Queens Chronicle 39th Anniversary Edition 2017

C M ANN page 1 Y K

2017 Anniversary Edition

QUEENS Queens’ Largest Weekly Community Newspaper Group

Celebrating

39 Years

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 2

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BORO OF

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Pure gold: Olympians from Queens ....... 4 How Queens got to meet the Mets .......... 8 Queens and the Sport of Kings ............. 10 SJU’s magical ’85 hoops team ............... 12 In Queens, it’s everyone for tennis ....... 14 Our greatest coaches of all time........... 16 The stars shone in Dexter Park ............ 18 Where to go to catch the game ............. 19 Stadiums and other sports venues ....... 20 Soccer: the Beautiful Game .................. 21 Queens’ top two Yankees ...................... 23

Supplement editor: Peter C. Mastrosimone; Supplement designer and cover illustrator: Jan Schulman; Editorial layout: Terry Nusspickel On the cover: Olympic gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad, Shea Stadium, Mr. Met and Aqueduct Race Track. File photos.

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If you want to get in the game, get to Queens.

Our borough is loaded with sports, from the old-time Spor t of Kings, horse racing, to the ever-more-popular Beautiful Game, soccer, and everything in between. So here, in our 39th Anniversary special edition, Boro of Sports, we look back at some of the biggest moments, the biggest names, the biggest institutions Queens has given the world of athletics — along with some lesser-known elements you might find interesting.

We star t with the Olympics, to which Queens has sent cou ntless competitors, not just legends like Al Oerter and Bob Beamon, but newer gold medalists such as Tina Charles and Dalilah Muhammad and many others.

Then we tell the tale of how the Mets came to be, and came to Queens (sorry, Brooklyn, we know losing the Dodgers still hurts).

And there’s so much more: a flash-

back to that great 1985 St. John’s men’s basketball team; a look at Queens’ love affair with tennis (including, yes, bigmouth star John McEnroe); the history of Dexter Park, where you once could see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig play ball; a rundown of our sports venues from Citi Field to the Velodrome …

We throw in a couple of curveballs too, like a battle between two of our editors, both mavens with plenty of sports reporting under their belts, over who should rank among Queens’ top 10 coaches of all time, in any sport.

Then there are our recommendations for some great spots to watch your favorite teams on TV with, perhaps, adult beverage in hand.

We had a great time writing Boro of Sports, and learned a lot, and hope you will too. Play ball!

Peter C. Mastrosimone Editor-in-Chief

C M ANN page 3 Y K Page 3 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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T H E O LY M P I C G A M E S

Some that glittered were gold in Queens

by Christopher Barca Most Queens residents with an interest in sports know that iconic figures like John McEnroe, Whitey Ford, Bob Cousy and Phil Rizzuto lived in our borough long before they became household names.

But did you know Queens has also been home to some of the greatest Olympians in U.S. history?

It’s true. The former long jump world record holder, the first female American gymnast to win gold in an individual event and our country’s only gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles were born and raised on these very streets.

From Los Angeles in 1932 to Rio de Janeiro last summer, the Olympic Games have had an unmistakable Queens feel every few years.

Were any Team USA members from your neck of the woods? Read on to find out: Pre-1950s A lot of, let’s say, interesting competitions have held the distinction of being Olympic sports over the years. The 1900 Games featured live pigeon shooting. A century later in Sydney, trampoline gymnastics was featured for the first, and unsurprisingly, only time. Despite being a favorite of this reporter, curling is that one w i nt e r s p or t t h at no one se e m s t o understand.

But painting? Sculpting?

Those art forms and more were all Olympic sports from 1912 to 1948. And at the 1932 games, Corona’s Arnold Friedman, College Point’s Eleanor Mod rakowsk a a nd R ich mond Hill’s Percy Crosby were three of the 23 people seeking glory.

Crosby brought home a silver for his watercolor painting entitled “Jackknife.” He attempted to defend his crown at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but didn’t medal.

The artists weren’t the only Queens natives pursuing glory in 1932. Flushing High School graduate George Spitz was the favorite in the high jump, having set the world record at the Millrose Games earlier in the year. An ankle injury suffered in a pre-Olympics workout dashed his dreams of medaling, however, as he finished ninth.

It was a similarly disappointing finish for Team USA’s handball squad at the 1936 games. The unit, which featured Elmhurst’s Charles Dauner, lost its only two tilts.

After World War II led to the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 games, basketball made its second appearance as an Olympic sport in London in 1948. And helping lead

Born in Astoria and raised mostly in New Hyde Park near the Queens-Nassau border, Al Oerter burst onto the scene that summer.

The discus thrower obliterated the old Olympic record, besting the second-place finisher — who also held the world record — by more than two meters, en route to his first career gold medal.

Jamaica’s Bob Beamon bounded into the record books with his historic long jump at the 1968 games. DUTCH NATIONAL ARCHIVES / WIKIPEDIA the United States to a gold medal was Forest Hills resident and Newtown High School graduate Ray Lumpp. The World War II veteran scored 10 points in Team USA’s 65-21 blowout of France in the final.

Lumpp would go on to score over 2,400 points across six seasons in the NBA, including three years spent with the New York Knicks.

1950s This was quite the golden age for Queens athletes, including a pair of track stars compet i ng at t he 1952 Oly mpics i n Helsinki.

Named after famed aviator Cha rles Li ndberg h, Elmhurst’s Lindy Remigino captured the gold medal in what is arguably the closest finish in the history of the 100-meter dash.

He and Jamaica’s Herb McKenley f inished with the exact same time but the judges, believing he edged McKenley, figuratively, by a nose, gave the win to Remigino.

The Elmhurst resident would go on to win a second gold in the 4x100-meter relay, while Bayside’s Mae Faggs, an eventual Track and Field Hall of Famer, led Team USA’s female contingent to victory in the same event.

Four years later in Melbourne, Faggs and her team were unable to defend their crown in the 4x100-meter relay, winning bronze.

Meanwhile, Charlie Capozzoli of College Point, despite having won the state title in the one-mile run while at Bayside High School just months earlier, failed to medal in the 5,000-meter race in 1952.

While Queens’ dominance on the track waned in 1956, those games saw the debut of a rg u a bly t he b o r ou g h’s g r e a t e s t Olympian.

1960s Despite suffering severe injuries in a 1957 car accident, Oerter was able to extend his dominance across three more continents this decade. He became the first athlete ever to win four straight gold medals in the same event, as he set the Olympic record in the discus throw in 1960 (Rome), 1964 (Tokyo) and Astoria-born, New Hyde Park-raised discus thrower Al Oert1968 (Mexico City). er was the first athlete ever to win four straight golds in the He also overcame injuries same event.

BY ANGELO COZZI / WIKIPEDIA before the latter two Olympics, including a rib cartilage tear suffered three which is still shown today during Olympic days before the Tokyo games were set to coverage. begin.

Officials needed to measure the leap After an eight-year retirement following with a tape measure as the electronic device his Mexico City gold, Oerter, then over 40 used to record jumps did not cover the years old, nearly made Team USA in 1976, entire 33-foot-long sand landing pit. Over1980 and 1984, but fell just short each time. come with shock when his score was Labeled by many as arguably the greatest announced, Beamon collapsed and had to field athlete of all time, the Astoria legend be helped to his feet. died in 2007, two years before the city His world record has been topped once named the newly built recreation center at since, but no one has ever jumped farther 131-40 Fowler Ave. in Flushing after him. than the Jamaica High School alum in In addition to Oerter, three other Queens Olympic history. natives brought home medals in 1960, highBeamon’s teammate on the track, fellow lighted by Flushing’s Lynn Burke.

Jamaica native Vincent Matthews, also took The swimmer set a pair of records in home a gold medal in the 4x400-meter Rome, breaking the Olympic mark in the relay, leading the American foursome to the 100-meter backstroke and the world record world record in that event. along with her teammates in the 4x100meter relay. She was inducted into the Inter1970s national Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978.

Four years after Matthews captured gold in Also winning gold in the Italian city was Mexico City, he did the same at the 1972 Team USA basketball player and future games in Munich, winning the 400-meter NBA star Jeff Mullins — who was born in dash. But it was his actions on the medal stand Astoria but moved to Kentucky as a toddler. that garnered headlines for the wrong reasons.

That same year, Bayside native Penny The Andrew Jackson High School grad Pitou, an alpine skier, earned a silver medal was seen fidgeting and having a conversation in the downhill and giant slalom event at with silver medalist Wayne Collett, a fellow the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, American, while the national anthem played.

Calif. Like Mullins, Pitou moved out of They were suspended by the United state as a young child.

States Olympic Committee and shunned by In what was later named one of the best many fans, but Matthews said he could not athletic moments of the 20th century by respect the anthem of a nation in which Sports Illustrated, the 1968 Olympics’ high- people of color weren’t treated as equals — light came courtesy of Jamaica resident a precursor to today’s protests against racial Bob Beamon. injustice started by Colin Kaepernick and He completed a remarkable long jump of continued today by other NFL players.

29 feet and 2 inches, shattering the world “I believe we have the potential to have a continued on page 6 record by nearly two feet — the highlight of

C M ANN page 5 Y K

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C M ANN page 6 Y K away with a bronze — viewed by many as a national embarrassment.

The men’s national team has since seen a sharp rise in participation by the NBA’s best players and the squad has won gold at every Olympics since.

The one Queens man who came away with a gold medal in 2004 was actually the oldest person to do so at those games.

Eight years after earning a silver in the same event, Burnham and his new partner, Paul Foerster, sailed their way to Olympic glory — and retirement from the sport.

Four years later in Beijing, Rosedale track star Natasha Hastings captured her first of two career gold medals in the 400meter relay.

