~ Malden Musings ~ The Dana Brown Chronicles, Part 2

By Peter Levine

I asked former legendary Malden High School Principal (2002-2016) and Girls Basketball Coach (1999-2005) Dana Brown if he could put fingers to keyboard and make me look good (again) by searching that very large brain of his and contributing his fondest recollections on his first love, Ferryway Green. Dana penned an opus! See, he got a kick out of my article a few months back on The Green but insisted that somebody who actually spent some time there write about it. Point taken, Big D. Dana gave us a small glimpse of his early years as a Ferryway Green Park rat in the first edition of “The Dana Brown Chronicles.” This week, we bring you “The Dana Brown Chronicles, Part 2.” Enjoy:

“Back then a large Jewish population filled local synagogues each week in Malden and Walnut Street Malden, across from the park, was home to the Cohens, Klaymans, and Mintz families, to name just a few. On adjacent side streets like Ashland, Judson, Holyoke, Magnolia, you had families of Italian and Irish descent; the Laurias, Pernas, Placidos, Conlons, Pattersons, Leblancs, Hallahans, just to name a few. The large Zagarella family lived directly across from the park on Walnut Street, the equally large Bryan clan close by. Within shouting distance of the ‘Green’ were the Hennesseys, Garons, Buckleys, Sullivans, Surrettes, Murrays, Browns, Lucias, Broadys, Rovners, et al. The Byrnes from Eastern Ave had a bunch of boys and were Ferryway guys, at least some of the time. The Nolans had a ton of boys, all Ferryway youngsters and not to be confused with the Green Street Park Nolans, Billy, Steve, and Kevin. The Ferryway Nolans would suffer imaginable tragedy when a fire took members of the family and left others with scars for life.

“I am omitting too many families; I’m sorry. Here’s another. Malden High School’s great goalie of the late 1960s, Billy Brady lived on Oxford Street, a slapshot away from Ferryway Green.

“Malden’s vaunted Babe Ruth Baseball program played thousands of games at Ferryway Green over a few decades. The baseball diamond, rung by concrete dugouts, served as the mecca for local baseball for 13–15-year-olds. Longtime Ferryway Green jock and Walnut Street abutters Mitch Cohen had this to say; ‘As a young kid it was great to watch the baseball games. The Babe Ruth teams were like heroes to us.’ He also had this to say; ‘you made friends for life living in that neighborhood.’ Count me as one of those friends, Ferryway Green, Lincoln Jr. High, MHS Class of ’77.

“Epic games and stories of lore get richer each year. Bob Rotondi, 60 years and counting as Mr. Babe Ruth League in Malden, coached against the likes of Perry Verge, Bob Rosano, Joe DeVincentis, Joe Zaia, to name a few. Former City Councillors, School Committee members, and at least one Mayor all played baseball at some point at Ferryway Green.

“Lefty batters had to leg out homeruns at Ferryway, with balls seemingly rolling forever until they reached the fence separating the basketball court from the diamond. Right-handed hitters had their own ‘green monster’ to shoot for, the 60-foot tree that stood in left field as the unofficial barometer of whether you were a hitter or not. Over the years, dozens of players were able to loft or rocket one into the tree for an automatic homerun. Only a handful, with the list open for debate, were able to land a ball, over or around the tree and across Walnut Street. Local neighborhood kids like Mike Ploumbidis (MVP in 1974) and Buddy DeMontier (Rookie of Year, 1969) had stellar pitching and hitting careers and memorable moments at Ferryway. Other Babe Ruth standouts who grew up and around Ferryway/Belmont Hill included Jimmy Kelly from Tufts Street (MVP IN 1976), all the Lomanno brothers (Dave was ROY in 1977), Danny Cook from Belmont Street (MVP IN 1977), Gene Fitzpatrick (MVP IN 1970) was Boylston Street I think…John Stanasek was Rookie of the Year in 1971. This was the third best sport for Stana behind basketball and football. The list could go on further…perhaps the readers will contribute more.

