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Western Massachusetts native has successful MLB career

West Springfield native and Cathedral High School graduate Chris Capuano has been playing professional baseball since being selected in the eighth round of the 1999 amateur draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Over his career, he has been a reliable starter counted on to be an innings-eater and, during that period, has racked up some impressive stats and accomplishments. Among them are:

*Pitched for Team USA in the 2001 World Cup of baseball; the team earned a silver medal
*Won 44 games in four years for the Milwaukee Brewers, 18 in the 2005 season
*Led the National League in quality starts in ’05
*Led the NL in pickoffs in ’05 with 12
*NL All-Star selection in ’06 with Brewers
*Named NL Player of the Week on Apr. 30, 2006
*11 wins with the 2011 hapless New York Mets
*12 wins with the 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers
*Has averaged over seven strikeouts per nine innings pitched for his career
*Served up no. 761 to Barry Bonds
*Picked Roger Clemens off first base
*Appeared in a 2007 episode of The Young and the Restless with some teammates
*Married Sarah Clifford, a Duke graduate with Berkshire County roots

Chris Capuano has always had a game plan for his life: he wanted a solid education and wanted to play baseball. After compiling a 16-1 record in his last two years of high school (while also being the valedictorian of his class), the Pittsburgh Pirates showed an interest in him – but that would interfere with the game plan, so it was time to choose a college.

He signed a letter of intent with Yale of the ivy league, but later, after a visit to Duke University, he decided to head a little bit south of New Haven, Conn., for an education.

“My visit to the campus sold me and I knew that the brand of baseball played in the ACC would test my abilities,” Capuano recalled.

So it was off to Durham, N.C.

After three seasons at Duke, the Diamondbacks came calling with their checkbook in hand. Chris was happy to be drafted but would only sign if he could complete his degree at Duke.

His game plan had to stay the course. The academic part of school was as important as the baseball aspect and Chris wanted to graduate with his class.

After signing, he could no longer play for the Blue Devils because he was now a professional. We know how the baseball part of the plan is flourishing, but how did the studies work out?

Well, how does a degree in economics with a minor in biological anthropology and anatomy, a pre-med discipline, work for you? Let’s toss in a Phi Beta Kappa distinction for finishing in the top five percent of his class, while compiling a 3.86 GPA for his four-year career.

Life was pretty good for Chris Capuano.

Post-college

After progressing through the minor league system, he was pitching for Tucson in AAA ball in 2002 and was 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA, catching the attention of the major league club in Arizona. It was then that the kid with an excellent slider and breaking ball was tossed a curve himself.

Arm problems developed and he was sidelined. Was it time to put that Duke degree to work and head for Wall Street ?

“I had decided from day one that I was in baseball for the long haul and decided to have surgery; I had come too far to pack it in,” Capuano told The Beacon.

On May 17, he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the remainder of 2002.

The surgery was a success, and he was up and down with the big club in ’03, appearing in nine games, starting five. In December 2003, Capuano was traded to Milwaukee, along with five of his teammates, for slugger Richie Sexon and others.

If you peruse his major league career stats you will find a void for the ’08 and ’09 seasons. Was he in the witness protection program, pitching in Japan or maybe working with Bernie Madoff?

No, he was not, but it might have been easier if he was. He was tossed another high, hard one: arm problems, part two.

Was it time for Wall Street or medical school now?

Remember Capuano was in it for the long haul. He spent that period recovering from the second surgery on his pitching arm. Even when he was on the shelf he impressed the management of the Brewers.

From Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin: “Chris is one of the top individuals that I have ever been involved with, a very dedicated and disciplined young man, there was no doubt in my mind that he would have a successful major league career.”

Your Beacon scribe has known Chris’s father, Frank, since grammar school. Frank was an outstanding high school player at Cathedral, led western Massachusetts in hitting in 1965 and went on to excel as a shortstop and centerfielder at AIC, where he teamed up with Paul Procopio of Pittsfield.

“I played short, and Paul was in center, and when he graduated, I moved to centerfield,” Frank recalled.

While playing the outfield he was named to the All New England team as a senior. Frank is a successful businessman and an intelligent guy, but for a fact, I know he did not go to medical school.

When he started to explain the medical procedure of surgery no. 2 by Dr. James Andrews of Alabama, he lost me at “they drilled they holes in his funny bone and took some hamstring from his leg and put it in his arm…”

I’ll take Frank’s word for it, because it worked out fine. Chris was back in the bigs in 2010, a free agent in 2011 and is now in a two-year contract with the L.A. Dodgers through 2013. Once again life is good for Chris Capuano; let’s pull for the kid, he certainly has earned his opportunity and is taking full advantage of it.

The Beacon was able to catch up with Capuano while home for Thanksgiving and a family wedding. He wasn’t around long, because he had to be in New York for the MLB Players Association executive board meetings, on Nov. 26-29. Next week, in Part II, we will talk to Chris and get his takes on his experiences in high school, college and professional baseball.

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Posted by on December 20, 2012. Filed under Berkshire Sports Guy,Columns,Opinion,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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