While she wasn’t on the four-woman relay squad that finished first in the finals, athletes who run in the heats for medalwinning teams are also awarded medals under Olympic rules.

Olympics continued from page 4 beautiful country,” he said at the time, “but I don’t think we do.”

Matthews wasn’t the only Queens resident who found himself ensnared in controversy at the 1972 games, as Bayside resident Kevin Joyce, the captain of the American men’s basketball squad, can attest.

Joyce and his teammates infamously lost the gold medal game to the Soviet Union 50-49 in controversial fashion, thanks to multiple questionable calls by the officials at the end of the contest. The American protest of the result continues to this day, as the Archbishop Molloy High School alum and the rest of the 1972 team still won’t accept their silver medals.

The hoops squad came back with a vengeance at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, however. And while he wasn’t a starter, Forest Hills resident Ernie Grunfeld averaged four points and three assists en route to a gold medal.

Grunfeld’s basketball career didn’t end there, as he played 10 years in the NBA and now serves as the general manager of the Washington Wizards.

Allen Coage, a Thomas Edison High School graduate and St. Albans resident, also medaled in Montreal, ear ning a bronze in judo.

However, the late former bodyguard for iconic singer Aretha Franklin is better known by sports entertainment fans as Bad News Brown, who competed in the World Wrestling Federation throughout the 1990s.

1980s The United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, with the Soviet Union returning the favor four years later in Los Angeles. But that didn’t mean Queens athletes didn’t see international success toward the end of the Cold War. The dominance of American gymnast and future Wheaties cover athlete Mary Lou Retton captured many headlines in 1984. But her teammate, Flushing’s Julianne McNamara, also rewrote the record book — even besting the legend in two competitions.

By claiming victory on the uneven bars, McNamara became the first American woman ever to win gold in an individual gymnastics event — Retton took the bronze. She went on to win silver medals in the floor exercise — with Retton again ear ning bron ze — and in the team all-around.

No one from Queens would capture a gold at the 1988 games in Seoul, but one man came close. A few years after Long Island City’s Greg Boyer starred at Aviation High School, he scored a goal in the Olympic final against Yugoslavia. But his efforts weren’t enough as the Americans lost 9-7 en route to the silver.

The United States men’s soccer team didn’t come close to sniffing the medal stand in 1988, as the unit was eliminated in the first round.

However, Jamaica’s Mike Windischmann, a Thomas Edison High School

2010s Joining Bird on the 2012 London and 2016 Rio teams was Jamaica resident Tina bevy of new, superstar Queens athletes Charles — herself a Christ the King alum and UConn superstar as well. take the world by storm.

And while Bird has transitioned into Hincapie would finish eighth out of around 150 riders — just 89 seconds off more of a facilitator as she’s aged, Charles the bronze medalist — in the 2000 indi- has made Team USA her own. The future vidual road race. He would compete in WNBA champion and MVP averaged 10 that same event at the 2004 Athens Olym- points per game in both tournaments, pics and the 2008 Beijing games, but he proving to be the heart and soul of a pair of gold-medal winning squads. never finished higher than 39th.

But the borough’s undeniable star of the Also in Sydney, Boldon one-upped his Atlanta finish in the 100-meter dash, earn- 2016 Olympics was beloved track star ing a silver medal. His bronze in the 200- Dalilah Muhammad — dubbed the Pride meter race that year gave him four medals of Rochdale Village and the Queen of total over the course of his career, making Jamaica by some of her friends and fans.

Despite running on a track soaked with him one of the most decorated track stars rain, Muhammad became the first Ameriof all time.

The second of six straight golds for can woman to ever win gold in the 400America’s women’s basketball team was meter hurdles, leaving both the European won in Australia, and Jamaica’s Chamique champion and the reigning two-time world Holdsclaw was one of the players who had champion in the dust.

Upon her return stateside, the Cardozo a medal draped around her neck that year.

The future WNBA superstar did not play High School graduate was honored with an in the tournament, however, due to an inju- hours-long parade through the streets of Southeast Queens and an official proclamary suffered earlier in the summer. tion of congratulaThe 2004 and tions in a ceremony2008 women’s hoops turned-pep rally at teams that won gold Borough Hall. we r e le d by S u e When the OlymBird, arguably the pics head to Tokyo g r e a t e s t wo m e n’s in 2020, watch for basketball player of her name. Shortly all time. The future after winning gold, University of ConMuhammad told the necticut icon called Chronicle she plans Syosset, LI home, but on both defending she played her final her title in the 400t wo years of high meter hurdles and school ball at Christ claiming the 100the King in Middle meter hurdles crown Village — leading the Royals to a national Then-First Lady Michelle Obama with Tina in Japan.

Hastings also title as a senior.

Charles before the 2016 Olympics. won t he s e c ond O n t h e m e n’s side of the hoops bracket, South Jamaica gold medal of her career in Rio in the same resident and fellow Christ the King alum event Laurelton’s Phyllis Francis won her Lamar Odom averaged 10 points and six first. The duo competed together on the rebounds per game on Team USA’s loaded winning American 400-meter relay team.

The victory was just another chapter in 2004 squad.

Despite being led by future Hall of the United States’ 20-year stranglehold on Famers Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson, the event, as no other nation has won gold Q the Americans went just 5-3 and came since Russia claimed victory in 1992.

Rochdale Village track star Dalilah Muhammad celebrates becoming the first American FILE PHOTOS woman in Olympic history to win a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles. graduate, scored his first and only Olympic goal in America’s 1-1 tie against soccer powerhouse Argentina.

1990s The borough’s gold medal drought that began in 1988 continued through the end of the 20th century, but that didn’t mean Queens athletes didn’t see at least some success.

After failing to make Team USA in the 1980s, Kevin Burnham finally qualified for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. But the Hollis native wasn’t a basketball player or track star like many others from Southeast Queens.

No, he was a sailor.

And by all accounts, his Olympic debut was a success, as he and his partner, Morgan Reeser, captured the silver medal in the 470 event — the sailing of a 4.7-meter-long dinghy across a series of 10 races. The 1996 games in Atlanta — the sailing events took place in coastal Savannah — weren’t as kind to Burnham, however, as he placed eighth.

Also competing at both Olympics was Richmond Hill cyclist George Hincapie, best known for being the high-profile Tour de France teammate of Lance Armstrong.

Hincapie and his fellow American riders finished a paltry 16th out of 29 nations in the 100-kilometer team time trial in 1992 before placing 76th out of nearly 200 cyclists in the individual road race in 1996.

As in Seoul, Team USA’s men’s soccer squad won just one game in Atlanta before being eliminated. In that victory, a 2-0 triumph over Tunisia, Flushing’s Damian Silvera got off two shots but failed to score.

It turns out the most successful Queens Olympian in Atlanta represented another nation, as Trinidad & Tobago sprinter Ato Boldon — who lived in Jamaica and attended Jamaica High School for three years — took home bronze medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.

2000s Starting with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the decade saw both old faces battle for further international glory and a

C M ANN page 7 Y K Page 7 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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BASEBALL

How the Mets came to be Queens’ team

by Lloyd Carroll “Go west, young man!” was advice that 19th-century New York newspaper Horace Greeley famously dished out to someone who was asking him about making a fortune.

The United States of America was growing rapidly following the end of World War II and many people were leaving the populous Northeast for the Midwest and the Pacific Coast, especially California.

Baseball teams started to follow suit. In 1953 the Boston Braves, tired of playing second fiddle to Ted Williams and the Red Sox, moved to Milwaukee. Two years later, Hall of Fame team owner and field manager Connie Mack sold the financially struggling Philadelphia Athletics to Arnold Johnson, who promptly relocated the team to Kansas City.

Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham, majority owners of the Brooklyn Dodgers a nd New York G ia nt s , respectively, were intrigued by this trend. The moves they made led to Queens getting its own team, the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club.

The crowds at the Polo Grounds had dwindled by 1957 and it didn’t help matters that the Giants were figuratively and literally playing in the shadows of one of most dominant baseball teams of all time, the New York Yankees of the Eisenhower era. The Giants’ top minor league team was the Minneapolis Millers and Stoneham started making plans to leave Upper Manhattan for the Twin Cities.

A lot has been written about O’Malley and Robert Moses, the government official who was known as “The Master Builder” because of all the infrastructure developments such as

highways, bridges, tunnels and parks that developed under his aegis. It quickly became a knee-jerk reaction for New York baseball fans from the World War II generation to vilify both men, who were at odds with each other.

Now that 60 years have passed since the Dodgers and Giants moved to California, it is t i me to look at th i ngs a lit tle more dispassionately.

O’Malley knew that he had to leave antiquated Ebbets Field, but he also desired that the Dodgers remain in Brooklyn. He wanted Moses to approve the building of a ballpark on the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues, where Barclays Center now stands, because it was where the Brooklyn terminal for the Long Island Rail Road was located. Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties were all growing exponentially, largely at Brooklyn’s expense. Having a new facility across the street from Atlantic Ter minal would allow the Dodgers to draw b o t h Br o ok ly n it e s a n d suburbanites.

Moses despised O’Malley’s idea and tried to sell him instead on the notion of building a stadium in Flushing Meadows. Moses tried to press upon O’Malley that the new Dodgers home would be located right off both the Grand Central Parkway and Van Wyck Expressway, and it would be served by the Flushing IRT elevated train line.

Moses’ thinking actually was in sync with O’Malley’s on a lot of issues. The stumbling block was that the Dodgers owner refused to consider the idea of moving to Queens because he was the owner of the “Brooklyn” Dodgers.

Moses didn’t budge and Robert Wagner, the New York City mayor at the time, could not find a way to resolve their disagreement.

