By:John C. O'Connell
No one could have imagined when he caught his first baseball at age 5 that Tommy Caputo would be playing professional baseball two decades later.
Not many would have thought when he went for a tryout for the Long Island Ducks on Aug. 7 that owner Buddy Harrelson would tell the 1994 Central High School grad to don a uniform and play third base that very night.
Yet hardly anyone who's seen the tall, lean athlete play is surprised to learn he scored a run his first night on the Central Islip field.
The varsity player for Central received a scholarship to Hofstra where he earned a bachelor's degree in child psychology in 1998. He served as a seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher's assistant at Memorial Jr. High School last year and has been one of the assistant coaches helping head coach Tony Lombardo at Valley Stream's baseball camp this summer.
"Tony called Buddy about me," Caputo said, "and Buddy said, 'Bring him down here.' So I showed up at Firemen's Field for baseball camp last Tuesday morning and Tony told me I had a tryout with the Ducks at 3. When I got there I was told to mix in with the team during practice. I took some batting practice. Buddy told me to hang out while he went to do something. Then he came down and said, 'I'd like to sign you. Can you dress for tonight's game?'"
Tommy pinch ran, played third base, and scored a run.
It would be natural for a newly signed ballplayer to revel in getting signed with the pros. And there's no doubt Caputo feels terrific about having his athletic skills recognized after all the years of high school and college ball. He's surely eager to prove his abilities.
But something about taking the professional field a little later than some straight-from-the-campus stars has added a mature confidence, an adult's sense of perspective to this newest Duck.
"As far as I was concerned, I was done with baseball three years ago. But Tony, my father, and others told me, "You're not done. Go play. Don't give up on yourself."
Lombardo said, "We always felt from day one that he'd gotten a raw deal in college." The Hofstra coach that recruited him out of Central was replaced, and the new coach reportedly wanted his own team, Lombardo said. "But we all believed in him. Central's baseball coach Richie Adams, Tommy's parents Tom and Barbara, and many others; we all believed in him."
And Caputo knew he had what it took. "I'd look at other players, professional players, and say to myself, deep down, that I knew I could play like that."
While thrilled to be a pro player at last, Caputo talks just as enthusiastically about his work as a special education teacher's assistant at Memorial. "I love teaching because the kids have been so great. I used my child psych major and all the information I gained in school. I just loved the kids. They responded to me right away.
"Special education kids have a lot against them. I'm an example of someone who's gotten one more chance. I've learned that you can't let other people say you can't do things. You have to try. If you want to do something, go out and do it. Don't let people tell you no."
Keeping his summer baseball career in perspective, Caputo said, "So many people never get the chance to do this. If it lasts, great. If it only lasts a week, it's been a great week."
The Long Island Ducks is a minor league team unaffiliated with any particular major league team. It is the equivalent of an AA or AAA team. The season ends, unless they get into the playoffs, on Sept. 19. Games start at 7:05 every night of the week when they're home on their Central Islip field.
