After managing Tri-Town to 4 straight titles, McCarty Steps down
copyright Kevin Roberts Rep-American 8/22/24
WATERBURY – Danny McCarty managed his last game for the Tri-Town Trojans on Tuesday night, and he went out on top of the Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League. Tri-Town knocked off the Bethlehem Plowboys, 3-1, in the deciding game of the championship series at Municipal Stadium to capture its fourth straight championship. The Trojans joined the Amenia Monarchs (1982-1985) and Torrington Rebels (1992-1995) as the only teams in league history to accomplish the four-peat.
“I can’t ask for anything more. To do it four times in a row, my fifth as a manager, it feels pretty good,” McCarty said. “And I’m done, I’m done. My era’s over. If they need me to come and hit again, maybe I will, but family time now.” Danny and his wife Amber have a son, Tanner, who just turned two years old. McCarty has been a member of the Trojans since their inception in 2005, and the manager since 2017. The first championship came in 2018, and then Tri-Town began its tremendous run of excellence in 2021. McCarty held up his hand and said: “I’ve got one handful, so I’m happy with that.”
HOW FOUR-PEAT HAPPENED
Mike Fabiaschi had the two-run single in the top of the eighth inning that brought home the eventual winning runs. He was asked afterward how the Trojans keep coming back and winning “I wish I had the answer. I’d probably sell it and make a lot of money,” Fabiaschi said with a smile. “I think we’ve got a really good group of guys. I think there’s a lot of guys that are pretty selfless. “We’ve got a ton of guys here tonight that would be playing on a lot of other teams that are still locked in on the game and looking to do whatever it takes. That’s the only thing I can credit is just everybody locked in and wanting to win for the team.”
GANNON AGAIN
Two years in a row, Connor Gannon has taken the ball as the starting pitcher for Tri-Town in a World Series Game 3 against Bethlehem. Two years in a row, Gannon has thrown a complete game and helped the Trojans claim the championship. “Connor Gannon’s a dog. He was awesome, absolutely awesome,” McCarty said. “I can’t say anymore about him, I’m speechless over what he did for nine innings.” Gannon’s even-keel attitude has helped him achieve success with his summer team. The 22-year-old right-hander completed his senior season at Western Connecticut State University this past spring. “I don’t like (getting emotional) because if you get too high or too low, teams can feed in on that,” Gannon said. “I don’t want to rile them up.” Gannon also doesn’t react strongly if he thinks an umpire missed a call. “If you show up the umpire, you’re not going to get the calls. If you keep a straight face, he’ll give you that makeup call,” Gannon said.
Fabiaschi credited Gannon for settling in and keeping the powerful Plowboys off balance. “I think he fits really well with this team. They talk about the old heads on the team, and I think he’s got an old head mentality,” Fabiaschi said. “He didn’t let (the regular season loss to Bethlehem) change his approach coming into (Tuesday), and he threw great. We couldn’t do it without him.” Gannon, Game 1 winner Miles Scribner and Game 2 hard-luck loser Bobby Chatfield ate up all 27 innings in the series. “You look at all three of the pitchers that we have. All three of them threw amazing games, and every one of them deserved to win,” Fabiaschi said.
Tri-Town’s Dan McCarty and a bitter sweet night
copyright Risk Wilson Litchfield County Sports 8/24/24
Dan McCarty joined his team in celebration and posed proudly with the Tri-State League trophy. Again. Then came the press and he talked about his team’s enduring embrace with excellence. Again. Eventually he packed up his gear and moved towards the parking lot beyond the fence at Municipal Stadium where he joined his band of champions that included friends and family in a low-key championship celebration. Again. The Tri-Town manager carried with him an air of satisfaction. Winning titles isn’t exactly new when you’ve tied a league record with four straight crowns, but it never gets old either. This is familiar territory and he appreciated it all. But there was a difference this time around, a mixing of emotions.
McCarty called it bittersweet.
