01907 Spring 2024

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DEFELICE, continued from page 29
played for DeFelice at Swampscott, said. “It just makes sense.
If you’re going to name this field, Frank would certainly be
the only choice.”
The Swampscott Board of Selectmen unanimously
approved the proposal on Jan. 10, one spearheaded by
Caponigro and Steve Bulpett, a former Swampscott baseball
player and Boston Herald sportswriter.
“My best friend’s nephews were playing baseball at
Swampscott a few years ago and we’d go to games to see
them play,” Bulpett said. “Coach DeFelice was always there
and we’d have a nice conversation. It just struck me that he’s
kind of the essence of community.”
At one of those games, Bulpett chatted with Caponigro.
“Steve was the real catalyst for this. I saw him, probably
last year, at a game and he brought it up,” Caponigro said.
“Then, we just kind of put our heads together and did what
we had to do… This is a recognition that is very justified
with his accomplishments (and) longevity.”
Accomplishments and longevity, indeed, but it was more
than that, according to Bulpett.
“I started thinking about the field, and certainly his
accomplishments as baseball coach would warrant his name
being there,” Bulpett said. “But I think the part that really put
it over the edge for me was the fact that he was still – after all
these years – coming here to support the program.”
“I’m still associated with baseball because it’s a
tremendous passion with me,” DeFelice said.
DeFelice’s impact goes a long way. Just ask Paul Halloran,
who assisted DeFelice from 1989-92 and 1997-2005 and
led the Swampscott American Legion team to back-to-back
state championships in 1995 and ’96.
“This is the most well-deserved honor there could ever
be. I got a chance to experience just how tremendous a
coach and molder of men Frank was. He absolutely held his
players to the highest standards, yet he was always fair and
honest with them,” Halloran said. “If you were the parent of
a player, you hit the jackpot when your son got to play for
Frank DeFelice, even if some players realized that later in
life.”
“Steve Bulpett and Joe Caponigro should be congratulated
for spearheading this effort, as well as the Board of
Selectmen for approving it,” Halloran added. “Frank’s
coaching tenure did not end the way he deserved, thanks to
the actions of a few small people who thankfully have long
left the scene, so it is very gratifying that his legacy will be
immortalized with the naming of the field. Everyone in
Swampscott can be proud of that.”
Speaking of being proud, Kevin Rogers, a standout pitcher
on the 1993 state championship team, said DeFelice created
“a pride in playing for Swampscott.”
“If you were lucky enough, you were coached by Frank,”
Rogers said. “It was everybody playing for the same thing.
He instilled that in all of us.”
When asked to describe DeFelice as a coach,
Caponigro could have gone on all night.
“I learned not just baseball from him, but a lot of life
lessons and a lot about teamwork, physical and mental
toughness, preparation, and discipline,” Caponigro
said. “I appreciate everything Frank did for me
growing up and the lessons I was taught.”
Discipline came to Bulpett’s mind, too.
“I was around when he was coaching, so I
got to see it up close, but even in the classes
that he was teaching (physical education in
Swampscott’s school system for more than three
decades), Coach was a disciplinarian, and maybe
we didn’t love it so much at the time, but we
got to appreciate it,” Bulpett said. “I always
appreciated Coach – even when he was yelling
at me.”
DeFelice was also head football coach at
Swampscott from 1977-81.
“I was disappointed to realize I was a
better football player than I was a baseball
player,” said DeFelice, who grew up playing
sports in Winthrop with his brother, Bob, a
Hall of Famer at Winthrop High, BC, and
Bentley University, among others. “I loved
football, but I have a tremendous passion for
baseball.”
It’s true. DeFelice still finds a way to be
involved with the game, serving as a consultant
with Endicott College in Beverly.
“So 2008, he walked right into my office… From
there, we were off and running,” Endicott baseball
coach Bryan Haley said. “He was with us from 2008 to
2018, somewhere in that range, and then he became our
consultant. We talk about baseball and stay in touch – that
sort of thing.”
Haley jumped right to one of his favorite things
about DeFelice: “The stories.”
“He’s a class act and one of the kindest
people in the world, but the stories
he has from back in the day…
priceless,” Haley said.
There will be a
formal dedication at a
Swampscott baseball
game this spring.
“He knows more
baseball than any of
us will ever know,”
Haley said.