Master builder Robert Moses pushed for the idea of a baseball stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and tried to get the Dodgers to move there, but their owner wouldn’t agree, leading to the birth of the Mets. Their first owner — and biggest fan — was Joan Whitney Payson, who FILE PHOTO, LEFT, AND PHOTO BY SLGCGC / FLICKR was honored with this plaque in 1981.

Shea Stadium was six weeks old when this shot was taken during a night game against the FILE PHOTO Giants on May 29, 1964. The Mets won 4-2, improving their record to 13-30.

Los Angeles mayor Norris Poulson was following the O’Malley-Moses imbroglio from 3,000 miles away. While LA was the center of the film industry, Poulson knew that luring a baseball team, particularly one from New York City, would really put his town on the map, and would spur growth in other areas. Keep in mind that this was still five years before the Beach Boys would start making hit records that truly glamorized the Southern California lifestyle.

Poulson and O’Malley met clandestinely in both New York and LA during the early summer of 1957. The Dodgers owner was impressed with the potential of the Los Angeles market. Poulson also pitched the idea that O’Malley would be able to earn extra revenue by putting his games on cable television, a very fledgling industry. While the idea of cable was unheard of at the time in established Northeast cities, it was taking hold in rural areas where TV reception was a problem.

Southern California was so huge an area that the growth of cable made sense.

Poulson promised O’Malley that he would give the Dodgers the right to build on property located just north of Downtown LA off the 110 Freeway. The only problem was that the locale was in the middle of the Mexican-American neighborhood of Chavez Ravine. In a controversial move, Poulson used eminent domain to forcibly remove the residents of the area. That decision would cause such resentment that many Mexican Americans refused to attend

Dodgers games for years, and it wasn’t until the arrival of phenomenal Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela that the rift truly started to heal.

O’Malley was sold but he knew that the other team owners would never approve a relocation to distant Los Angeles unless he could convince another ballclub to move west with him. He spoke to his crosstown rival, Giants owner Stoneham, about moving to San Francisco.

That city’s mayor at the time, George Christopher, wouldn’t refuse a major league baseball team that was dropped in his lap, but he wasn’t as obsessed as his mayoral counterpart 400 miles down the California coastline was. Rather than give Stoneham prime municipal property, Christopher offered to build a stadium in the more desolate southern part of the city near the airport.

Stoneham did not do his due diligence. Had he done so he would have discovered that the Candlestick area was the one part of the City by the Bay that wasn’t well-served by the San Francisco Municipal Rail system. He would also learn much to his chagrin that the area was incredibly windy and could turn into an icebox even on summer nights.

The tundra conditions for baseball were a key reason why attendance was long a problem for Stoneham, so much so that the Giants were on the verge of moving to Tampa in 1992. San Francisco eventually allowed subsequent Giants owner Peter Magowan the right to build continued on next page

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ground was broken for Shea Stadium. The Mets agreed to play the 1962 and 1963 seasons at the Polo Grounds.

On Oct. 10, 1961, the Metropolitans and Houston Colt .45s held an expansion draft, choosing from lists of mostly cast-offs and washed-up veterans whom the eight established teams declined to protect. The Mets, choosing second, used their top pick on Giants catcher Hobie Landrith, a career backup.

“You gotta to have a catcher or you’re gonna have a lot of passed balls,” the inimitable Stengel explained.

The 1962 Mets would go down in baseball history as the most inept team of all time as they finished with a record of 40-120. Fans didn’t care though, as they were happy to see old heroes such as Gil Hodges and Duke Snider return to play for the home team even though they were past their prime. Errorprone first baseman “Marvelous” Marv Throneberry became a folk hero after being obtained for a player to be named later — the underwhelming Landrith — in an early-season trade with Baltimore.

There was hope for the future when the team signed an 18-year-old first baseman from James Monroe High School in the Bronx by the name of Ed Kranepool. The rest of the cast was filled out with the likes of Gus Bell, Choo-Choo Coleman and Don Zimmer.

Work on the new ballpark continued until literally the morning of Shea Stadium’s opening, April 17, 1964. The Mets lost to the Pirates 4-3 that day, but they had finally Q made it to Queens.

©2017 M1P • SAPC-072871

continued from previous page a new ballpark closer to the city’s downtown.

AT&T Park is a success, and it now seems safe to say that the Giants will not be leaving the town where Astoria native Tony Bennett left his heart.

While O’Malley made the right business decision for the Dodgers, you can be sure that Stoneham was kicking himself for years about leaving New York. Had he stayed he would have gladly agreed to Moses’ Flushing Meadows stadium proposal and would have made a ton of money. I would be writing about the Giants each week instead of the Mets in SportsBeat.

In October 1957 it was announced that both teams would be leaving New York for the promised land of California starting the following season. National League President Warren Giles, whose office was located in Cincinnati, stated that his league did not need New York, which only placed more salt in the wound of devastated local baseball fans.

Wagner, who was in the middle of a reelection campaign, which he would win, promised he would lure a new team to New York. He did reach out to the Reds, Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies, but none of them were interested. And the truth was that a lot of New Yorkers did not want to do to another city what was just done to them by those upstart West Coast towns.

Joan Payson and her longtime friend, M. Donald Grant, were the only two members of

Page 9 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

they were both gung-ho on New York being a member of the new Continental League.

Giles and National League team owners the Giants’ board of directors who voted understandably feared the notion of a new against the team’s move to Northern Califor- competitor that would have a flagship frannia. Both were determined to bring another chise in the Big Apple. In 1960 the National League announced that it would expand from baseball team back to New York.

As luck would have it, in 1959 former eight teams to 10, with new franchises in Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Houston and New York. Giles made sure that Rickey, the man who signed Jackie Robin- the New York team went to Payson, who son, had been out of baseball for a few years named Grant as the team president.

Grant told Rickey that he and wanted to get back into the couldn’t be part of his new vengame. Since there were no opporture. The Continental League tunities present, Rickey joined never did get off the ground, but New York lawyer William Shea it did provide the impetus for the in laying the groundwork for a National League to return to New new professional baseball organiYork. zation, the Continental League, M. Donald Grant will always which would compete with the be an infamous name to Mets e st abl ishe d A me r ica n a nd fans because of his feud with National Leagues.

Tom Seaver, that led to that illShea’s ties to the circles of fated trade to the Reds 40 years William Shea power were myriad and strong LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ago, but without his and Shea’s and ran deep, especially in New determination, New York would York politics and professional sports, with numerous ties to Major League have had to wait a lot longer for a new major Baseball; he was connected with such MLB league team.

In the fall of 1960 the New York Yankees titans as Bill Veeck and the O’Malley, shocked the baseball world by parting ways McPhail and Yawkey families.

He also had longstanding involvement in with their longtime manager, Casey Stengel, the National and American football leagues. and their general manager, Johnny Murphy.

He would play major roles in bringing the Both were hired a few days later by the American Basketball Association’s New nascent New York Mets.

Ebbets Field was already torn down and York Nets to Nassau County, along with the National Hockey League’s expansion New converted into a housing project but Wagner smartly kept the Polo Grounds around just in York Islanders, in 1972.

Rickey met with Grant and Payson and case it was needed. On October 28, 1961

The Mets come to Queens

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 10

C M ANN page 10 Y K

THE SPORT OF KINGS

History happened on the track in Queens

by Anthony O’Reilly If you were to walk down 82nd Street between 91st and Atlantic avenues in Woodhaven, you’d come across Clemente Court — a tiny, dead-end street that looks like a driveway between two houses.

But while, it may seem to most like just a rather unusual street, Clemente Court is a part of Queens’ sporting history.

The lane was once one of the turns thousands of horses made at Union Course, a Woodhaven track that was one of the nation’s most prestigious for decades.

“If you put a map of the track over a map of the street ... you can see that was exactly where the horses made their turns,” said historian Ed Wendell, who has given many lectures and walking tours on the history of the track.

Although Aqueduct is now the only place to watch the sport of kings in Queens, this borough was once home to a number of tracks. Some, like Union and the old Jamaica Race Track, are well-known.

But there were others throughout the years — take for example the short-lived Fashion Course.

Fashion Course was only in existence from 1856 to 1866 and was located in what is now called Corona, off National Street near 44th Avenue — where Corona Plaza is today.

The track was solely for harness racing, in which horses pull a two-wheeled cart.

The site was named after a champion horse who participated in one of the mostwatched races at Union.

“More than 100,000 people came,” Wendell said of the race in which Fashion defeated Peytona.

According to the Parks Department, the race course was one of the most popular in the city but was closed 10 years after opening due to the construction of “lavish new tracks” in Fordham and Sheepshead Bay, along with a resurgence of thoroughbred racing.

Union Course would have an impact on the opening of another, now nonexistent track — The Eclipse Course, also known as Centreville Course.

Eclipse, just like Fashion, was named after a champion of a hotly contested race at the Woodhaven course — in which the pride of the North and South were on the line years before the Civil War. “It was a race that caught the imagination of everybody,” Wendell said.

Breeders in the North and South feuded in the 1820s over which region had better horses and while the latter dominated the sport during those years, according to The New York Times, it was American Eclipse, of the North, who was making headlines.

American Eclipse won one of the most hotly contested horse races of the 19th century. The 1822 race was held at Union Course in WoodEDWARD TROYE VIA WIKIPEDIA haven.

The Times reports the race at Union was set up after Eclipse, who remained undefeated his entire career, managed to beat Sir Charles, the fastest horse in Virginia, in 1822. A man watching that race challenged Eclipse’s owner to a North-South match at the recently opened Union Course — the latter’s representative would be named on the day of the race.

