www.bceagles.comCongratulations Steve Langoneon your induction into theBoston College <strong>Hall</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Fame</strong>!Achievements too numerous to mention…Thank you for all <strong>of</strong> the memories!Love-Mom, Dad,Paul, Mickey, Kayla,Grandad, Susan& Champis proud to be able to provide theHALL OF FAME PLAQUES & SOUVENIR GLASSESThanks to David P. Hasenfus ’65 and our MembersJoin the <strong>Hall</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Fame</strong> Club!800-242-0962BOB BP -- File name: B72040_BC_32pg_Txt.pdf Made on Sep 16, 2008 at 7:02:58 PM, Page 4 <strong>of</strong> 36 pages. Trim is 8.5 x 11.0 --
2008 INDUCTEEBOB BP -- File name: B72040_BC_32pg_Txt.pdf Made on Sep 16, 2008 at 7:02:58 PM, Page 5 <strong>of</strong> 36 pages. Trim is 8.5 x 11.0 --STEVE LANGONE ‘00BaseballMo Maloney, who coached Steve Langone as afreshman and sophomore at Boston College,states flatly, “Steve is the greatest all-aroundplayer in the modern era <strong>of</strong> Boston Collegebaseball.”As a superb pitcher who was also such agood hitter that his team couldn’t afford tohave him out <strong>of</strong> the lineup, Steve Langone is aworthy heir to another baseball tradition inBoston. You’ve heard <strong>of</strong> the fellow who establishedthat tradition – a guy by the name <strong>of</strong>George Herman Ruth.“A lot <strong>of</strong> players can do both - pitch andhit,” Maloney went on. “But the thing aboutSteve is that he excelled at both.”Nice compliment indeed. But imagine ifLangone had gotten to wield his bat more thanfour times in his freshman season <strong>of</strong> 1997?How much better would his BC career totalsbe? He is seventh all time in hits (191) andruns batted in (117) as well as third in runsscored (151) and second in home runs (30).Steve’s pitching record is even moreimpressive. He made 39 starts in college andcompleted 22 games. He is first all-time inwins with 24; third in strikeouts with 230;and he holds the lowest earned run average fora single season with 1.54. That mark, set inhis senior season <strong>of</strong> 2000, led the nation.Maloney had recruited Steve out <strong>of</strong>Reading High, where he went 29-3 in fouryears. He was already an accomplished collegepitcher when his rookie year at the Heightswas drawing to a close. He had started ninegames, compiling a respectable 4-4 record. Butuntil Maloney inserted him into the lineup latein a game against Northeastern, Steve had onlybeen to the batter’s box three times.Langone’s career trajectory changed thatday with one swing <strong>of</strong> the bat. “I got a fastballand hit a bomb. I absolutely crushed it,” hebeams. “That opened the eyes <strong>of</strong> the coaches.And I give Mo Maloney a lot <strong>of</strong> credit, becausehe gave me the opportunity to combine my hittingand my pitching. I had a good fall seasonwhen I was a sophomore, and I was able tobreak into the lineup.”Steve’s one home run in high school was aground ball between the outfielders that rolledfar enough for him to leg it all the way aroundthe bases. He had never hit for power, and asa pitcher he was neither fast nor intimidating.But as Reading coach Pete Moscariello puts it,“Steve taught us as much as we taughthim. He really knew how to pitch. He threwhard for a high school kid and was a great controlpitcher. He was very intelligent and a greatstudent <strong>of</strong> the game. He worked very hard, andby that I mean he truly cared about what hewas doing. Even in the <strong>of</strong>f season he’d be hittingand taking ground balls…at practice andon his own he’d do things like making sure hehad the right spin on his curve ball to get itinto the proper location.”Steve and cousins Mark Langone and EricPrevite were, it seemed, always together onthe ballfields <strong>of</strong> their youth. Their ten-manAAU team, the Reading Red Sox, finished thirdout <strong>of</strong> 35 squads at a national tournament inCocoa Beach, Florida when they were 16.When they weren’t playing or practicing withtheir team, they’d hit the local park for battingand fielding practice.It paid <strong>of</strong>f handsomely. All three played ballin college – Eric at Merrimack and Mark atStonehill – and Steve got to know all about hisstrengths, limitations, and potential as a player.Had a series on injuries not befallen himafter college, he would have had a legitimateshot at major league baseball.From sophomore year on at BC, Steveplayed in every game. When he wasn’t pitchinghe was usually the designated hitter,though he played first and third base as well.5As a sophomore, he batted .401, hit ninehomers, and had a 4-5 pitching record. Injunior year he batted .332 and had 13 homeruns, and in senior year his average was .338.He finished up with a .356 batting overageover four years.Steve had always worked diligently on hispitching repertoire. Starting back in highschool, he developed a befuddling array <strong>of</strong>motions that confounded enemy hitters. Hehad always hated to bat against sidearm pitchers,so he came up with a full sidearm deliveryand a three-quarter angle throw as well as astraight overhand.“Batters would sometimes tell me afterthe game that they thought I had 12 differentpitches. I only had four, but it might havelooked like more because I threw from threedifferent angles,” he explained.Steve fashioned himself after GregMaddux, who relied on pinpoint control andability to outwit hitters rather than on rawspeed and power. “I tried to get ahead <strong>of</strong> battersand make them expand their strike zones.I’d vary my arm angles and throw a lot <strong>of</strong>curveballs and changeups. If I fell behind inthe count, then they weren’t going to chaseany pitches,” he continued.After leading the nation in ERA and earningsecond-team All-America honors, Stevewas drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers andsent to Yakima, Washington. The followingyear he played at the A level in Vero Beach,then moved up to Jacksonville in AA.He missed half <strong>of</strong> the 2002 season with ashoulder injury, but bounced back and madethe AA all-stars. In 2003 he rose to AAA withthe Dodger organization, but elbow problemscropped up and he required Tommy Johnsurgery. The lengthy rehab made him miss all<strong>of</strong> 2004.The Red Sox picked him up that winterand sent him to Wilmington, Delaware.Released again, he caught on with the Phillies’AA team in Reading, Pennsylvania. Anothershoulder injury finally ended Steve’s pr<strong>of</strong>essionalcareer. Over six seasons as a pro, hewas an impressive and promising pitcherwhen healthy. He pitched in 108 games,struck out 295 batters while walking 54, andhad an ERA <strong>of</strong> 2.69.Since his retirement, Steve scouts andrecruits for an agents’ group, tutors individualplayers, and is a second baseman forWakefield <strong>of</strong> the Inter-City League.
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