends, both new and old, were pulling for him this season. He heard the shouts of uncles, relatives, friends who he simply calls “baseball fanatics.” But with all of those influences, he remembers most that of his grandmother, Claire Curreri, who gave him his first bat, taught him the basics, and instilled in him a love of the game.

     “My dad was a very good hockey player, so I worked on my hockey even more than my baseball. But I started to do well at baseball and a lot of that was because of my grandmother and what she taught me. I’ll never forget the time she spent with me. If there’s one reason I’m still playing, she’s the reason.” 

     Along with those memories, Curreri will take the memories of this past summer as he hustles into the world of pro baseball. What will he tell his new teammates about this experience? Quite simply, “It was a dream come true.”

By Silene Gordon