“I’m done, it’s time for family,” McCarty said. “I’ll come back and hit if they want me to and I’ll love it. But it is time to move to family time. Last year I said I would come back and try to get the four-peat and we’ve done that. There is nothing else to prove so why not go out on top.” Tri-Town’s championship clinching with a 3-1 victory over Bethlehem Tuesday night was about many things – the Trojans refusal to give up the title throne they seemingly have occupied forever, the big-game, big-time habit of pitcher Connor Gannon who has now won every clinching game in three straight championship wins over Bethlehem and responded this time with a one-run, five hit effort, only giving up two hits after the third inning, Mike Fabiaschi’s continuing reminder of how clutch he is with the game-winning hit, Willy Yahn’s defensive brilliance and spark. But this time around was as much about McCarty as anything or anybody. Most outside the Tri-Town family did not know this was his managing swansong. He will still play; he still swings the bat too well. Like he said, “I’ll play until I can’t hit the fastball anymore.” He still can.
But, it was time to let somebody else take the team into the future. He has a two-year old, Tanner, he would like to increase the family size. He wanted to go out a winner and he did but it was an ending of sorts, a changing of roles. Hence the `bittersweet.’ It is a big deal. McCarty is as much the heart and soul of Tri-Town as are all his playing contributions. Maybe more. He will be 37 come next season and has been a Trojan since his teenage days starting in 2005. He has been part of 11 finals in the last 14 years morphing from starter, shortstop to any position to DH. McCarty took over the managing duties from Kyle Osolin in 2017 and has guided the team to five championships. He is proud of what has been accomplished. Like his trophy case, his heart is full. He has done his thing and if there is a pang of no longer being the head guy, there is a joy in knowing he will still be one of the guys. “I love putting the lineup together figuring out who is going to play, who is going to pitch,” McCarty said. “I love trying to outsmart the other team. I will miss the competition of people who want to beat us.”
But. “During Covid I played with Willy Yahn’s team, the Great Falls Gators in the CTL and I’m not going to lie, I liked showing up at 5:30 or 5:45 and just focusing on playing.” It is sometimes easy to forget how difficult it is to run recreational teams. Getting players, losing players, calling players, scheduling issues, dealing with playing issues (yep, those never go away), making sure you have a field to play on and it is maintained, making sure you have umpires. All the while trying to be good, or in Tri-Town’s case, the best. In the adult world, it is not always the No. 1 priority with jobs and families involved. McCarty has been the glue for an amazing program. It is a passion, a love of the game and without getting too corny, a love of his guys and program.
McCarty has nurtured a system of an essential core group he calls the `Oldheads’ sprinkled with a mixture of youth. McCarty’s band of `Oldheads’ starts with him and includes Bobby Chatfield, Miles Scribner, Casey McDonald, Mike Fabiaschi and Austin Patenaude, all in their mid-30s now and all really productive. “It’s fine balance between the Oldheads and the young groups,” McCarty said. “My big thing has been to keep the core together. Then you fill spots. I never went out looking for 10 guys. I looked to get a hitter, to make sure I had two catchers, to get as many pitchers as I can. It gets tougher because the young guys are going into the work world and instead of baseball being 100 percent of their life it is a much smaller percentage. Trojans have to be a different type of players. They have to have confidence and just want to play. Winning becomes an extra part of that.” McCarty has worked the blending to perfection. He knows that the Oldheads can’t last forever and that the team has to get younger. But he has done a championship job of incorporating the old with the new.
McCarty has walked with winning, passing the old test of the old adage about, it’s not getting there that’s the challenge it’s staying there. Not an easy task with a youthful Bethlehem squad pushing the Trojans the last three years. “It’s been a lot of pressure after beating Terryville in 2021,” McCarty said. “Bethlehem is our natural rival and I respect what they can do. I felt the pressure. It’s back to keeping your core group and getting some young players. “ Chatfield, one of team’s long-time stalwarts on the mound has experienced what McCarty has meant to the team.“Without him I don’t know how we get to this point,” Chatfield said. “He does everything. He’s been a leader off the field and on the field.” McCarty has been the right hand at the right time. Proud and satisfied with what has been, ready to keep it going in a different role in the future. Tuesday night was a proud night sharing the stage with a reflective night for the for the guy who fueled the engine of the Tri-Town Trojans. Dan McCarty rolled with the night in that Municipal Stadium parking lot. Victory and pride shared some thoughts with a changing wind.
A good night, a great night. Tinged with the bittersweet.