 | | Siena's baseball coach Tony Rossi hosted a live chat on April 17, 2003. |
Siena Saints Baseball Coach Tony Rossi Chat Wrap
See the coach's responses to the viewers questions.
For the 34th consecutive season, Tony Rossi will call the shots for the Siena baseball program. Rossi enters this season after joining the illustrious 500-win club last year. He is the all-time winningest coach in school history in any sport. Rossi also has the longest tenure of any coach in Siena history and of any current coach in the MAAC. He has defined the Siena Baseball Program over the years, building the program from a Division II team with 10 players to a championship Division I program with 21 scholarship student-athletes. Over his 33 years, he has coached 30 players who have gone on to sign professional contracts and two players who have reached the highest level (Gary Holle '71 and Tim Christman '01). With the addition of baseball scholarships Rossi has been able to recruit against the top programs in the country. Skip (as he is affectionately known) spends a good deal of his time recruiting, organizing and fundraising, so the program can continue to grow and remain successful. For the past six years, he has served as assistant athletic director, allowing him to be on campus full-time. Since entry in to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, prior to the 1990 season, Rossi has the Saints to a 155-112 record in the conference. Over the past 12 seasons, he has been awarded MAAC Coach of the Year five times (1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, and most recently 2001). Rossi has also coached four MAAC Rookies of the Year and four MAAC Players of the Year. Over this time, Siena has captured four MAAC Regular season titles and four MAAC Tournament championships. Prior to 1999 there was only one more step for the Siena Baseball Program to take: qualifying for the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. That feat was accomplished by the 1999 Saints', who went a remarkable 21-5 in the MAAC, and swept through the MAAC Tournament outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 35-7. Last season, a sweep of conference-rival Rider gave Rossi his 500th career win. Rossi has been elected to the Siena Sports Hall of Fame (1985), and the Albany Twilight League (1985). He is a 1965 graduate of Brockport State College, where he excelled in baseball for three seasons, earning SUNY All-Star each year. In 1964, he had the highest batting average (.477) in the East. Rossi and his wife, Val, live in Schenectady and have two children, Scott and Kristen. |
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 |  | Coach Rossi: Hello everyone. I am in the chat room and will now take your questions. |
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| Frank (Menands): Coach-Congratulations on a great career. Have you given any thought to retiring, or do you plan on staying at Siena for the forseeable future? |
| | Coach Rossi: I haven't really thought about retiring as of yet. I will stay on as long as I enjoy it, and I thoroughly enjoy it now. |
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| Greg - Troy: What do you think the chances of this year's team making the MAAC Tournament are? |
| | Coach Rossi: We are in the middle of the pack right now, and have an important weekend coming up at Niagara. These will be big games for us, as Niagara is one of the teams vying for one of the four Tournament spots. We will need to get pitching and our hitting will have to improve as well. |
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| Brad (Encinitas, CA): How has Blake Hanan's expereince last summer playing for Chatham A's improved his game? Anyone else on the team heading there this summer? |
| | Coach Rossi: Blake has come back a little more mature defensively and really improved that aspect of his game. The experience he got playing at that level really helped him out. Nobody from this year's team is heading to the Cape this summer. |
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| Tim (Harlow, Texas): Coach, what's your feeling on the bat issue. Do you think the improvements made on that bat in recent years have improved the safety, or is there still more to be done? Thanks! |
| | Coach Rossi: Good question Tim. To be honest, we haven't seen much over the years in terms of safety with bats. Aluminum is obviously not the best product, but they have made some strides over the past few years to make the bats more wood-like. I still think they have a ways to go. |
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| Jermaine, San Francisco: Have you ever thought about coaching on the Major League level? |
| | Coach Rossi: I actually thought about coaching in the minor leagues when I was younger with some intentions of eventually making the major leagues. But now, I prefer college sports over the professional ranks, and I wouldn't trade working with college kids for anything. |
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| Ed: Coach, you've done a tremendous job with the program. Obviously, you've given your entire career to Siena. When you first arrived, was that a goal and secondly, any plans on hanging up the spikes and hitting the lakes? |
| | Coach Rossi: I really didn't think much about it when I first got the job. In the back of my mind, I wanted to build a quality program, but as it went on, I guess I got addicted. I spend too much time on the recruiting road in the summer, so I don't get much time to hit up the lakes or links...as I mentioned I have no intentions right now of hanging up the spikes. |
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| Bobby Toner (Los Angeles): At this point in the season, which areas of the team need the most improvement, and what will be the key for finishing out the season on a high note. |
| | Coach Rossi: That's an easy answer. Right now, we are struggling offensively from top to bottom. That is the major area we need to address if we hope to make our conference tournament. |
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| Jim S. Wraight (Denver): Coach, what would you consider to be your fondest memory in a Saint uniform? Thanks and best of luck on the remainder of the season. |
