From perfect strangers to a perfect fit   
   CSI coaches didn't know each other at the start, but they turned out to be a solid combo

Staten Island Advance - Friday, January 20, 2006
  
 

You would think that a pair of baseball lifers like Bill Cali and John Scrivani would have gotten acquainted over the years.

They'd traveled enough of the same roads, whether it was the decades on the diamonds or the decades they both turned in working for the city, Cali as a firefighter and Scrivani as a cop.

But somehow they'd never come across each other until Scrivani approached Cali one day at the Berry Houses field nine years ago when he heard the College of Staten Island baseball coach was looking for an assistant.

"We're different generations," said Scrivani. "He's 10 years older than me, so he played ahead of me. I played a lot of my baseball in the Bronx when I came home from the service."

But Scrivani didn't find it a tough sell when he introduced himself to Cali and offered to help out with the Dolphin program.

"He was very receptive, which surprised me," said Scrivani. "He's a great guy to coach for. I just hope he stays there forever. We have the same interests. We have a lot in common."

Their partnership has produced results in the type of thing people like to measure -- wins -- and in the kind of thing you can't, the way they've influenced a decade's worth of kids and brought class and professionalism to CSI baseball.

"It happened he's a good fit," said Cali. "I needed a coach. We get along. Everybody has the same object. That's important. The object is to get the best out of them."

They've done that, year after year, and for their work, Cali and Scrivani were honored last night at the Advance All-Star Dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn as the Staten Island Advance's Sportsmen of the Year.

"John and Bill love players, love the game," said Advance Sports Editor Carmine Angioli in his introduction of the honorees. "Neither one of them thinks of coaching baseball as work. One is a retired cop and the other is a retired firefighter, so they've already done two lifetimes worth of heavy lifting. Yet, here they are keeping a college baseball program running in the Northeast, a project that has its own daily challenges and rewards. And you are safe in saying that money is not among the rewards."

Not that it was ever the point.

"We enjoy doing it," said Scrivani. "Guys that do this know how lucky I am. I think it's just a privilege, first of all to work for the school, coach young kids. Teaching the game has been wonderful."

They didn't do it for the money, and they certainly didn't do it expecting any recognition.
"This came as a total surprise," said Scrivani. "I'm getting calls from people I haven't seen for 20 years."

"It was nice and I really appreciate it," said Cali. "But in the back of my mind I'm thinking -- It's time to get up and say a few words."

Cali was quick at the dais in following Scrivani to accept the award -- "I'm the junior man," Scrivani said, "so I go first" -- but his message for this year's All Stars was honest and true.

Give it your best and you'll never have to look back.

"I was chasing my dream," said Cali of his own playing days. "I'm sure you guys are chasing your own dream today."

For Cali and Scrivani, there's another season at hand. The Dolphins began workouts on Sunday. There's another group of kids that will be better off a few months from now, because they got to play for them.

"Just because athletes reach a certain age doesn't mean they don't need guidance or leadership. Even for college-age athletes, perhaps especially for them, the opportunity to work with people of character like these men are vital," said Angioli. "The value of the opportunity to interact with coaches such as these cannot be measured. How lucky we are to have people willing to do this kind of work, people who do it so expertly and with such great care." 
 

By Tom Dowd
Reprinted here with permission from the