Tony Ferrainolo vividly remembers the days when he was a little boy and he would wake up and instantly head in one direction.
“I lived right up the block from Miller Stadium,” Ferrainolo said. “I lived right on the corner of Bergenline Avenue in a big apartment building. I was about 8 years old when I ran up to Miller Stadium to play for the first time.”
Little did Ferrainolo know that it would be the start of a five-decade long association with the old-time ball park.
“I’d walk out of my house when I was a kid and going to the park was the first thing I did,” said Ferrainolo, who has enjoyed a career as an athlete and later as one of the most decorated high school baseball coaches in New Jersey state history at Miller Stadium. “I remember going there as a kid and watching all the Memorial football and baseball games and saying, ‘I’m going to play here someday.’ I just wanted to be a player and a coach. That’s all I knew.”
Ferrainolo was a fine football, basketball and baseball player at Memorial, graduating in 1963.
But Ferrainolo was also a standout athlete, first at Memorial, where he earned All-County recognition in football as a wide receiver twice (1961 and 1962), then in basketball (1962) and baseball as a shortstop (1962).
In 1962, he was also named to the All-Group IV team for football and was selected as the Hudson County Athlete of the Year.
From Memorial, Ferrainolo went on to Villanova University, where he lettered in football (1964-66) and played baseball as a freshman (1964).
Upon graduation from Villanova, Ferrainolo went back to his high school alma mater, where he later became the head football coach for 20 years (1977-1996), winning two HCIAA championships and leading his team to the state playoffs five times.
But it’s as a baseball coach where Ferrainolo has gained his finest moments. He led the Tigers to the 1988 mythical national championship. His teams won an astonishing 14 HCIAA championships. The Tigers also won seven NJSIAA state sectional crowns and four overall Group IV titles, including that overall Group IV state title in 1988.
All totaled, Ferrainolo has tasted victory a remarkable 730 times as Memorial’s head baseball coach. Only Harry Shatel, the retired head coach at Morristown High School, has ever won more games as a New Jersey high school baseball coach.
So Ferrainolo’s Hall of Fame achievements have been legendary.
“All I wanted to do was to teach and coach at Memorial,” Ferrainolo said. “It was a dream for me and it came true.”
Last Wednesday, the town of West New York decided to give Ferrainolo a permanent honor. Mayor Silverio “Sal” Vega renamed the field at Miller Stadium as the Anthony R. Ferrainolo Field.
“It’s really unbelievable,” Ferrainolo said. “I still can’t believe it. It makes me think of all the players who I’ve coached over the year and all the coaches I’ve been with.”
Ferrainolo was overjoyed that his 91-year-old mother, Angelina, was able to enjoy the festivities.
“I’m glad she’s still here to enjoy it with me,” Ferrainolo said. “My Dad is upstairs, watching over us. They were always at every game.”
In fact, Ferrainolo decided to honor his late father with the naming of the field.
“I didn’t have a middle name, so I thought of my dad, whose name was Ralph, and that’s where the R. comes from in the name,” Ferrainolo said. “So he gets a part in this.”
Ferrainolo said that he first learned of the honor when Vega, who still serves as the school’s athletic director, met with all the coaches in preparation for the spring season.
“He announced it at the breakfast with the coaches,” Ferrainolo said. “I was very humbled by it.”
Vega felt it was the right move.”
“For me, just watching from the sidelines, first as a student, then as a teacher, then athletic director and finally the mayor, I’ve been amazed at the amount of people Tony Ferrainolo has touched over the years,” Vega said. “Our town keeps changing every day, but our baseball program remains the same. And he’s the reason for that.”
Vega said that he had been thinking of the proper way to honor Ferrainolo for years.
“We named the basketball court in the high school after Congressman Albio Sires and the football field after the late Joe Coviello,” Vega said. “We thought for a long time for a way to honor Tony and this is it. Things have changed, but he remains the one constant.”
Vega said that he always wanted to give Ferrainolo his proper due.
“From the time that I became mayor, I wanted to honor the people in West New York who have had a little piece of history,” Vega said. “We named the basketball floor after Congressman Sires and the football field after Coviello. It’s all about doing what’s right.”
Vega marvels at the fact that Ferrainolo is still coaching well into his third decade.
“It’s amazing,” Vega said. “He lives for coaching. It’s a combination of great dedication and love of coaching. It’s the right tribute for what Tony has done for me and what he’s done for West New York.”
The honor also comes at a crucial time in the 63-year-old Ferrainolo’s life. He was diagnosed in March with having a lymphoma in his chest and he’s currently being actively treated for the cancer.
“Word got out throughout the county and all the coaches in the county have been great, offering me well wishes,” Ferrainolo said. “There was a time that I didn’t even want to mention cancer, but it’s fine now. I know a lot of people who have had setbacks and are battling something. Well, this is my battle. I honestly believe that being involved in Memorial sports all these years made me prepared for battles. I’m in a battle and I know we’ll win it.”
Ferrainolo said that the honor is nice to receive while he’s still actively coaching.
“I’m still around, and I expect to be around for a few more years,” Ferrainolo said. “There isn’t a day that goes by without me thinking about some of great players and coaches I’ve worked with over the years. I’ve received so many calls, e-mails and texts, offering me congratulations about this. I’ve really gone through a wide range of emotions. It’s really unbelievable.”
It also comes in a year where Ferrainolo has had to miss games and practices because he was receiving treatments. The Tigers have not enjoyed the success they’ve had in the past, winning only seven of 12 games thus far.
But there’s no question that the real winner Wednesday afternoon was Tony Ferrainolo, receiving an honor so very well deserved and a title that will live on in perpetuity.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.