Quantcast

Family ties: Holy Cross catcher living up to the Valle name

By Dylan Butler

Tom Pugh was walking with his team to the practice field at Crocheron Park in Bayside when something unusual caught the Holy Cross football coach's eye. There was a young boy who couldn't have been older than 8, standing by himself, hitting baseballs into a chain-link fence.

At several points during practice, Pugh would glance over and there the boy stood, alone, hitting ball after ball into the fence.

Two hours later, the football players were ready to board the bus to return to school when Pugh walked over to the boy, who was still repeating this exercise.

“You're going to be a big-time player,” Pugh told the boy. “You know, you remind me of this family from around here, the Valles.”

The boy looked up at Pugh and without hestitation responded.

“I am a Valle.”

Last week, Pugh was again watching the boy, who is now a starting catcher at Holy Cross. His name is Matthew Valle and he is continuing the athletic legacy of the Valle clan.

It started with John Valle, Matthew's grandfather, who sold pharmaceuticals by day, but his passion was baseball. The former Fordham University catcher was a Bayside Little League coach for 14 years and built a batting cage in the backyard of their Bayside home where his five sons and others from the neighborhood took batting practice.

“Chicken Coop Stadium,” recalled Matthew's father, Roy.

John died of a massive heart attack at the age of 41. His wife Marilyn kept the family together the full-time nurse worked the graveyard shift to make sure she had time for her eight children.

“My mom was the hero of the story for sure,” Roy said.

In honor of John's dedication, the Bayside Little League named two of the fields at Crocheron in his honor Valle East and Valle West. Matthew played on them both.

“The Valles are very important to the Bayside Little League,” Bayside Little League president Bob Reid said. “John was always there for the kids.”

Four of the five Valle boys attended Holy Cross Tony, the eldest, was the exception, choosing Bishop Reilly and each excelled athletically.

Following his father's lead, John Valle was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 1972 Major League Draft and played 13 years in the minor leagues, twice making all-star games. He never made it to the big leagues, mostly because he was playing behind legendary Baltimore Orioes first baseman Eddie Murray.

Tommy Valle followed and is one of the greatest football players ever at Holy Cross, according to Pugh. A tight end and safety, Tommy had the likes of Penn State's Joe Paterno and Ohio State's Woody Hayes recruiting him before a serious knee injury and a botched surgery ended his senior year. He attended the University of Montana and then transferred to Temple, but his college football career was cut short because of yet another knee injury.

Roy's football career ended at Holy Cross, but he was a hard-hitting middle linebacker and a three-year starter.

And then there was Dave, who was a star baseball and basketball player at Holy Cross. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1978 and made his Major League debut behind the plate for the Mariners Sept. 7, 1984.

Dave spent 12 years in the majors, playing for Seattle, Boston, Milwaukee and Texas and remains involved in the game today as a Mariners broadcaster.

With two uncles who played professional baseball, Matthew has great role models and motivation for his own baseball aspirations.

“He sees it as a possibility,” Roy said. “If his two uncles can do it, there's a chance he can do it if he works really hard.”

Roy sees similarities in Matthew and Dave both are about the same height, similar build, and both thrive on their defensive abilities behind the plate. Helping Matthew in that aspect is Larry Izzo, a Mets scout who met Matthew through Omar Minaya, one of Dave's closest friends.

“They're very similar in their whole approach,” Roy said. “I always encourage Matthew that it's more important defensively than what you do with the bat.”

Matthew hasn't had much of a problem being in his uncles' shadow. Sure there's some teasing from Holy Cross administrators and teachers about living up to his last name, but Matthew handles the pressure of being a Valle with the same ease as he does catching St. John's-bound pitcher Kevin Kilpatrick.

“When I came to school, I just wanted to show them I could play baseball, too,” Matthew said. “I wanted to make my mark as well.

Matthew isn't too bad with the bat, either. He bats in the middle of the Holy Cross lineup and is one of the more consistent players in Queens.

“I knew he had talent and catchers are hard to come by so I was looking forward to having him as a player,” Holy Cross coach Doug Manfredonia said. “He's playing real well.”

Roy was at the park that day, teaching his daughter Alana to ride a bike. He remembers it like it was yesterday, and still hears Pugh talk about that random encounter every once in awhile.

“Typical Valle,” Pugh said.

Only there's nothing typical about the Valles.

Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at dbutler@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.