Joe Calfapietra was the New Jersey Jackals manager in July of 2004, when someone from the White Sox asked his pitching coach for a favor.
“Could we look at this kid from New Haven (Conn.),” said Calfapietra, a native of the Philadelphia area, who has been managing in independent league baseball for two decades.
“He was just released by the Brewers; didn’t have great numbers,” recalled the manager. “We were playing the New Haven (County Cutters) team for the first half championship. The local team wasn’t giving him a workout, apparently.”
The “kid” was 23-year-old Craig Breslow, who had just spent over two years in the Brewers minor league system after graduating from Yale University.
The same Craig Breslow who two weeks ago became President of Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox.
“We were going good. We weren’t a summer league team. This was a team of true professionals. and I wasn’t looking to add anyone,” recalled Calfapietra. “Craig was going to throw in the bullpen with our pitching coach Brian Drahman, who pitched in the big leagues.
“We wanted to be discreet, and not ruffle any feathers with our guys, that we were looking to replace someone.”
Well, the left-handed Breslow started throwing. After a couple of pitches, Drahman whistled down to Calfapietra, who was in the dugout and said, “You need to see this.”
Calfapietra, who currently manages the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association of Professional Baseball, did see about 15 more pitches and was sold. Immediately.
“His fastball had pop. and he had a pretty good slider. His stuff was good. You could see he deserved to be playing and get a second shot,” said Calfapietra. “He threw about twenty pitches and we offered a contract right there.”
Breslow said he wanted to chat with his family first. The only caveat was that the Jackals were leaving for Quebec City, a seven-hour bus ride, the next day. and they wanted an answer by then.
Breslow signed the deal at $1,000 per month and was on the bus to Quebec.
“It usually takes a while to get adjusted to the Indy ball way of life, especially for bullpen guys,” said Calfapietra. “In affiliated ball the pitchers are protected a lot more and it’s more regimented. But here, you might be two or three days in a row. Whatever it takes.”
Breslow had no problem adapting. In fact, his “nerdy” look off the field is the opposite of him on the mound.
“He was very competitive, a little fiery,” said Calfapietra. “He has that special quality. He wanted to win. He fit in perfectly with us.”
Breslow’s intelligence – he majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale – was evident from Day 1.
“He was smarter than everyone else, extremely intelligent,” said Calfapietra. “Guys knew he went to Yale and probably could’ve been a doctor and lived a very nice life and provided for his family. But he wanted to do this; with us. That was impressive.”
Breslow added value to a championship-caliber team, pitching in 23 games, going 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA while striking out 37 batters in 26 innings.
The Jackals ended up taking the 2004 Northeast League championship and Breslow was a key pitcher in the bullpen.
But Breslow’s best stuff came later, including a one of the most likeable Red Sox teams ever in 2013, a World Series championship year. Breslow ended up spending 12 seasons in the major before entering the Chicago Cubs baseball operations department in 2018.
Over the years, Calfapietro has made contact with Breslow, once with he and his wife seeing him in Minnesota when they were there. He also stopped up in Boston a few times.
“I could go on and on about Craig Breslow and his influence, how nice of a person and how professional he was with us,” said Calfapietro. “For me the best parts of being in baseball are the relationships and trying to help guys go for their dreams. Craig got a contract with the [San Diego] Padres after our season, which was no surprise. and had a very good career. To see stories like Craig’s, and play a small part of someone getting back on track, makes me very happy.”
As for Breslow’s new position, taking over the baseball operations for the Red Sox?
“I’ve always been a Phillies fan and I always will be,” said Calfapietra. “But Craig has been doing this for a few years. He’s made for this job. I can’t wait to see how he turns it around.”
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.