St. Joe's players can learn a lot from coach
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

SCOT PILLING staff St. Joseph's Paul Esposito is enjoying his first coaching stint with the Falcons as his team chases a GMCT title.

METUCHEN - The road to St. Joseph's High School for first-year head coach Paul Esposito has been an interesting one, to say the least.

The 1996 graduate of Middletown High School North went on to play shortstop for Fairleigh Dickinson University before professional baseball stints in Johnstown, Pa., Newark, and Grossetto, Italy.

After graduating from FDU in 1999, Esposito played two solid seasons for the Frontier League's Johnstown Johnnies to earn a spot on the league's All-Star team.

"Johnstown gave me my first taste of minor league baseball, and it was great," Esposito said. "It was a hectic schedule with 84 games in 90 days and many 15-hour bus rides, but the small-town feel was amazing. Two of the stadiums we played in were in the film 'A League of Their Own.' It was old-time stadiums with the smell of popcorn."

A .306 batting average in his second professional season with 48 RBIs in 84 games drew notice from the Somerset Patriots.

"An ex-college coach of mine was the bullpen catcher at Somerset and he suggested I come play for the Patriots," Esposito said. "After a year in Somerset, I earned a spot with the Newark Bears."

At Newark, Esposito got the chance to play alongside future Hall of Famer and Major League Baseball's all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson. Growing up a Yankee fan in the days when Henderson batted atop the order in front of Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield, Esposito was living a dream.

"I was even able to hit in the No. 2 hole behind perhaps the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history," Esposito said. "He was an outstanding teammate and he helped a lot with the younger guys on the team. I was able to learn a lot from him and now I try to pass some of this down to my players."

Before landing his first coaching position as an assistant at Shore Regional, Esposito had one more stop. He finished up his professional career with a one-year stint for Prink Grossetto.

"Playing in Italy was a wonderful way to end my playing career," Esposito said. "They offered me a good contract, we played a couple of games a week, and my wife and I got to see a lot of the country."

In addition to his minor league career, Esposito made the circuit in spring training in the hope of landing a spot on a major league roster.

"What I learned from that experience is that major league organizations want talent above all else," Esposito said. "It was a good learning experience for me."

In his first year at the helm at St. Joe's, Esposito has the team headed for the second round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and the state tournament. The team is currently 12-9 on the season.

"One thing about my past that has helped me in coaching is that I didn't have to earn the players' respect as much," Esposito said. "They know where I'm coming from and they respond and take my coaching seriously."