John Eisenberg, author of “The Great Match Race: When North Met South in America’s First Sports Spectacle,” states Congress shut down the day of the race and future president Andrew Jackson took time off from his campaign to come to Q ueen s a nd wat ch t he contest.

One Southerner reportedly bet 500 slaves on the race while others put entire estates on the line.

According to Wendell, $200,000 changed hands that day, $4 million in today’s money.

Sir Henry, a rising star in the racing i n d u s t r y, w a s n a m e d t h e S o u t h’s representative.

Horse racing was different back then — the equines would go for four miles, rest for a half-hour and then run for a second, and sometimes a third, race.

In the end, Eclipse won the test of endurance.

Eisenberg wrote the race became “a national referendum on what was right and just.”

Eclipse Course opened in 1825, three years after the historic race, and hosted both harness and thoroughbred contests.

It was located near Woodhaven and Rockaway boulevards, not far from Union or the future Aqueduct.

Union, like Eclipse, contributed greatly to the growth of Queens.

Aqueduct Race Track in South Ozone Park may be the only horse racing venue in Queens today, FILE PHOTO but the borough has had many throughout the years.

“It pulled a lot of people here,” Wendell said. “It produced a need for transportation.”

Hotels, bars, stables and businesses started to pop up near the tracks. Long Island Rail Road lines were built to get people from Brooklyn and other areas to Queens.

Today, the only remainder of that growth is Neir’s Tavern, open since 1829 and the state’s oldest bar. Neir’s was located on the edge of the racetrack and to this day holds mementos of when it served as a watering hole for those going to or coming back from the course.

Horse racing remained popular through the Civil War, though Union was used as an encampment then, and during the later 1860s.

But it was in the 1870s when other racetracks started pulling customers away from Woodhaven.

“As transportation grew you could easily travel to other racetracks,” Wendell said.

A moral change was also occurring in Queens, according to the historian.

“There were some people who just felt gambling and racing were immoral,” said Wendell. “The public tide turned against it a little bit.”

Developers came in and divided up the racetrack and built homes.

Queens would not have another major horse racing facility until Sept. 27, 1894, when the Queens County Jockey Club first hosted races at Aqueduct Race Track in South Ozone Park.

Nine years later, the Metropolitan Jockey Club opened Jamaica Racetrack, adjacent to the Locust Manor station on the LIRR. Jamaica was a 1-mile track that hosted a number of prestigious races, including the Wood Memorial, now run at Aqueduct.

Ultimately, it was Aqueduct’s success as

the premier site for horse racing in Queens that doomed Jamaica.

When both tracks, and others, were purchased by the Greater New York Association, now known as the New York Racing Association, Jamaica was sold to help pay for major renovations to the South Ozone Park venue, and was torn down in 1960.

The Rochdale Village housing development now sits at the former site of the course.

When Aqueduct opened its renovated space in 1959, John Hanes, then-president of NYRA, told the Times, “if the enthusiasm of today’s crowd is any criterion, I have no fears about the success of Aqueduct.”

And for a while, Hanes had no reason to fear. Aqueduct remained a mecca of horse racing and hosted the final public appearance of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. But as it began to see fewer guests and NYRA started losing money, its fate was put in doubt.

The track started to see less money being invested into it than Belmont Park or Saratoga Racetrack.

Then-Gov. Spitzer in 2007 proposed to close the track and sell the land and stables to make money for NYRA. The plan was opposed by the community, led by then-Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, and did not come to pass.

Although there are still rumors Aqueduct could close at any time, the state law that authorized the construction of its neighbor, Resorts World Casino, mandates a horseracing track be on the grounds at all time. In recent years, NYRA has started pumping more money into Aqueduct.

It just completed installation of a second turf course on the inner track and renovated Q the main dirt course.

C M ANN page 11 Y K Page 11 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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C M ANN page 12 Y K

COLLEGE BA SKETBALL

When the Big East’s beasts became legends

by Christopher Barca It’s been more than 30 years since that magical season; since that spring when legends were made and legacies cemented on the road to the Final Four.

And three decades later, just the mention of 1985 will send any St. John’s men’s basketball fan on a trip down memory lane so long, you’ll regret bringing it up in the first place.

Even though it’s been a long time since the Johnnies were the talk of the town, that team is still the standard to which all other Red Storm squads are judged.

Will the Johnnies ever reach those heights again? Maybe. After all, head coach Chris Mullin, the star of the 1985 unit, has St. John’s on the upswing right now.

But to know and understand Mullin the stoic, yet uber-competitive coach, one only has to look back on his playing days — and that memorable squad he led.

“We had a wonderful team, a great group of guys,” Mullin said at a gala celebrating the 25th anniversary of the team in 2010. “Looking back, it was one of the best years of my life.”

Head coach Lou Carnesecca was already an icon by the time the 1984-85 campaign rolled around, having qualified for the postseason in all 11 of his years at the helm.

The previous season, however, was something of a disappointment.

The Redmen, as they were called back then, went just 18-12 on the year and a mere 8-8 in Big East conference play. They managed to sneak into the NCAA Tournament as a nine-seed, but were quickly dispatched in the first round.

St. John’s men’s basketball icon Chris Mullin, now the team’s head coach, was the heart and soul of the FILE PHOTO 1985 unit.

That offseason — which saw team captain Jeff King graduate — was filled with questions as to the future of the program. But Carnesecca had an answer in the form of a tall, lanky kid from Brooklyn named Mullin.

In that 18-12 campaign, the Xaverian High School product proved he had what it took, as the junior led the team in scoring with an eye-popping 23 points per game.

So it was only right that Carnesecca elevate Mullin to the role of team captain. And that decision ended up paying dividends even “Louie” might not have envisioned.

Like the season prior, the Johnnies started the 1984-85 docket off right, winning eight of their nine nonconference games to start the year — including six by double digits.

As with every St. John’s campaign, the following three-month slog through Big East play — where every opponent is a bigger, more bitter rival than the last — is what separates the contenders from the pretenders. It was that stretch of ball that proved the 198384 team was firmly i n the lat ter category.

But w it h t he sharpshooting Mullin leading the way and fellow stars Walter Berry — a newcomer to the team — and senior Bill Wennington also contributing, that would not be the case as the calendar flipped to 1985.

It would be nine weeks before St. John’s would suffer its first, and only, defeat in Big East play, as the Johnnies smoked most of their inferior foes and squeaked by more talented others en route to a 25-2 record.

The most notable stretch of games for the Redmen — ranked fourth in the nation — came in mid January, starting with a showdown a g a i n s t 15t h -r a n ke d Bo s t on College.

The upstart Eagles ended up being little match for the Queens squad, with the latter impressively dispatching the former 66-59 on the road.

But SJU’s next contest, a primetime, 82-80 overtime win against

11th-ranked Syracuse at Madison Square Garden, was arguably its best — a team-defining victory that proved to the nation Carnesecca’s squad was a force to be reckoned with.

The Orange led for most of the tilt, extending their advantage to as many as nine points in the second half. But Mullin and Berry combined for 37 points in that stanza, as the duo led a frenzied comeback against their nemesis.

With the Johnnies down 72-70 in the final seconds, Berry — the team’s gigantic power forward who thrived under the hoop — took, offbalanced, a wild shot from well beyond the free throw line.

But because it was that kind of season, one when everything goes right, the ball somehow found the bottom of the net.

In overtime, the Johnnies were led to victory by Mullin, who in that period became the first player in program history to score 2,000 points.

“We were having trouble stopping them at first,’’ Mullin told T he New Yor k Times af ter the game. “Then in the second half, we ran our plays more agressively.

We al l beca me more aggressive. I think that’s what turned it around.’’

Such a backand-forth battle under the bright lights at MSG would mentally and physically exhaust many other teams, leaving them vulnerable.

But not the 1985 Johnnies.

Just three days later, the Red Storm — now ranked second in the nation — were tasked with taking down an even bigger and better rival, in more ways than one.

Led by future New York Knicks 7-footer Patrick Ewing — Georgetown’s legendary player who revolutionized the center position in college basketball — the undefeated Hoyas entered that tilt as the top team in America and the favorites to successfully repeat as NCAA Tournament champions.

But according to the New York Times writer in attendance that night, Mullin was “devastating,” as he torched the Georgetown defense to the tune of a game-high 20

BORO OF

SPORTS

Legendary St. John’s University men’s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca waves to the crowd during a 2010 ceremony honoring the 25th anniversary PHOTO COURTESY ST. JOHN’S ATHLETICS of the 1985 Final Four team. points en route to a 66-65 upset win on the road.

As in the Syracuse game, it was a member of Mullin’s supporting cast who played the role of hero. St. John’s had its own towering center in the 7-foot Wennington, and he was able to do what no one in college basketball could do: Shut down the unstoppable Ewing.

The Hoyas star was a nonfactor, netting just nine points, two less than he scored in his 1984 meeting with Wennington and the Redmen.

“We had to go out there and prove ourselves,’’ Wennington told the Times. “We haven’t won the national championship. We’re still hungr y for the f lavor, maybe they’ve tasted it already.”

St. John’s spent the next month as the nation’s top-ranked team, but Georgetown was able to enact its revenge on multiple occasions.

The Hoyas romped the Redmen 85-69 in the season’s much-hyped penultimate game — a contest famous for its sky-high television ratings, exorbitant ticket prices a nd Georgetow n coach Joh n Thompson’s shirt mocking Carnesecca’s trademark sweater.

And after cruising through the first two rounds of the illustrious Big East Tournament, the two rivals met for the third time in six weeks, this time in the bracket’s final.

Much like their previous meeting, it would be Georgetown getting the better of Carnesecca’s squad, as the Hoyas withstood a 25-point Mullin onslaught to claim the conference crown 92-80.

