NYC Dep't of Sanitation baseball squad (1930s); Hoboken; Sinatra, etc.

[mikedenero]

Please bear with me, as this is my first "new thread" posting.

I have attached two photographs of my great uncle, Johnny Picciano (my father's uncle), who died a relatively young man in the early 1950's. According to my dad, Johnny was known as "Little Babe Ruth" to his teammates.



Hoboken, Sinatra, etc.: My father grew up in Hoboken, NJ (known as the birthplace of basebal and, of course, Frank Sinatra!). Actually, my dad lived at 415 Monroe St. in Hoboken's Italian section, the same address that Sinatra and his parents lived until Sinatra was a teenager (my grandfather and Sinatra were born within weeks of each other). Incidentally, the house was a three story tenement with two apartments on each floor sharing a bathroom (with no bathtub or shower)! My great uncle Johnny Picciano, pictured here, and my great aunt moved into the apartment after the Sinatras left. My dad and his family lived on another floor.

The Attached Photos: The attached photos (which I have had restored) are from the 1930's. In one of them, my great uncle Johnny is playing in Yankee Stadium! In the other, he is pictured on a nondescript neighborhood field. If you look closely, he's wearing the same white sweatshirt in both pics. The later photo I have seen since I was a wee lad visiting my grandparents and great aunt's house in the 1970's, long after Johnny had died (my great aunt had the photo framed on her dresser until the day she died, about five years ago, at the age of 96!). It was not until after her death that we found the photo of Johnny playing in Yankee Stadium. The original was a wallet size that was in atrocious condition -- as I stated earlier, we had the pics restored.

What's the Point?: As is obvious by the pics, Johnny worked at the NYC Department of Sanitation and played on the baseball team. Snooping around the net, I found the following info (see below for my summary). If any of you guys have any additional information to add, please do so. If you have similar family photos, please post!

In 1939, Jack Farrell, an executive with the City of New York’s Department of Sanitation, decided to field a baseball team for the department to compete against the City of New York’s Police and Fire departments. He contacted a manager of the local semi-pro baseball stars, including Roy (Tarr), Al Cuccinello (brother of Tony Cucinello), Jackie O’Neill, Wally Holborow, Eddie Boland, etc. and offered them steady jobs with the department with time off to play for the department’s baseball team." - Times NewsWeekly Online (February 1, 2001)

[Al C.risafulli]

Mike:

Outstanding. I collect New Jersey baseball stuff, so I can understand the interest.

The photos are spectacular. Gorgeous detail.

A friend of mine used to live in an apartment that once was the firehouse where Sinatra's father was, evidently, fire chief - I remember being in there and thinking how cool it was to be so close to history.

I wish I had some info to give you about this team - I don't - but digging up this kind of history is a big part of the hobby. Good luck!

-Al

[mikedenero]

Thanks for the reply, Al! Perhaps my next article will be about the Sanitation squad ... just kidding. Regarding Sinatra, the house that he lived in (415 Monroe St.) has since burned down (all that remains is a small brick arch that someone built in later years -- as far as I know, it is still a vacant lot). Pretty cool claim to fame for the family. My sister did a documentary on the house, the people who have lived in it since Sintatra, and how Sinatra affected their lives, but, as of yet, she hasn't found funding to produce it. Fun stuff.

[Potomac Yank]

Mike, I agree with Al, the pictures are awesome.

I wish I could add information to your quest, but the only thing that I can say is that as a youngster, I recall seeing some abreviated games prior to the Yankee games at Yankees Stadium during the 1940's.
They would play two, or three innings prior to the Yank game, and the teams were made up of players from the fire dept, police dept, and sanitation dept.

Lot's of luck with your search ... It's an interesting topic.

Joe

PS
Some time in the late 1970's, I found myself in Hoboken.
I said to myself, "Let me check out Elysium Field" where the Knickerbockers use to play.
Believe it, or not ... I found the spot, and to my disappointment, that's exactly what it was.
I found a building with a plaque on it ... stating that this was the spot of home plate, where the Knickerbockers played their games in the 1840's.

[rc4157]

Thanks for posting this Mike, some of the personal memories, etc... are what many of us enjoy the most here. How cool to have been able to play at Yankee Stadium before a Yankees game. Too bad you haven't found some type of diary that would have any references to this time period in your family.

RC