“But I also remember heading down to the field to watch fireballer and Ferryway Green’s own Dana Sears pitch for the Malden Voke team, with another Ferryway neighborhood kid Jerry Hirsch, backing Dana up in the field. Jerry was from Beacon Street, where the current Mayor’s family resided. Dana Sears was a heck of an athlete.

“Baseball and basketball were both big at the Ferryway; that would explain Harvey and Mike Feldman’s love for those games. The Feldmans lived adjacent to left field, at the corner of Walnut and Cross Street, 50 yards from the hoop courts.

“In addition to baseball, basketball was always a Ferryway Green ‘event.’ Many city legends learned the game and polished their skills on the court there. John Stanasek and Bruce Vining would go on to display their prowess at the high school level, with ‘Stana’ becoming a thousand-point scorer at Malden High School in the era of ‘three years of high school and no three-point line’; quite a feat. Stana was taken under the wing of the Russo brothers early on and they would help instill in him the unceasing will to win. In their denim jeans, in 80-degree heat, with a cigarette sometimes hanging out of their respective mouths, the Russos would take on all comers. And win…walk down to Judson Square, buy a couple of cokes, come back to the park, and start all over again. Next!

“But let’s back up a year or two or three. Rodney ‘Puggy’ Forbes of Ashland Street was one of the greatest hoopsters I ever saw at the Green. He would go on to a stellar career at MHS and beyond. I remember feeling a bit awestruck when several years later I got to play with Puggy in pickup games at the Y or the park. Another gem, gone too soon.

“‘Shimmie’ Hallahan was a formidable athletic foe and would team up with 2-3 guys regularly to take on the Russo teams in hoop. Another fierce competitor: Shimmie’s brother Joe was a man-child who could hit a softball 400 feet. The Borseti men would also soon join the regulars at the court at Ferryway, Mike and John, and then eventually Mario. And of course, the Ferratuscos, Vance and Vinnie, and the Frautons could always be found nearby, all of them lived within shouting or walking distance of the Green. Occasionally, another MHS standout Joe Bartoszewicz would find his way to the Green for hoop. Back then, players from that area split their time between Ferryway Green, the Y and Harvard Street Park. They would also venture to Linden for more great hoop competition.”

The conclusion of Dana’s recollections will be published in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for “The Dana Brown Chronicles – The Final Chapter.”

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing sir,” – next on the Malden political agenda should be a push for an expansion of the state’s bottle redemption law to include nip bottles. Scattered across the Malden landscape from the bike path in Linden all the way down Salem Street and through the venerated streets of Edgeworth, those nasty Fireball Cinnamon Whisky nip bottles are ubiquitous (my advice, buy Fireball stock, immediately!). Start the bottle deposit tomorrow and I’d be able to finance a flight down to Florida in March with the “Monsters of Rock Cruise – the Dirty Dozen” rocking out of Miami as my destination! Stops in Jamaica and the Bahamas featuring Extreme, Quiet Riot, Winger, Accept and eight other hair metal bands of yesteryear! Fuhgeddaboudit!

Postscript 1: Breaking news! Malden’s “Mr. Baseball” Bob Rotondi will be Malden Baseball Legacy Hall of Fame’s inaugural “legacy” inductee on March 7 at the Moose Hall. Show your love for Bob in real time; pack the Moose like it ain’t never been packed. Email Frek with any questions (and for tickets) at st**********@***il.com.

Postscript 2: Dedicated to keeping the highways, byways and bike lanes of this fine city safe and accessible for the men, women and children of Malden, I hereby declare February “Be Kind to Your Friendly Neighborhood Parking Enforcement Officer Month” as a tribute to these hard-working City of Malden employees. This month we feature the Pride of Charlestown, Tom Lynch. You know Tom! Visualize this separated at birth: Charlton Heston as Moses in “The Ten Commandments” and Tom after a busy evening enforcing the parking rules and regulations of Malden. When most of us are tucked away comfortably under our electric blankets, Tom is out patrolling the cold, hard streets of Malden with nothing but a thermos full of chicken soup and strong black coffee. For this Tom, we salute you!

Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to the Malden Advocate. He can be reached at Pe*****@*ol.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.