Despite the loss, the Redmen

were given the top seed in the NCAA Tournament’s west region.

And boy, did Mullin and Berry sh i ne whe n t he l ig ht s we r e brightest.

Their first round game against Southern University — an 83-59 win — saw Berry explode for 24 points and 13 rebounds.

In the second round, the Redmen battled back an Arkansas squad hunting an upset, as Mullin played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 26 points.

The Brooklyn product would go on to drop 30 points in the Sweet 16 — as St. John’s destroyed Kentucky 86-70 — before scoring 25 en route to a 69-60 win over North Carolina State and the school’s second-ever berth in the Final Four.

But it was in Lexington, Ky. where the Redmen ran out of road in their quest for a title. And of course, it was Georgetown who sent them home, as the Hoyas held Mullin to just eight points in the 77-59 drubbing.

But despite what happened that night, Carnesecca and Mullin had already cemented their status as New York royalty, while Berry and Wennington’s names have forever become synonymous with St. John’s.

Now, it’s up to Mullin to pick up where his coach left off and lead SJU to a title.

“They were all marvelous guys.

They had a feeling for each other,” Carnesecca, now 92, said in 2010.

“All we had to do was beat the big guy from Georgetown. That was it. Sometimes, you can’t win everything. But coaching these Q guys was a delight.”

C M ANN page 13 Y K Page 13 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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C M ANN page 14 Y K

TENNIS

Qns. has served tennis like nowhere else

by Ryan Brady Tennis has always been a major part of athletics in Queens. Before the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center hosted the US Open, the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills did.

The neighborhood “became kind of the center of the western hemisphere, for the U.S., for tennis,” Bea Hunt of the West Side Tennis Club told the Chronicle.

The tennis club, which was originally based in Manhattan, first hosted the contest — then known as the U.S. National Championships — in 1915. And — except from 1921 to 1923, when Philadelphia was the host — it would happen there annually until 1978, the year it moved to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Ten final rounds of the Davis Cup were also played at the club,

more than at any other place.

Meadows Corona Park was held in The stadium was built in 1923. 1978. But the Forest Hills Stadium “It was the first tennis stadium in was far from finished with tennis.

America, for sure,” said Hunt, a The venue has hosted challengmember of the club’s archives ers tournaments in recent decades. committee.

And last year, the World TeamTenGreat moments in the history of nis squad New York Empire — tennis would play out at the central whose roster then featured Andy Q u e e n s ve nu e. I n Roddick — used the 1957, Althea Gibson West Side Tennis Club won the women’s sinas its home arena. The gles competition, team used the Billie becom ing the f irst Jean King National BORO OF Tennis Center for this black woman to ever do y e a r ’s s e a s o n . I n so. And Arthur Ashe recent years, Forest became the first black Hills Stadium has also man to win a Grand been a major concert venue, hostSlam title at the US Open in 1968.

But the West Side Tennis Club ing acts like Mumford & Sons and wouldn’t host the tournament for- Lil Wayne.

The days when the country’s ever. “It got to be too much for Forest Hills Gardens,” Borough top tennis tournament was played Historian Jack Eichenbaum said. there will remain in the past, “The event got to be more and though.

“We’re not going get the US more popular.”

The first US Open in Flushing Open again,” Hunt said. “That’s

SPORTS

As a kid, tennis great John McEnroe cut his teeth playing at a Douglaston country club near where he lived. Throughout Queens, the sport has been a major pastime. GENERAL DUTCH PHOTO OFFICE NATIONAL ARCHIVE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS for sure.”

The USTA’s move to Flushing Meadows led to the creation of the

park’s huge national tennis center.

To relocate the competition, the continued on page 22

Congratulations To The Queens Chronicle, Especially to Mark Weidler, Publisher, and Staff on their Anniversary of Thirty-Nine Great Years of Excellent Journalism

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39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

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C M ANN page 16 Y K B E S T C OAC H E S

Two takes on Queens’ top 10 sideline stars

by Michael Gannon Great coaches are teachers, students, tacticians, psychologists and leaders. Queens has seen some of the best at the scholastic, amateur and professional levels. Some are legends, others are not household names, now only fond memories in the minds and hearts of those whose lives they touched.

Choosing 10 was tough. Casey Stengel, for example, only gets honorable mention because, while he brought National League baseball back to a city that was starved for it, his expansion New York Mets were a lot funnier but far less entertaining than he was.

And we do have some standards on this side of the page — unlike my colleague with his Red Storm pedigree, you don’t automatically merit inclusion here simply because you may have spent 15 minutes coaching the Jenga team at St. John’s University or are in love with the designated hitter rule.

10: Weeb Eubank Ten months before the New York Mets stunned the sports world in 1969, another upstart team from Shea Stadium dismantled a heavily favored monster from Baltimore with efficiency and precision. Eubank’s Jets backed up Joe Namath’s guarantee of victory in Super Bowl III against the Colts, the first AFL team to win the title. In 1958, he was the Colts’ head coach when they won the NFL championship in overtime against the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium in “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

9: Jack Kaiser As athletic director at St. John’s University, Kaiser was one of the founders of the Big East Conference. As baseball coach from 1956 to 1983, his teams won 366 games and took three trips to the College World Series tournament. His first third base coach was a guy named Lou Carnesecca, a former teammate when they played basketball at St. John’s under legendary coach Joe Lapchick.

6: Ron Naclerio Cardozzo High School’s boys basketball coach has been on the sidelines for nearly four decades. Last December Naclerio became the winningest public school coach in New York State history, doing so in 16 fewer seasons than the previous record-holder.

5: Lou Carnesecca Carnesecca was the head men’s basketball coach at St. John’s from 1965 to 1992, with a three-year hiatus with the New York Nets of the old ABA. Brought an already prominent program to new heights in the 1984-85 season, reaching the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four behind Chris Mullin and a garish lucky sweater. A member of the Naismith Memorial and College Basketball halls of fame.

4: Gil Hodges The beloved, slick-fielding slugger from the Brooklyn Dodgers came back to New York in 1962 to finish his career as one of Casey Stengel’s Lovable Losers. Seven years later, they were Hodges’ Miracle Mets. An entire city mourned in April 1972 when he died of a heart attack during spring training, two days shy of his 48th birthday.

3: Chuck Granby Granby made a point of keeping players in school and off the streets while amassing 722 career victories over 45 years as the boys’ basketball coach at Andrew Jackson/Campus Magnet High School. Granby stressed that without a college degree “your life will be ugly. Your job will be ugly. Your house will be ugly. Your car will be ugly. Your wife will be ugly.” He transformed the school’s gym into a house of horrors for visiting teams, who once went 13 years without a victory there.

by Christopher Barca My field of candidates for this list was so deep, in fact, that iconic high school football title winners, legendary Mets skippers and star St. John’s coaches missed the cut.

My lovable colleague has it all wrong. Here is the definitive rundown of the 10 best Queens coaches of all time, according to this award-winning sports writer.

10: Tom Pugh The iconic Holy Cross High School football coach retired in 2015 after 42 years at the helm, a tenure that could only be described as a smashing success. The Knights went 0-8 in 1973, the year before Pugh took over. But the 215-game winner flipped the script on the school’s losing ways, leading the program to the first of eight city titles four years later.

9: Ed Blankmeyer Successful college baseball programs should come from warm weather states like California and Florida, not New York. But the St. John’s coach has thrown that notion in the trash over his 21 years in Queens.

On the 758-game winner’s watch, the Johnnies have won the Big East championship five times and reached the NCAA Tournament eight times, including an appearance in baseball’s version of the Sweet 16 in 2012.

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8: Joe Austin Austin spent more than 50 years coaching youth baseball in Queens for thousands of kids of all ages on any field or sandlot where he could get a team together. One of his more notable players was an outfielder named Mario Cuomo. The Joseph Austin Playground at 164th Place in Jamaica is named for him.

2: Joe Lapchick A pioneer in both professional and college basketball, and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Lapchick was an original Boston Celtic before becoming head coach at St. John’s. he won four National Invitational Titles during stints from 1937-47 and 1956-65. In between, he took the New York Knicks to three NBA title games.

7: Rube Walker Walker was the pitching coach for the Mets for 14 years, including 1969. Consider that the two best pitchers he developed were Hall of Famers and 300-game winners Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. Throw in Jerry Koosman and Walker’s top three proteges totaled 857 big league victories; 11,910 strikeouts; 155 shutouts, 592 complete games and logged 14,008 innings.

Now that’s a pitching coach.

1: Jack Curran Archbishop Molloy High School was St. Ann’s Academy when Curran signed up to coach basketball, replacing a St. John’sbound Lou Carnesecca. Fifty-five years later he had amassed more victories in basketball (972) and baseball (1,708) than any high school coach in the country. Probably would have won an NCAA championship had he Q decided to coach St. John’s Jenga team.

8: Dave Masur Choosing between Blankmeyer and the St. John’s men’s soccer coach wasn’t easy. But in the end, it’s the latter’s championship ring that gives him the leg up.

Masur took over as head coach in 1991 and quickly transformed the Red Storm into a respectable force — reaching the NCAA Tournament 16 times. Just five years after he was hired, he led the Jamaica school to its first and only national championship.

7: Lucille Kyvallos Male coaches dominate the borough’s sportscape, but not many can hold a candle to the legendary 13-year Queens College women’s basketball coach.

The only female squad to be inducted into the city’s Basketball Hall of Fame? Kyvallos’ powerhouse 1972-73 team. The first women’s game ever at Madison Square Garden? Her Knights played in it. No list would be complete without this 239-victory pioneer.

6: Vince O’Connor The top football coach on my list, the St. Francis Prep legend is gridiron royalty.