| | Coach Rossi: That's a tough question. Probably winning our conference championship and going to our first NCAA Regional in 1999. |
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| Tony (Colonie): Coach, can you update us on the progress of your former players in the professional ranks? |
| | Coach Rossi: I'd be happy to. Tim Christman, who had been playing professionally for seven years got released in spring training and is trying to hook up with another club. Todd Donovan is in the San Deigo Padres organization and is in AA Mobile right now. He is off to a great start. Todd is highly regarded in the organization and has a chance of being promoted to the Big League Club should he contionue his good play. Dave Pahucki, who graduated last spring, was named Lowell Spinners Pitcher of the Year last summer and is a top pitching prospect after a great off-season. Jim Buckley (Boston Red Sox) and Justin Knoff (Cincinnati Reds) are also working hard in their second season of professional baseball. |
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| Rich (Poughkeepsie): Coach-You have won the conference Championship five times and made the NCAA's at every level--what other goals do you have personally and for the program? |
| | Coach Rossi: I really don't have any personal goals, they are all team goals. We have high expectations for the future of our program. Our next goal is to get back to the NCAA's and then hopefully advance to a super regional. |
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| Julie from Latham: Who is the best player you ever coached? What was the best team you ever played? |
| | Coach Rossi: The best pitcher I ever coached was Tim Christman--who was just released from the Chicago Cubs organization. Probably our most talented player was Gary Holle, and the best college player statistically was Ryan Finn. The best team we ever played against was probably Georgia Tech in 1994 when they had Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Jay Payton and Brad Rigby who were all first round draft picks. |
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| Drusef Shakur (NYC): 1) After so many years of coaching, how have you been able to keep the excitement alive, and 2) has it become more difficult to relate to young players of today? Congratulations on a great career, Coach! |
| | Coach Rossi: Up until five years ago, I was a school teacher, so I have always been able to relate to kids. I have been able to keep my drive, because I love the game so much and have been surrounded by hard working kids who want to play. |
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| Dan (Watervliet): With a program like Siena's, what type of role does a crowd play in your success. Would you say that a group of enthusiastic students in right field for instance, could influence the outcome of a game or the performance of an opposing player?? |
| | Coach Rossi: Actually, the "right field rowdy's" we have had over the past few years have been great at home games. I think they do make a difference both in picking our team up and putting the pressure on the opposition. |
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| Marshizel (San Diego): Where do you see the Siena baseball program three years down the road? |
| | Coach Rossi: I think we will always be right there competing for the MAAC title. The program has been very consistent and I don't see that changing. |
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| Neil Swift (Menands): Do you ever think about giving up coaching and doing something a little less stessful, like going back into the classroom to teach young people ?? |
| | Coach Rossi: Not really. The classroom is actually a lot more stressful than coaching. I don't see myself going back to it. I have always contemplated possibly going into major league scouting if something popped up down the road since recruiting is something I have always enjoyed. |
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| Heywood from Miami: 1-- Ever see a day where colleges will go to the wood bat? 2-- What role do your assistants play? |
| | Coach Rossi: I don't see colleges ever going back to wooden bats, because of the cost. Hopefully someday they will get the aluminum bat in order and more like a wooden bat. My assistants play a major role running the everyday operations of the program. I am like the principal and they are the teachers. |
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| Dimberg (Cornell University): Coach, care to make a wager on the Cornell series? Just kidding. Anyhow, what MAAC opponent do you find toughest to gameplan for? |
| | Coach Rossi: Thanks for the question. The MAAC has become really strong the last few years so that every team has become difficult to prepare for. At this point, Marist has established themselves as a major factor every year and they are always a diffiult opponent to face. They are a veteran team with great leadership and experience. |
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| Broderick: I have a 14 year old nephew who likes to pitch. What developmental aspects of pitching are most important for young kids to learn? Should a youngster learn to throw a curve or wait until their arm develops? |
| | Coach Rossi: Kids should certainly not throw curve balls at a young age. The two most important aspects young pitchers should concentrate on are location and form. If there was a pitch I would teach someone to throw at a young age, it would be a changeup. |
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| Cameron from Colonie: Coach, is it tough to have built such a successful program but have Siena best known for basketball? |
| | Coach Rossi: No not at all. I think we all pull for our basketball program, because in the past when they have done well, so has our whole department. We are our own team, but we always pull for all the other Siena sports to do well. |
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| | Coach Rossi: Thanks for sending in all those great questions. Your support means a lot to our program and helps separate us from the rest of the pack. Hope to see you at the games! |
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