BC BASEBALL Celebrates Pete Frates in Cooperstown

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BC BASEBALL Celebrates Pete Frates in Cooperstown

Baseball Hall of Fame Announces ALS Exhibit

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – The Boston College baseball team spent the weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y., spreading ALS awareness, celebrating the life and work of former captain Pete Frates and of course, playing baseball. Frates was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in March 2012 at the age of 27 and was the catalyst behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The Eagles visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame, accompanied by Frates’ parents, John and Nancy, his brother, Andrew, and Casey Sherman, co-author of The Ice Bucket Challenge: Pete Frates and the Fight against ALS.

The Eagles left The Heights early Saturday morning to travel to New York. Jon Shestakofsky, the hall’s vice president of communications and education, gave the team a short history of the origins of baseball, the museum and its location in Cooperstown before ushering the team into the Plaque Gallery, where more than 300 hall of famers are enshrined.

The Frates family presented the Hall of Fame a rare signed Pete Frates baseball, autographed before his ALS diagnosis. It was announced that the Hall would be adding an exhibit, “ALS and Baseball,” the story of Frates and hall of famers Lou Gehrig and Catfish Hunter, both of whom passed away from the disease.

“This disease was named after Lou Gehrig. But I think Lou Gehrig would be very proud of Pete that now the fact that ALS is branded now,” Andrew Frates said. “It’s not Lou Gehrig’s disease anymore, it’s ALS. People are learning what ALS stands for – Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Having it branded ALS, rather than Lou Gehrig’s disease, is huge for the ALS community because now people can start Googling ALS, Googling other symptoms of what that is. I think Lou would be proud of Pete for that.”

Frates’ parents, Sherman and head baseball coach Mike Gambino participated in a panel discussion to talk about the former BC ballplayer’s life, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which changed the course of the disease, and the progress that has been made since that August 2014.

“I will echo what many of the players have said – it was one of the most powerful talks I’ve heard about Pete,” senior Carmen Giampetruzzi said. “We are so proud to be a part of the Frate Train and anytime we can help support Pete it’s awesome.”

The players had time to explore the museum before playing the first game of an annual BC baseball tradition: The Sonny Nictakis Fall World Series, named in honor of the former two-time captain who passed away after a battle with Hodgkin’s disease in the summer of 2000. This year, it took place on historic Doubleday Field.

On Sunday, the Eagles’ morning started with a presentation of baseball artifacts in the Hall’s Bullpen Theater. Shestakofsky produced items specifically tied to ALS, including Gehrig’s bat, Hunter’s hat and the pen he used to sign baseball’s first free-agent contract, a pamphlet to an ALS charity event hosted by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and an award presented to Major League Baseball by the ALS Association. Frates’ ball was included in the display. The team also got an up-close look at newly acquired items by the museum, including the cleats wore by Red Sox Chris Sale when he recorded his 300^th strikeout of the 2017 season and the helmet worn by Texas Ranger Carlos Beltran when he notched his 3,000^th career hit.

The final stop in the Hall was Frates’ own. In June, the bucket and sunglasses he used in his own Ice Bucket Challenge, completed at Fenway Park, was given to the Hall of Fame, along with his glove and cap from his BC playing days. It was the highlights of the weekend for many players.

“It was cool to walk through the Hall of Fame and see all the memorabilia and artifacts of some of the players we’ve looked up to our whole lives. It’s especially great because we’ve gotten a behind-the-scenes look and access to things that are not on display here,” junior Zach Stromberg said “I will definitely remember seeing Pete’s exhibit for the first time. He means so much to the game of baseball and it’s really awesome that he is now going to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame with his exhibit forever.”

The Eagles wrapped up the trip with the second game of the fall world series back at Doubleday Field.

Story Links:

Hall of Fame Release

Photo Gallery

ALS Exhibit Announcement – VIDEO

On the weekend – VIDEO

Playing at Doubleday – VIDEO

Full Panel – VIDEO

Photos for download for media:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t07sfaxqmalgys0/AACkmNH2PQoaKux7ALClbMrfa?dl=0