Showing posts with label Queens College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queens College. Show all posts

Sunday, November 1, 2015

James Frascatore, the NYPD officer who arrested James Blake, aspired to follow brother's MLB career

James Frascatore, the NYPD cop who had his gun and badge removed after taking down retired tennis star James Blake earlier this week in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, was a local budding baseball star before starting what has been a tumultuous career as a police officer. The younger brother of former major league pitcher John Frascatore, had a strong amateur career that he hoped take him on a similar path.

The 38-year-old Oceanside, New York native was a standout pitcher at Oceanside High School, where he earned honorable mention for New York State Player of the Year in 1995 by USA Today. A right-handed pitcher, Frascatore was attempting to follow in the footsteps of his older brother John, who excelled at Long Island University-CW Post before spending seven years in the major leagues as a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Frascatore played his collegiate ball at New York Tech and Queens College, but ultimately could not duplicate the success of his older brother. He ran the Big League Baseball Academy in Oceanside from 2002-2007 before working towards his current position with the NYPD. In 2013, three separate excessive force complaints were filed against him with the Civilian Compliant Review Board.


Saturday, August 16, 2014

Tom Sowinksi, St. John's 1968 College World Series hero and former Queens College coach dies at 68

Tom Sowinski, St. John's University's all-time single-season wins leader in baseball, and the former head coach at Queens College (N.Y), passed away August 7, 2014 after suffering a massive heart attack while playing golf. He was 68.

Sowinski played three years in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system from 1968-70, getting as high as Double-A in their farm system.

Prior to his tenure at Queens College, he was the head coach at Queensborough Community College, as well as previously spending time as an assistant at Adelphi University and Manhattan College.