BARRETT GAME HISTORY

It all started back in March of 1985 when Tony Iacone received a telephone from fellow umpire Jack Peopies that the venerable Joe Barrett had passed away. Saddened by the news, Iacone sat on his bed and cried aloud wondering what he could do to honor his mentor and old friend. He quickly called Peoples back and asked him if a memorial all-star baseball game could be put together. Peoples said that he would check it out.

Within the hour, Peoples called Iacone once more and informed him that such an event was possible. The Barrett game was thus formed right there in Iacone's bedroom in Aston, Pennsylvania.

After the funeral, Iacone sat on the porch of the Barrett household with several basketball officials and one other baseball umpire. As each person took their turn talking about their past dealings and memories of Joe Barrett, Iacone took the opportunity to announce that hi was going to put together a high school all star game to pay homage to Mr. Barrett.

Upon hearing this quiet announcement, the remaining baseball official, Joe Cleary, piped up and stated that he would help form such an arrangement. The game was now becoming reality.

Both Cleary and Iacone made numerous telephone calls and pieced together a committee to plan the contest. They gathered fellow umpires, Ray Amy, Marty Reape, Alan Thomas, Bill Coates, John Spano, Don Docherty, Brian Collins, Chuck Thompson, Bob Fiugo, John McBride and Ray Morrison and launched a combined effort to piece together a game that would pay proper respect to a man who meant so much to so many.

Through their dedicated service, the game was linked to Swarthmore College's home baseball diamond and opened in front of nearly five hundred friends, fans and family members of the Barrett clan. That game was played on Sunday, June 9, 1985.

The game did not come off without a hitch since it was originally scheduled for the day before. It was switched at the last minute after Iacone was informed that the annual alumni game at Swarthmore would be played that day.

Since the game was moved to Sunday, Iacone found out that the campus would now be without a maintenance crew so he and Cleary had to find rakes and chalk line equipment as well as a PA system to pull off the game. To top things off, it rained that very morning.

By eleven o'clock that morning, Iacone drove over to the field hoping that the rain would stop. His prayers were answered only to discover that the field was littered with beer cans and trash from Saturday's proceedings. He then spent close to a hour prancing, to no one's delight, around the field clearing the trash away.

By noon, several other members of the crew showed up as they began raking and grooming the playing surface. They had to get young Brian Collins to climb the backstop to position the speakers for the PA system then track down a security guard to have the electricity turned on so that they could test the equipment. By game time, everything was in order except the hot dog vendor got lost and did not show up until halfway through the game.

Before the first pitch was thrown, a fifteen minute ceremony took place where gifts, flowers and small speeches were made to honor the memory of Joe Barrett Sr. His wife, Florence, was there along with nearly every member of his family. Mrs. Barrett took the microphone and thanked everyone for honoring her late husband. It made the effort worthwhile.

The umpires for the first game were men that knew Joe the best and had been together with him the longest. They were Charles "Bucky" Forbes; his son, Kevin Barrett; Dave Ryan; Fred DeGenova; his dearest friend, Marty Reape; and Carl "Mike" DiMarcantonio.

The Central League behind the stellar pitching of Rick Balabon, a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees, defeated the Del Val League, 6-1. Balabon was named the game's most valuable player.

After the game, Iacone walked up to Mrs. Barrett and presented her with a check for one thousand dollars. In his mind, that was supposed to be the end of a glorious memory. There was never any thought of having another Barrett game.

When Iacone returned to his automobile he was quickly surrounded by junior members of the Sun Valley baseball team, several league coaches, friends, fellow umpires and people who witnessed the first show. They all concluded that what they saw was worth repeating, and that they believed that the Barrett game should become an annual event. Iacone was caught off balance and taken back by the response.

As he drove home, he thought mightily about the turn of events. Within a few days, he contacted Joe Cleary again. They met at Cleary's house and quickly concluded that the only way that the game could continue was to make it a memorial scholarship game. The only stumbling block was how to arrange such an undertaking and to whom would the scholarship be rewarded. Together they decided to let Mrs. Barrett pick the proper avenue.

Several days later Iacone arranged a meeting with Florence Barrett. When they met, Iacone told her that many people wanted an annual game and that the best way to travel was to set up a scholarship.

Iacone then told her that Cleary wanted the scholarship to go to a high school baseball player while he thought that it should be an open scholarship. Iacone said that they could not agree so that he was there to get her opinion. Mrs. Barrett said that her husband would have wanted it to go to a worthy student, baseball player. Iacone then said that he would honor her decision.

Within a month's time, Iacone visited a long-time friend and high school guidance counselor, Richard Gamble, to get his views on piecing together a proper application. Gamble not only offered advice; he actually put together the first original application form. The Barrett scholarship was thus exercised.

The first winners were Patrick Monahan of Marple Newtown High School representing the Central League and Mike Pomerantz of Harriton for the Del Val. Ther were presented with an eight hundred dollar scholarship on Saturday, May 3l, 1986 at Villanova, site of the second game. The Central League routed the Del-Val 17-4 as Sam Preston of Radnor walked off with the MVP trophy.

The following year, two scholarships of $800.00 were given to Joe Donnelly of Penn Wood for the Del Val and David Raphael of Lower Merion for the Central League. The game was played at Glen Mills School as the Del Val won 4-3.

What made that year special, however, was the Raphael case. After receiving the news that he had won, his mother called Iacone and told him that David's was terminally ill and was in the hospital. He had bone cancer. Mr. Raphael died two weeks later. Several years later, David graduated from Dickinson Law School.

Over the years 46 different student/athletes have won the Barrett scholarship with some awards reaching as much as $2,500.00. There is a story behind every one including the death of the 1998 winner, Thomas Marren, of Cardinal O'Hara.

Presently, twenty-four high schools participate in this annual all-star game as over 975 different players have had an opportunity to test their skills. A board of trustees was added many years ago, and the game has received a non-profit 50l(c) 3 status. The combined scholarship total is over $90,200.

The series belongs to the Central League 15-9, but the only score that truly counts is the one that Joe Barrett left us. His greatness and his dream made this game a worthwhile commitment so others could share in the value of fair competition. Long live the Barrett name and the Barrett game.