By Peter Vander Veer
Special to the Voice
From an extraordinarily difficult childhood, one filled with poverty and pain, Vincent “Skip” Falcone has risen to prominence in this Shoreline city that he has called home for over 80 years.
Falcone, a 1961 Notre Dame High School graduate who went on to captain the baseball team at Harvard (1965), has been a longtime advocate for youth sports and community involvement.
Those achievements have not gone unnoticed. On May 17, Falcone, who picked up the game of golf at a later age and went on to win several statewide championships, will receive a John Wentworth Good Sports award from the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance at the organization’s 83rd Gold Key dinner at the Aqua Turf in Southington.
“Skip is worthy of such an honor,” said Gary Palladino who coached basketball at Notre Dame for 31 years (1982-2013). “His lifelong devotion to the city and to its youth is remarkable.”
Falcone joins a lengthy list of former Good Sports from West Haven. Beginning in 2003 with George “The Coach” DeMaio, the others are Bob Greenwood (2004), Chris Everone (2005), Dave Ruotolo (2007), Tom “Tinker” Blake (2009), Vin DiLauro (2011) and Mike Madera (2018).
“As a family we never lived in a house until I was eight years old,” said Falcone who suffered from osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone) as a child. He spent months in the hospital and was on crutches until he was 10 years old.
Determined to compete in athletics, Falcone played Little League baseball at 10, making the All-Star team as a second baseman. His father Dominic, a strong influence in his life, was his coach.
My parents wanted me to get a good Catholic education and that’s why I went to Notre Dame,” said Falcone who watched ND football great Nick Pietrosante play at Quigley Stadium.
He fit right in on the baseball team along with teammates Dan Scarpa, Joe Tonelli, Pat Elia, Buddy Chernovetz, Frank Cavalero and quite a few more.
We had a great hitting team,” Falcone said. “But we never had enough pitching to compete for a state championship.”
His decision to go to Harvard was also one which his dad and his mom (Benna) had a lot to do with.
“While I was at Notre Dame, I had some scouts looking at me, “he said. “All I wanted to do was play baseball. At the time it was my dream.”
But, off to Cambridge he went.
Falcone had several significant games against Yale.
He hit a home run in his last at-bat in the Commencement Game at Harvard even though the Crimson lost, 9-8. The year before, in 1964, he had three hits as Harvard prevailed, 7-3, in New Haven.
With that part of his journey over, Falcone was signed by Cardinals’ scout Jeff Jones and began a minor league career which lasted for a little over three seasons.
During that time, he played for future Cincinnati Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson (at Gastonia) and once batted against former New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry.
Injuries, however, and a decision to attend Cornell Law School, brought an end to his pursuit in professional baseball.
“I was released during the summer of 1968 while playing at Cedar Rapids,” Falcone said. “I entered law school in the spring and that was probably a good part of the reason why they let me go.”
Falcone returned to Connecticut and began his career in law which he continues to this day.
He began coaching in West Haven’s Developmental basketball leagues in 1981 and kept adding on– Little League baseball and youth soccer. He coached his late daughter, Tiffany, who eventually went on to become a star at West Haven High School, where, as a striker, she scored 55 goals in the same number of games.
And it was Falcone who filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the high school in 1986 which led to the organization of a girls’ team.
“It’s without a doubt, my greatest achievement,” Falcone said. “Getting to see girls playing soccer at the high school level was thrilling. And coaching kids always produced the proudest moments in my life. Helping them to learn the lessons through sportsmanship and fair play was very important to me.”
His association with the West Haven Twilight League was lengthy, as a player, coach and league president.
Tickets for the Gold Key dinner can be obtained either through the Alliance’s website at: ctsportswiters.com, or by contacting either Peter Vander Veer (sptswriter3@yahoo.com) or John Holt (johndholt@yahoo.com).
Peter Vander Veer once served as the University of New Haven’s Director of Sports Information and has been involved in sportswriting for 57 years. He currently serves as the Alliance’s president.
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