O’Connor is second on the state’s all-time wins list with an eye-popping 341 victories, a record 16 of which coming in the Catholic High School Football League title game, most

recently in 2005.

The Terriers went undefeated six times during his tenure, while he won 20 league coach of the year honors. His 62-year tenure ended only when his life did in 2015.

5: Chuck Granby While the late Campus Magnet boys basketball coach’s stats are nothing to sneeze at — 722 career wins in 45 years, second alltime for a city public school coach — it was his personal touch that set him apart.

Upon his death, colleagues remembered Granby as a beloved man who, quite simply, saved the lives of players who would have otherwise ended up in jail or in the morgue.

But to talk stats quickly, Granby’s teams went undefeated at home from 1972 to 1985.

Yes, you read that right. That’s 13 years.

4: Ron Naclerio The man with the most public school basketball wins in state history? That’s Naclerio of Cardozo High School. And it took him just 36 years to win his 755 games, besting the man he passed by over a decade.

Known for his volcanic sideline antics and questionable fashion choices — but also for his gentle, selfless attitude off the court — Naclerio has won two city titles and guided more than 100 players to college hoops scholarships. And he’s only 60 years old.

3: Lou Carnesecca The most beloved member of the St. John’s family, “Louie” presided over the best-ever stretch of Red Storm men’s hoops, as he reached the postseason in each of his 24 seasons.

By the time he called it quits in 1992, he had racked up 526 wins at the Jamaica school, a program mark that most likely will never be broken.

SJU’s magical run to the 1985 Final Four and Louie’s hideous sweaters are still the subject of stories on campus to this day.

2: Joe Lapchick A star basketball player in his own right who pioneered the center position, Lapchick turned SJU into a basketball powerhouse in the 1930s and 1940s. Four times his teams won national titles, reaching the Final Four on eight occasions total.

Carnesecca, his successor, was great. But Lapchick’s two decades in charge in Queens could never possibly be matched.

1: Jack Curran Putting Curran’s legacy into words typed by a mere mortal would be disrespectful to the sports saint. Here’s all you need to know.

The late Archbishop Molloy coach won 972 basketball games, the most in state history. His 1,708 wins as the school’s baseball coach? Also the most in state history.

To this reporter, no one even comes close Q to being No. 1 on this list.

C M ANN page 17 Y K Page 17 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

It’s also an environment of compassionate and quality care—the type of care you can really be thankful for. The type of care that allows us to say you are welcome!

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 18

C M ANN page 18 Y K

A M E R I C A’ S PA S T I M E

Take me out to the (Woodhaven) ballgame

by Michael Gannon People heading north on Dexter Place off of Jamaica Avenue these days likely are going either to the C Town supermarket on the eastern side of the street in Woodhaven, or the Franklin K. Lane School across the street in Brooklyn.

But where one now buys milk, bread and other groceries, people used to be able to watch high-caliber baseball and some of the game’s greatest stars at a venue called Dexter Park.

The home of Max Rosner’s Bushwicks now is marked only by a memorial plaque erected in 2000 by the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society.

Ed Wendell, a civic leader historian from Wood haven, is not old enough to remember the park, which was torn down in 1955. But he heard and still remembers the stories.

“My dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, a huge baseball fan,” Wendell said. “He lived in Brooklyn and came over many times. If I could go back in time to relive one day in Woodhaven, the one thing I’d want to see is a ballpark with a semipro ballgame right here ... going back to see baseball the way it should have been played.”

Rosner, an immigrant from Austria-Hungary who became a prosperous cigar manufacturer, became fascinated with baseball, and also had a talent for marketing and promotion.

Matt Rothenberg, manager of the Giamatti Research Center at the Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate Cooperstown, said the

Bushwicks would host other semipro teams, minor league teams and, in the Major League offseason, squads of major leaguers looking to pick up a little extra money on barnstorming tours.

Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Phil Rizzuto, Joe DiMaggio and Hank Greenberg all played in Woodhaven.

Numerous sources say Whitey Ford, a native of Astoria, played for the Bushwicks before catching the eyes of New York Yankees scouts. Hall of Fame pitchers Dazzy Vance and Lefty Gomez signed with Rosner after their fastballs could no longer get big leaguers out; Long Island City natives Tony and Al Cuccinello both signed on after long careers as big league infielders.

Negro League teams with established stars such as Pop Lloyd, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell also graced the old ballpark.

And when Sunday blue laws for ba d e ch a rg i ng admission for ballgames, Rosner offered free admission — but charged for scorecards. Rothenberg said Dexter Park and the Bushwicks were as much a part of ba seba l l h ist or y a s Queens history.

“It was a place you went for baseball before Shea Stadium, all the way back into the early 20th century,” Rothenberg said. “You had some high-level talent — not exactly a major league game, but you could see a really decent level of baseball.”

He said any given game might feature five or more players with past or future major league experience.

BORO OF

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

SPORTS

Generations ago, kids at the Franklin K. Lane School, background, might have been able to peer out upper floor windows to neighboring Dexter Park and see some of the greatest baseball playPHOTO BY MICHAEL GANNON ers to ever pick up bats and gloves

Babe Ruth, center, and Lou Gehrig before a game on their 1928 postseason barnstorming tour FILE PHOTO in Dexter Park in Woodhaven.

Night baseball, first appearing at the major league level in Cincinnati in 1938, made its debut at Dexter Park eight years earlier, thanks largely to Rosner’s son, who became an electrical engineer.

Wendell said while researching the memorial plaque, his group discovered that in 1935, Ruth, who officially retired from the big leagues a year earlier, advertised that a game at Dexter Park would be the last on his farewell barnstorming tour.

“He wound up playing a few more games after that,’ Wendell acknowledged. “But this was advertised as his last game.”

One future major leaguer who played for the Bushwicks was Pete Gray, an outfielder known as “The One-Armed Wonder.” A natural righthander, Gray became a very successful minor league player in the 1940s despite losing his right arm at the elbow in a childhood accident.

Gray, who later would play most of the 1945 season with the St. Louis Browns before the more able-bodied major leaguers began returning from World War II, took a gamble to get a tryout with the Bushwicks.

Legend has it even the publicity-savy Rosner was very hesitant to let Gray make his team some sort of spectacle. Gray, taking out a $10 bill that he could not afford to lose, told him to keep the money if his tryout was a failure. Gray wound up being as reliable a player as he would become a gate attraction.

During World War II the Bushwicks also featured a slugger who looked suspiciously like a minor leaguer named Gene Hermanski, who later would play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

“Hermanski was stationed with a Coast Guard unit in Brooklyn,” Rothenberg said.

“He played under the name Gene Walsh.”

He also said St. John’s University played

its home games at the park until it was torn down; and that even city departments would take to the diamond against each other.

“We found a boxscore from when the city’s Sanitation Department played the Parks Department,” Rothenberg said. “You could occasionally find a small article, in the New York Times, no less.”

Not that the venue was limited to baseball. Wendell said his father attended a softball game featuring legendary pitcher Eddie “The King” Feigner of the King and his Court, a four-man softball team featuring Feigner, a catcher, a first baseman and an infielder-outfielder.

They would take on all comers among 9and 10-member teams — and win — with Feigner striking people out pitching behind his back, blindfolded or standing behind second base.

He also said the old Union Racetrack was located nearby.

Beginning in 1969, the year of the Miracle Mets, bullpen coach Joe Pignatano began cultivating a garden of tomato vines, which became a fixture at Shea Stadium.

But here too, according to Rothenberg, Dexter Park and the Bushwicks had the Mets beaten by a few decades.

“The groundskeeper had a vegetable garden out beyond center field,” he said. “He had apple trees, pear trees, cor n and tomatoes.”

The times eventually caught up to the Bushwicks and their ballfield. After Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947, the Negro Leagues were headed to extinction. More regulations against active players barnstorming were adopted. In its last years the park had a track for stock car races.

And the Bushwicks went into baseball’s permanent October after the 1951 season. Q

C M ANN page 19 Y K

The best places to watch sports in Queens

by Anthony O’Reilly There’s nothing quite like game night at somebody’s home — unless you’re the host. Sure, it’s great to have company every now and then, but who wants to deal with all the preparation and cleaning that goes into it?

Luckily, there is no shortage of great places in Queens for you and all your friends to watch just about any sporting event.

If you’re looking for a space with no shortage of television screens that shows just about every sport imaginable, western Queens is where you want to go.

There, you’ll find The Garden a t S t u d i o S q u a r e N YC , a 30,000-square-foot space that holds more than 2,000 people, has no shortage of beer and food and offers live musical performances.

The 40 flat screen TVs indoors and out, along with a 160 square-

foot garden screen, stream multiple games every night.

Studio Square is located at 35-33 36 St. in Long Island City.

Head to its website, studiosquarebeergarden.com, for information on upcoming special events.

Not too far from Studio Square is the Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall, located at 29-19 24 Ave. in Astor ia. Bohemian also of fers plent y of opt ion s for s p or t s viewing inside and out, with plenty of Eastern European eating and drinking options.

Be sure to check out its website, bohem ia n h all.com , for more information.

Both are also great places to head to watch all World Cup matches next summer.

Perhaps you’re looking for a

warmer place during the winter months. No worries.

Rocky McBride’s, located at 27-01 23 Ave. in Astoria, is a short distance from the N and Q train and the only thing it has more of than beers on tap, 16, is televisions, 22.

Miller’s Ale House, at 61-35 Junction Blvd. in Rego Park, also has no shortage of screens for you to choose from.

If you’re i n t he m o o d fo r a m o r e homey setting, whether it’s for a game or fight night, McCann’s Pub & Grill, located at 36-15 Ditmars Blvd. in Astoria might be a good place.

Mccannspubnyc.com has information on food and drink specials.

