Old friends reminisce about the past and look forward to the future.

I recently sat down with two of my good friends, Phil Raccuglia and Chris Blum.  Like me, each of them are starting a new life journey.

Phil, who was a long-time coach at several programs in Berks County, including Berkshire, Exeter and Muhlenberg stepped down this past season after 26 seasons of coaching.  He led the Berkshire 30-Over team to a second place finish in the nation during the 1995 NABF World Series.  At Muhlenberg, he led the A’s to several state tournament appearances during his tenure.  Phil’s new journey is continuing his father’s legacy by running the family business, Pizza Como in Temple, PA.

Chris, who also had his first head coaching position with Berkshire Baseball when he took the reigns of the organization’s ACBL team was released from his position at Kutztown University prior to the end of the 2019 season. Chris was the winningest coach in Kutztown University history.  His team’s won six PSAC titles and made five trips to the NCAA Division II World Series.  He spent 8 years as an assistant and 17 years as the head coach.  Among other awards, he was crowned “King of Baseballtown” in 2016.  Chris’s new journey is as an assistant coach for Kutztown University’s Women’s softball team.

Even though baseball is still in our blood, we’re all excited to turn the page and start these new chapters of our lives.  Bittersweet is the term that the three of us use to describe the closing of one door and opening of another in the journey of our lives.

I love when I get the opportunity to stroll down memory lane with these two guys, I am truly blessed to have them as part of the threads that have helped make up the quilt of my life.