The beginning of the end of Frank LaCorte’s baseball career
started with a game of chicken.
By Josh Koehn Staff Writer
Gilroy – The beginning of the end of Frank LaCorte’s baseball career started with a game of chicken.
Having just given up a home run to Los Angeles Dodger Steve Sax, Houston Astros third baseman Phil Garner (now manager of the Astros) walked up to the mound and let LaCorte know a statement needed to be made.
“He said, ‘Knock this next guy on his ass, and if he comes out there, I got him,’ ” LaCorte said.
“The next hitter was Kenny Landreaux and I missed him, and I said, ‘I’ll get him this time.’ And I missed twice. I looked at (Garner) again and said, ‘I got it,’ and the third one hit him and (Landreaux) looked at me. He got his bat, I don’t know what he said to this day, but I just dropped my glove, ran to home plate and started swinging like a wild man.”
With other Dodger players storming out of the dugout to get a piece of LaCorte, the umpire grabbed the pitcher to protect him, but tipped over, forcing LaCorte to land on his throwing shoulder. The damage was done. He played one more season, his career cut short as his shoulder got worse and his arm gave out.
The right handed fireballer had a passion for the game that ran hot, and sometimes boiled over in emotion. That same passion is what brought the first Major League Baseball player from Gilroy back home.
LaCorte, 55, sits in his spacious office at Marx Towing, adorned with one of his old California Angels jerseys and a collection of deer and elk heads mounted on the walls, explaining why he and his wife of 32 years, Karen, felt Gilroy was the place to settle down with two children after spending 10 seasons in the Big Leagues.
“We worked, went to school and played sports (here as kids),” he said. “I look back at my childhood upbringing, it was great. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Moving his way through every rank of Gilroy baseball before catching the attention of scouts as a cheese-slinging 21-year-old for Gavilan College, LaCorte broke into the Majors with the Atlanta Braves (4 1/2 years), was traded to the Astros (4 1/2) and finished his career with the Angels (1).
Jim Martinez, a lifelong friend and teammate up until college, can still recall the day he caught for LaCorte in front of the head scout of the Braves’ organization.
“He threw for like twenty minutes, and he signed for $13,500 that day,” Martinez said. “Frankie was the best. He was throwing somewhere in between 92 and 94 miles per hour.”
But even LaCorte is willing to admit, speed wasn’t his only attribute that struck fear into the hearts of batters. Calling himself “effectively wild,” LaCorte made sure no one got too comfortable in the batter’s box.
“When I caught for Frankie in the offseason, his ball moved so much it would rise up and down,” Martinez said. “He would scare batters because he threw so hard and so fast. You never knew if it was going to hit you in the head or your chin.”
“Ask any of my old teammates and they’ll tell you I was tough as nails on the mound,” LaCorte said. “I would throw at my mother if I had to.”
LaCorte’s intensity didn’t subside once he stepped outside the lines though.
Notorious for his terrifically creative tantrums, LaCorte once burned his jersey in the locker room after blowing a game with a 4-0 lead. He also, according to Martinez, set his glove on fire once.
“It’s something I’m so sorry I did,” LaCorte said. “Why did I do that? I don’t know why I did that. Other than (the jersey incident) I was really going good at the time.”
Clubhouse rules dictated LaCorte would be fined financially, as well as by the baseball fraternity.
“Wherever I went (from then on), there was a fire extinguisher in my locker,” he said.
In his final season with the Angels, Karen gave him a humorous sign for his locker that said, “God grant me patience, and I want it right now!” Later that year Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was doing an interview, and told the media it was his.
“That’s Reggie for you, though,” LaCorte laughs.
Far more serious than charred jerseys and mitts, however, LaCorte’s love of the game could also negatively impact life at home.
“Frank cared so much about the game, it wasn’t an individual performance for him,” Karen said. “He really cared about not just if he won or lost, but if the team won or lost … And when he did say, get a loss and didn’t perform his best, he would come home and beat himself up about it.”
Luckily, he had someone that stuck by him through the long road trips, late phone calls and missed meals at the dinner table.
“My wife, you talk about support,” LaCorte said. “Look, I’m still married. Half of my friends I played with, they’re divorced. They’re great guys and have great families but after the game, there goes everything. They can’t cope with being out of ball.”
If LaCorte was at a 10 during his playing days, you can count him as a two today. He now runs a fairly successful towing company that works in partnership with AAA and law enforcement. He golfs two or three times per week and spends much of the winter months duck hunting with friends.
When he told his wife and kids he was going to buy the tow truck office of Marx Automotive, his family’s reaction made complete sense.
“Well, we all thought he was nuts,” Karen said.
Having put up with Frank throughout his playing days – a full-time job and then some – Karen “vowed to only work 2-3 months to get business off the ground,” she said. “It’s been 14 years since.”
While it’s not the do-or-die nature of baseball, LaCorte definitely approaches his current line of work with a no-nonsense approach.
“We take a lot of pride in our company,” LaCorte said. “I treat people the way I want to be treated. If you treat me bad, you’re going to get the same thing back.”
Despite showing he still knows how to throw a brushback, LaCorte isn’t all piss and vinegar. He has a soft side for family, friends and the town that made him what he is.
“He’s a true friend,” Martinez said. “Let me just say this about Frank. He never forgot where he grew up. He’s the kind of guy you can count on.”