Staying with the Irish theme, O’Neill’s in Maspeth, located at 64-21 53 Drive, has been a popular gathering spot for years.

Page 19 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

GOING OUT

The Garden at Studio Square NYC in Long Island City is one of the best places PHOTO VIA STUDIOSQUAREBEERGARDEN.COM to catch a game in Queens.

If you’re one of those people who always has baseball on the brain, and are a fan of the borough’s hometown team, odds are you already know about McFadden’s, located at 36-02 126 St.

But if you’re a Mets fan not familiar with the bar, located a short distance away from Citi Field, be sure to get there sometime next year. continued on page 22

Holiday Festivities HGTV Santa HQ Holiday Parade NOV. 18 AT 11AM-2PM Bring the kids and join us for a Festive Holiday Event to Kick-Off the Season! Together we will officially open the HGTV Santa HQ with a Santa Parade, formal Ribbon Cutting, strolling holiday entertainment, selfie booth, live music, free craft for kids and more!

Black Friday Shopping NOV. 23 - NOV. 24

Join us for a jolly good time with Santa at our Kids Club Breakfast. Children enjoy complimentary breakfast, fun, games and a special visit with Santa himself.

Toy Drive NOV. 18 - DEC. 10 Queens Center will conduct a toy drive to help local organizations serving families and children in need.

Please bring an unwrapped, new toy to the Concierge Desk on Level 3 and help us help underprivileged children in our community enjoy the holiday season!

Plus watch out for surprise entertainment throughout the Holiday Season!

Visit ShopQueensCenter.com for more information.

QUCM-072700

Breakfast with Santa DEC. 2 AT 8-10AM AT THE FOOD COURT

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

Make a plan to join us Black Friday for that Traditional Shopping Trip to the Mall! All stores will open at 5pm on Thanksgiving Day and remain open to 2am Black Friday. The MALL and MANY stores will remain open throughout the night. ALL stores will reopen at 9am Friday to 10pm.

Watch for Fun, Entertainment, Give-Aways and more…popping up throughout the night and day! Check ShopQueensCenter.com and follow us on social media for updates and details.

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 20

C M ANN page 20 Y K

IN THE ARENA

Queens’ rich collection of sports venues

by Ryan Brady Citi Field. Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Kissena Park Velodrome.

Throughout this borough are sports venues: arenas where some of the world’s best athletes face off, neighborhood spots where Little Leaguers compete and everything in between.

Queens’ love of sports is a major part of its landscape.

With a capacity of 41,800, Citi Field is far and away Queens’ largest stadium. Built in 2009, the venue has hosted three games of the 2015 World Series, including the final one in which the Kansas City Royals took the championship.

One of its most notable features is the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, a double-stairway used to enter the venue that honors the first black MLB player. While the overall look of the stadium was praised, many considered its dimensions in the first few years to be problematic.

The Amazin’s organization altered the outfield fences in 2011 and 2014 to make the stadium better for home runs. Professional soccer teams have also competed at the venue.

The Mets preserved two important parts of Shea even after its demolition: in the Citi Field parking lot, one can see a sign in the pavement marking where Shea Stadium used to be. The old venue’s Home Run Apple can also be seen in the lot, as can a bronze marker showing where home plate used to be.

Shea — which the Mets moved into in 1964, having played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan during their first two years — also hosted the New York Jets during football season from 1964 to 1983. The Beatles also played a famous 1965 concert there.

Before the Amazin’s set up shop at Shea, no other MLB team had called Queens home.

“In terms of the Mets, we have a team to root for that’s based in [Queens],” Borough Historian Jack Eichenbaum told the Chronicle.

The baseball team shares Flushing Meadows Corona Park with the United States Tennis Association. Since 1978, huge crowds have hit the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center each summer to see the most elite players in the world face off in the US Open.

Before it was there, the West Side Tennis Club had hosted the tournament at Forest Hills Stadium, which today is a popular concert venue. The first year it did so was 1915. Six years later, the contest would move to Philadelphia, where it would stay until 1924; then, Forest Hills would host the competition until it moved to Flushing.

Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennisonly arena in the world, is the main venue. Last year, a new retractable roof was unveiled there.

Although it’s undergoing construction now, the other big arena at the National Tennis Center — the new Louis Armstrong Stadium — will be open in time for the US Open next year, a USTA spokesman told the Chronicle. The old one is a remodeled version of the Singer Bowl, which hosted trials for the 1964 Olympics in wrestling, judo and boxing according to The New York Times.

Although they’re much more modest than either of the USTA venues, the tennis courts at the Douglaston Club are historically important.

Two professional tennis stars — John McEnroe and Mary Carillo, who grew up in the neighborhood — used to play there.

More stadiums may come to the Flushing area: Borough President Melinda Katz said earlier this year that she would like to one for soccer in Willets Point, along with a hockey arena.

In terms of the sports that Flusing Meadows hosts, it doesn’t end at pro baseball and tennis.

The green space is also the home of the New York Road Runners’ annual Queens 10K. The race runs around Meadow Lake and ends by the Fountain of the Planets.

One of Queens’ most famous sports institutions is in its southern part. Having opened in 1894, Aqueduct Race Track in South Ozone Park is the only venue for its sport in New York City. (Belmont Park is just over the border in Nassau County.)

In 1944, the first triple dead heat — a three-way tie — for a stakes game happened at Aqueduct during the Carter Handicap. The first two contests in famous horse Cigar’s 16-race winning streak also took place there.

You can get a great look at Manhattan’s skyline at the Metropolitan Oval in Maspeth. A United States Soccer Federation youth academy plays at the field, which was founded by immigrants in the 1920s.

Farther north in Queens sits another one of the borough’s most notable sports venues. Kids play baseball, roller hockey and soccer at the College Point Fields. And the Parks Department is expected to finish constructing a football field at the location next November.

One of the best-known places for soccer in Queens is Belson Stadium at St. John’s University. The Red Storm women’s and men’s teams play there. It’s also the home field of the Euro Youth Football Association, a team in the Premier Development League.

The school’s sprawling campus also has the borough’s largest indoor sports venue: Carnesecca Arena. Smaller only than Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center, it’s the third biggest in the entire city.

And it’s the main place where the school’s men’s and women’s basketball teams play.

MSG hosts games between SJU and other Big

BORO OF

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

SPORTS

Citi Field, the biggest stadium in Queens. The Mets’ home is one of the borough’s many great FILE PHOTO venues for sports.

East teams, like Villanova and Syracuse.

Formerly called Alumni Hall, the facility opened in 1961 and was renamed in 2004 after legendary SJU basketball coach Lou Carnesecca. His career also included posts with the thenNew York Nets and Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood.

A regular at Carnesseca, Bay Terrace civic activist Phil Konigsberg likes the basketball arena’s feel.

“You’re much closer to the court,” he said.

“It’s a much different experience than going to MSG. It gives you the college feel, whereas MSG is a more a high-class, big-time place.”

West of the SJU campus is Queens College.

That school’s basketball and baseball teams play at Fitzgerald Gym and Hennekens Stadium, respectively.

Some consider a much smaller and lesserknown sports venue — the Kissena Park Velodrome — to be one of Queens’ hidden treasures. It is the only bike track in the five boroughs today.

The Robert Moses-constructed track was used for the 1964 Olympic Trials. Jack Simes, who was the National Champion cyclist during that year, trained at the Velodrome.

“I think that bicycling, now, in the last 10 years has picked up,” Kissena Park Civic Association President Beverly McDermott said. “It brings more attention to [the Velodrome] in the summer.” But the “hard-nosed” cyclists, she added, are there when the weather is colder.

The track closed in 2002 for renovations; it was reopened after they were completed two years later. However, McDermott said, its condition has worsened since. “It’s disturbing that it’s just gone by the wayside,” the activist said.

Two other Moses creations — the Astoria Pool and the adjacent diving pool — also hosted Olympic Trials in 1936, 1954 and 1964.

Some of the world’s best swimmers and divers competed there. Both are city landmarks.

Although the larger pool is still a popular spot for swimming, the diving one has not been open for more than 30 years. The city plans on transforming the pool into an outdoor amphitheater.

Pointing to the history of the diving pool, Astoria activist Kathleen Springer says that it should be restored to its former glory. “[Moses] wanted everyone to know that everyone in the boroughs could be an Olympic diver,” she said.

Some of the most historic sports venues in Queens no longer exist today. The Fresh Meadow Country Club is now the name of a place in Lake Success, LI, but it used to be in Queens.

The land it occupied is now the sprawling Fresh Meadows housing development.

The club’s golf course hosted the 1932 US Open golf tournament and the 1930 PGA Championship. A retired Babe Ruth also played a 1937 charity match there. He was on a team with renowned athlete Babe Didrikson, facing off against a golfer named Sylvia Annenberg and John Montague, an enigmatic man who did not compete in the sport professionally but was considered perhaps “the world’s greatest golfer” by famed sportswriter Grantland Rice.

Fans ran onto the field during the game; the frenzy led the round to stop at nine holes.

There were no gallery ropes between the fans and the players so the crowds just walked on the course, according to the Golf Channel.

Demolished in the 1990s, the Aquacade in Flushing Meadows — an 11,000-seat amphitheater with a swimming pool — was a relic of the 1939 World’s Fair. According to the Daily News, the pool was renamed after Gertrude Ederle in 1976; it had reopened in 1968. The first woman and American to ever swim across the English Channel, she was a Flushing resident for most of her life. The pool shut down in Q 1977, according to The New York Times.

C M ANN page 21 Y K

The world’s sport in the World’s Borough

by Anthony O’Reilly

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Soccer League.

Going back to youth soccer, Woodhaven Soccer Club has been teaching kids the game since 1989.

