Bleeding Yankee Blue: THE IRISH, DEREK JETER & AN AWARD NAMED AFTER PETE CALDERA

Thursday, March 20, 2014

THE IRISH, DEREK JETER & AN AWARD NAMED AFTER PETE CALDERA

I thought this was cool and not just because it’s Foley’s NY and not just because it has something to do with Derek Jeter. I also thought it was a great story because Pete Caldera’s involved… you know I love reading that guy! Anyway… don’t know what I mean? Check this out:

Back on St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame announced the names of the nominees on the 2014 induction ballot. They include:

Derek Jeter

David Cone

Mike Sweeney

Kevin Millar

Roger Bresnahan

"Big Ed" Delahanty

Tom Gorman

Joe McCarthy

Jack McKeon

Bill Shea

Bill Murray

Hal McCoy: Cincinnati Reds beat writer

Ed Coleman: New York Mets broadcaster

Now here’s where it gets more interesting. This year, The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame will introduce a new award: The Pete Caldera-Duke Castiglione “I Didn’t Know He Was Irish” Award, which will be presented to an honoree whose Irish roots are not well known. Did you see that? It's the PETE CALDERA-DUKE CASTIGLIONE "I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS IRISH" AWARD.

I mean seriously? I know one thing, when an award is named after me... I know I've pretty much accomplished everything! Congrats to Pete and Duke for that little honor!

So why the new award? Shaun Clancy, the owner of Foley’s said this of the award: “We all recognize Garvey, O’Malley and O’Neill as Irish surnames, but there are plenty of folks with maternal Irish roots or ancestors whose last names changed through marriage or other reasons. For this reason, we have created this new award to honor people whose heritage might not be obvious but who are proud of their Irish heritage.” Nice!

Results of the voting will be announced in April. The induction ceremonies will take place this summer at Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant (18 W. 33rd St.), which also houses the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. If you've never been... you need to go!

When it happens, we’ll tell you all about it. Meanwhile, congratulations to the nominees!

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