By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debiase@siadvance.com
Those who know Larry Anderson best will tell you he’s as modest as they come. And truth be told, there’s plenty of things for Anderson to brag about if he ever chose to go that route. When former Staten Island Advance/SILive.com columnist Jay Price asked Anderson which Public Schools baseball championship game was more of an upset when the Warriors lost in both 1958-59, the ex-three-sport athlete couldn’t help but laugh at first.
The laugh, most likely, was because an uncharacteristic response was on the way. “Anytime we lost, it felt like an upset,” he told Price for a column about the last days of Ebbets Field.
Just over 13 years later, Anderson explained a bit further.“In my three seasons between sophomore and senior year, we went a combined 66-6,‘’ explained Anderson, who was the starting centerfielder for the Warriors back then. “Unfortunately, three of those six losses came in the city championship game.‘’
And that only tells half the story of just how dominant those Curtis teams were back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Warriors, in fact, who were managed by Curtis alum Bert Levinson, made a whopping six consecutive appearances in the city title game between 1958-63.
The 88-year-old Levinson, who is always fast to credit his players for the success, happened to be in the first six seasons (he pretty much ran the show when long-time, legendary coach Harry O’Brien decided to call it quits as manager, but still sat on the bench for the 1958 season) of what would become a 14-year stint as the Warriors’ manager. His former players, however, will tell you the old coach deserves a lot of props for the success as well.It’s most likely somewhere in the middle and at the end of the day, those Curtis teams enjoyed one of the most dominant stretches Staten Island’s seen since they started playing organized sports on the high school level.
“We had some outstanding ballplayers that not only earned scholarships, but some that went pro,‘’ said a proud Levinson, who had both Gordon McKinnon and Herb White on his coaching staff. “During that stretch, every one of my kids could start for any other school.
“It was really nice to see so many young players produce the way they did and they all lived within Curtis’ (school) zone — we never recruited anyone — and went on to graduate.
“I’m very proud of that.‘’
So why were the Warriors so dominant? Well for starters, they had exceptional pitching led by a pair of aces that first included Ray Ratkowski and later Danny McDermott. Other guys like Tommy Burrell, Jimmy Fleschner and Frankie Previti also contributed to Curtis’ success with time on the mound.
Then, of course, they had a boatload of position players that sparked their offense, including guys like Anderson, Jack Tracy, Frank Fernández, Sonny Roberto, Bobby Fisher, Billy Wolfe, Terry Crowley, Joe Cipoletti, Pat Marzo, Joe Montalbano, Drew Kelly, Basil Russo, Tommy Martinson, Harry Gumb, Jack Smiechowski, Bob Campbell and Carvin Young, just to name a few.
Five guys, including Crowley, Roberto, Fernández, Tracy and McDermott, got drafted. Crowley, Roberto and Fernández, meanwhile, made it to the big leagues.
Anderson said one of the reasons why they played so well together was because of how often they found themselves on the diamond. The former Wagner College baseball coach said in addition to playing two high school games a week, the majority of the guys would also play Kiawanis Jrs., T-M Midget, T-M Light Jrs., T-M Heavy Jrs. and in Men’s Leagues as well.
“There was a lot of baseball being played and, a lot of the time, we’d be together or playing against each other,‘’ said Anderson. “We seemed to be playing every day of the week. Sure, we had guys with a lot of talent, but we had relationships and a camaraderie that contributed to our success.
“But as far as Curtis was concerned,‘’ Anderson continued, “the names and faces changed over the years, but the one constant was Bert and he was a big part of why we were successful as well.‘’
The Warriors were the favorites in each of those first three city championship games between 1958-60, but uncharacteristically gave the opposition some extra outs that were turned into a number of unearned runs.
Levinson’s troops, however, finally hit pay dirt in both 1961-62.
After losing the 1960 championship game 3-0 to Bryant, they pounded the same team, 15-2, a year later.
“That championship game we played in 1960 was probably one of the best we ever played, yet we got shut out,‘’ said McDermott on Monday. “They scored three unearned runs off me in the first inning and I shut them out the rest of the way.
“We hit a bunch of line drives, but every one seemed to be hit right at somebody,‘’ laughed McDermott, who would go on to win the Jaques Award as Staten Island’s top basketball player the following year before leading the Warriors to another baseball title. “I was 15-years-old after we lost that championship my sophomore year (1960) — it broke my heart.
“I came back hungry and, honestly, even the years we lost, it was a great time with all the talent we had,‘’ added McDermott. “Bert was a great coach in both baseball and basketball — he kept us motivated and we could play with anyone.‘’
Levinson, who graduated from the ‘Castle on the Hill’ back in 1949, revels in the fact his teams accomplished so much during those dynasty years. He acknowledges the abundance of talent, but is also thankful his boys competed the right way.
“They played defense and always hustled during that run,‘‘ the former coach says as if though it was yesterday. “I was a pretty good coach, but I had great kids that wanted to play. They wanted to be there.
“They were top-notch players that made me important.‘’
His players would likely refute that last statement. But regardless, there’s no denying just how dominant those Warriors were.