The club, part of The Long Island Junior Soccer League and the New York Club Soccer League, has won multiple trophies. Q

YEARS 200

7 – 2017

*Interest Rate for the Money Market Special is 1.25% and APY is 1.26%. The APY is accurate as of October 2, 2017. To qualify for the promotion $10,000.00 minimum balance is required to open the account and obtain the APY. A new or existing checking account is required to qualify for the promotion. There is no maximum amount necessary per account at account opening. New money only. There is a limit of six transactions per month. Please see the Truth In Savings Disclosure for more details on excessive withdrawals. Checking Account Fees reduce earnings. Initial Interest Rate is guaranteed for 6 months from the date of account opening. The promotion can end without prior notice. For more information, visit your nearest branch or call 855.541.1000. Government Accounts and Financial Institutions are excluded from this offer. The promotion is available for businesses and consumers.**APY is Annual Percentage Yield. The APY is accurate as of September 29, 2017. Interest Rate for the 15 Month CD is 1.59% and APY is 1.60%. The special rate is guaranteed for 15 months from the account opening date. To qualify for the promotion, $2,500.00 minimum balance is required to open the account and obtain the APY. $245.000.00 maximum amount is allowed per account at account opening. Multiple accounts per customer are permitted. Early withdrawal penalties apply. Offer is valid until December 15, 2017. For current interest rate/APY visit your nearest branch or call 855.541.1000.

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

I AT

There is no shortage of clubs and spaces for soccer fans to FILE PHOTO play the beautiful game in Queens.

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ESPN reported in 2012 that one in three American households had at least one person who regularly played soccer, second only to the country’s national pastime, baseball.

Queens is not immune to the love of the beautiful game either — the borough is home to many clubs catering to soccer aficionados of all ages.

One of the longest-running programs can be found in Ridgewood, where Blau Weiss Gottschee has been fielding teams since 1951. The club got its start when a group of Austrian immigrants sought to play the game in their new home country — and quickly found success.

Blau Weiss’ Men’s First Team won the German American Soccer League’s Second Division Championship in the 1955-56 season and in 1963 won the league’s Major Division Championship, the top prize in the GASL, now called the Cosmopolitan Soccer League.

Blau Weiss, a U.S. Soccer Development Academy member, still has a men’s team, and hosts youth camps and academies for soccer fans of all ages.

One of the other well-known programs for football, as it’s known outside America, is Auburndale Soccer Club, which was started in 1977.

Unlike Blau Weiss, Auburndale does not have an adult team — instead, it caters to boys and girls from 3 to 19 years old.

Auburndale SC serves children in all Queens communities and hosts programs throughout the entire year.

Its director of soccer operations, Carlo Acquista, is part of the borough’s sporting history.

Acquista, an Auburndale SC alumnus, won three straight Catholic High School Athletic Association city championships with Holy Cross High School and was a part of the 1996 St. John’s University’s Men’s team that won the NCAA Division I national title by defeating Florida International University 4-1.

Speaking of St. John’s, the Queens school is one of the best choices for those looking to play college soccer.

The men’s team has won more Big East Tournaments, 10, than anyone else in the league.

Several former players have gone on to play professionally, such as Chris Wingert of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake and Tim Parker of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The women’s team won the Big East Tournament once, in 1994, and its longtime head coach, Ian Stone, is widely regarded as one of the best in the sport. As with the men, many successful women players have come out of St. John’s, including Rachel Daly, who plays on England’s national team. Daly is also a member of the Houston Dash in the National Women’s

Page 21 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

T H E B E AUT IF U L G AM E

QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 22

C M ANN page 22 Y K

Queens, a borough of tennis

Established 1852

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This is a Pre-Construction Certificate of Savings of $500.00 per space in the soon to be completed St. Mary’s Mausoleum.

Discount may be discontinued without prior notice.

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • 2017

St. Mary’s Community Mausoleum

72-02 Astoria Boulevard East Elmhurst, NY 11370 718 278- 3240 STMC-067222

continued from page 14 USTA heavily renovated the old Singer Bowl to make it Louis Armstrong Stadium and built the Grandstand arena. Each venue has been demolished since, though a new Grandstand stadium opened in 2016 and a new Louis Armstrong one will be open by next year’s U.S. open.

Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997, becoming the primary venue for the US Open. It is the largest arena used only for tennis in the world.

As tennis buffs will tell you, some unforgettable tennis games were played in Flushing Meadows.

One of the most dramatic moments in the last decade was Juan Martin del Potro’s five-set victory over Roger Federer in 2009. Before that contest, the latter had been on a US Open winning streak since 2004.

Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg faced off with rival John McEnroe, a Douglaston native, at the US Open men’s singles final in 1980 after having defeated him in a historic Wimbledon contest. McEnroe won the second competition, successfully defending the title after winning the same contest in 1979.

The sharp-tongued McEnroe is regarded as one of the greatest in tennis, ever. He has earned more doubles and singles titles in the Open era than any other player.

According to New York magazine,

McEnroe grew up in a home near from the Douglaston Club, a country club in the neighborhood. The publication also said that at 8 years old, he was a skilled enough player to compete in the semifinals of the club’s 12-and-under tournament.

According to Douglaston and Little Neck Historical Society President Bob Coddington, the tennis great’s neighborhood roots may have played a role in his success. “I think it had a great deal to do with the club in the neighborhood and the ability to play tennis at a very young age,” he said, adding that many junior players were taught at the club.

Another retired tennis pro — Mary Carillo, who is now a well-known sports broadcaster and analyst — also hails from the northeast Queens neighborhood.

She was neighbors with McEnroe. Both played tennis together when they were young. In an interview that the broadcaster did with People magazine in 1992, she said that the Douglaston natives had the same coach.

In 1977, Carillo and McEnroe competed in the French Open’s mixed doubles contest. They won.

“That was his first Grand Slam win,” Coddington said.

As to what about the neighborhood could create great tennis players, the historical society president joked, “It might be Q the air or water.”

The best sports bars in Qns. continued from page 19 You’ll be among many raucous baseball fans cheering on the Amazin’s through good and bad, with more than 50 screens to watch the game on — or you could book one of the private dining areas. McFadden’s is also the venue for the annual Queens Baseball Convention, a gathering of hundreds of Mets fans organized by a group of bloggers from the website MetsPolice.com.

Head to mcfaddensballparkny.com for more information.

Most football teams are still trying to book their ticket to the NFL playoffs — though none from around here — but it might not be a bad idea to start thinking about your postseason and Super Bowl plans. Tap House, located at 72-07 Austin St. in Forest Hills, is just one of the many options and also has some of the best chicken wings in the borough.

Speaking of wings, Buffalo Wild Wings has locations in Forest Hills and College Point with not only tons of poultry options, but dozens of screens.

And there’s also Hooters at 61-09 190 St. in Fresh Meadows.

Both chains typically offer specials during the NFL playoffs, so be sure to check their websites early next year for more information.

If you’re in northeast Queens, there’s no better place to go for game night than

McFadden’s is Mets heaven.

PHOTO VIA MCFADDENSBALLPARKNY.COM

Bell Boulevard. Just a few options are Brian Dempsey’s, Safari Beach Club, Bourbon Street and Local Bar & Grill.

All of these are just some of the favorite places to catch a game.

So whether it’s the World Cup, World Series, Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup, be sure to check out the amazing places Q Queens has to offer.

C M ANN page 23 Y K

Scooter, Whitey got their starts in Queens

by Michael Gannon Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford were teammates with the New York Yankees for parts of five seasons, not including two Ford spent in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. They bridged two of the great eras of the team’s history. Rizzuto came up in 1941, playing with teammates of the beloved “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig, like Joe DiMaggio, and Ford, along with Mickey Mantle, carried the tradition through the early 1960s and into the early days of the dreaded Horace Clarke Era. And both honed their craft as boys on the fields of Queens.

Rizzuto, a Brooklyn native, attended Richmond Hill High School. At 5 feet, 6 inches tall and claiming to weigh 150 pounds, he was told by a handful of Major League teams that he was too small to play pro baseball.

Ford grew up in Astoria and opposing player a “Huckleberry.”

He often would talk cannolis, his attended Aviation High School.

He joined the Yankees in 1950, wife, Cora, or his golf game while the year Rizzuto won the Ameri- the action was going on, but it only can League’s Most Valuable Player endeared him to the fans more.

His No. 10 was retired by the award — and went 9-1 down the stretch as the Yankees went to the Yankees in 1985; he was voted World Series and swept the Phila- into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1994. delphia Phillies’ “Whiz Kids.”

R i z z uto wou ld One historical footspend 1943-45 serving note: in 1950, the Scootwith the U.S. Navy in er was the first-ever World Wa r I I, but mystery guest on the when the Scooter game show BORO OF television returned, he became a “What’s My Line?”

Ya n ke es m a i n st ay, Ford as a rookie ap p e a r i ng i n n i ne joined a pitching staff World Series and five of established veterAll-Star games. His last effective ans, but upon returning from the yea r wa s 1953, a nd he wa s service quickly became a mainstay. released in the 1956 season.

He won the 1961 American League The next year he began a leg- Cy Young Award; won 236 career endary 40-year career in the Yan- games with 45 shutouts, was named kees broadcast booth, peppering to eight All-Star teams and pitched his commentary with a “Holy in 11 World Series. His 10 World cow!” or calling some umpire or Series victories are still a record.

Page 23 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017

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QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 16, 2017 Page 24

C M ANN page 24 Y K

Queens County Savings Bank congratulates the

39TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION â&#x20AC;¢ 2017

Queens Chronicle as they celebrate their

39th Anniversary Together we continue to be committed to the people and businesses of our community!