2024 MSBL World Series Hall of Fame Inductee: Jim Cooney, Rhode Island MSBL
By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications
Jim Cooney has been playing in the Men’s Senior Baseball League going into his 35th year. That alone is worthy of hearty recognition. When you pour his MSBL World Series experience into the recipe, it is no wonder that MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler has inducted Jim into the 2024 class of the MSBL World Series Hall of Fame.
“This award literally could not be more meaningful to me as it was completely “out of left field” and unexpected,” said Cooney. “I had to read and re-read the email from Steve Sigler notifying me about it three or four times before it sunk in. I was totally shocked, incredibly honored and humbled, and very pleasantly surprised by it.”
The 66-year-old resident of Coventry, Rhode Island is a fixture in the Rhode Island MSBL in Providence, where he is primarily a catcher and first baseman for the 50+ RI Red Sox while playing the same positions for his World Series Father/Son teams.
“However, when I first came into the league 34 years ago at age 31, I played shortstop and pitched and then moved to second base, third base, and outfield. I also was the first player in league history to play all 9 positions in a single game. I started catching in my late 50s out of necessity because we didn’t have one, which is probably the only reason that my knees and arm still work pretty well.”
Jim has a pretty solid team off the field, too.
“I have been married for 41 years to my wife Denise (Dean) Cooney and we are the proud parents of Shannon, Caitlin, Jon-Patrick, and Erin Eileen (Yes, we are a “wee bit” Irish). Our three daughters have two Masters degrees and a PhD among them and our son is a top Executive for Target. We are also the proud grandparents of Carter, Camden, and Colin Wilcox, and Eoin and Ile’ Quinn and we took in and raised my wife’s sister Sharon as our own from the age of 12.
Regarding Jim’s baseball upbringing, he played hours and hours of pick-up ball, steps, handball, and whiffle ball whenever he could as a child and always had a bat or a glove or a ball in his hand.
As is no surprise, he has always loved baseball and the Red Sox as long as he can remember, including the 67’s Sox ‘Impossible Dream Team’ and Yaz’ Triple Crown. After Little League, he played Pony League and then Division One High School ball at Bishop Stang in North Dartmouth, MA.
Then came Amateur ball in the Fall River (MA) Adult League until age 24 then fell into fast-pitch and slow-pitch softball for a few years before moving to Rhode Island and getting drafted by the Rhode Island Mariners of RIMSBL after a try-out.
He has gone on to play for and win many championships with the Mariners, Yankees, and Red Sox in the ’30s, 40s, and 50s over the next years as both a player and Manager.
Let’s now fast forward to Jim’s World Series playlist.
“The first two years that we played in the MSBL World Series was with our 30’s Division team, the RI Mariners. That was in 1993 and 1994 versus the Fresno Giants and the San Jose Twins. We were winning both World Series championship games going into the last inning and lost both by ONE run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth!
We kept trying to get back there but it wasn’t until 2007 and 2008 with the Rhode Island Salty Dogs that a few of us from that Mariners team finally won a ring in back-to-back fashion!
It was another 16 years before I won again as Player/Manager of the Rhode Island Red Sox Father-Son Central division champs last year (2023).”
As is usually the case, discussions of World Series experiences lead us to those special moments.
“Although I previously won two MSBL World Series rings with the RI Salty Dogs (playing outfield and hitting .500 both years) my biggest highlight, by far, is winning the 2023 Father-Son Central Division World Series championship with an already undermanned Red Sox squad that was also battling a few key injuries after losing our number two son pitcher and my assistant manager John Tedder due to a cardiac event several days before the team left for Arizona. That situation forced our catcher Doug Barlow, who was an off-duty firefighter, to heroically save John’s life.
To even make the trip after that was incredible but to win the title against the odds we were facing, and bring the title home to share with John and his son Jack, was truly amazing. We dedicated our series to them, of course. I have never been a part of anything like it. It was, well, miraculous.”
As is our custom, we asked Jim if there were any individuals he would like to thank for helping him along the route of his baseball career. Jim was not shy about embracing many deserving friends and fellow players.
“David Saad was my first RIMSBL Manager and President of the league for many, many years. I played for Dave, served as his Assistant manager for 20 years, and acted as the Traveling Secretary for all of our World Series and Tourney teams. He played a huge role in making RIMSBL what it is today.
Frank Ribezzo the current RIMSBL President with Kevin Curt, who work tirelessly and do such a great job like so many MSBL league presidents across the country to grow the league and make it even better, even while facing competition for players from other local leagues.
Joe Perruzzi and Steve Lallo are Commissioners of the 50’s and 30’s Divisions in the RIMSBL. I am the 40’s Division Commissioner, a position I have held for the past six years, and was the 30’s Division Commissioner before that. I know how hard they work every year to make sure everything goes the way it should.
Brian Power was the first RIMSBL Hall of Fame Chairman who trusted me enough to leave me in charge of the Hall of Fame Committee, and the League’s Annual Awards and Hall of Fame banquet 24 years ago, the year after I got inducted as a player back in 2000.
Jim Bracey, Dave Masse, Joe Kettelle, Joe Rossi, John Tedder, George Nasuti, Rich Jax, Paul Savoie, Chris Hurd, Scott Tainsh, Keith Fisher, Steve Ready, Rick Machado, Rich Pacino, Dave Joseph, Tony Catalano, Dom Coro, and Paul Rioles. These are some of the best players, teammates, and PEOPLE I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, knowing, and loving as brothers, for many, many years.”
Any additional comments?
“I want to thank Steve Sigler for actually realizing that there is nothing better than baseball in a young boy’s eyes and in many ways it is our real “first love” that we NEVER grow out of and simply cannot be replaced by any other sport or activity. To give that feeling and experience back to us as middle-aged to older men, not only via local leagues but national tournaments played on major league fields, with umps, spikes, bunts, steals, and rings, is just an incredible gift.
This is proven by the 300-plus leagues, 3,000-plus teams, and nearly 50,000 players who have participated every, single year for the past 36! Steve deserves all the credit in the world for not only realizing this but for actually doing something about it!
Yes, playing ball is just a small part of what MSBL is all about for me. The camaraderie, the lifelong friendships, the dugout banter, the challenges of the game as you get older, and that feeling of family that you will always have with your closest teammates if you’re lucky enough to have great ones (which I have been).
This also includes the opportunity to play ball with your friends and their sons on some of the best MLB exhibition ballfields in America and then go out to share a meal and watch an MLB series game the same week during the Father-Son World Series. There is just nothing else like that anywhere if you’re a ballplayer. Win or lose it’s a priceless, bucket-list experience, and we look forward to it more and more each year.”
Final thoughts?
“Last but certainly not least I want to thank my wife and kids and all the spouses and families involved with MSBL and RIMSBL for understanding what our national pastime means to the good men who also happen to be great people and ball players and for helping us to continue to make it part of our weekly stress relief and lives.
You may never know how much it truly means to us but thank you for just knowing it is a part of who we are. We are not just guys who play baseball, we are true “ballplayers” in every sense of the word.
Nothing is more important in life than our loved ones; the time we spend with them, and our God who makes it all possible, giving us the precious gift of life every day. But I will tell you something honestly; baseball and the MSBL World Series sure come pretty close!”