01907 Spring 2019

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SLIDING INTO
HOME
Joe Caponigro is having a ball
BY STEVE KRAUSE
Calling Joe Caponigro a prodigal son who has returned home wouldn't be quite
right — though in a sense it is.
Caponigro, 58, grew up in Swampscott, and played basketball and baseball for
the Big Blue. Baseball is his No. 1 love, however, and one of the town's enduring
legends — Frank DeFelice — was firmly established as the varsity coach for the Big
Blue. And there was no way Caponigro was going to change that.
So he waited. He helped out DeFelice with the sub-varsity, helped establish the
North Shore Baseball League team now known as the Swampscott Sox, ran clinics,
ran an indoor baseball facility with Marblehead coach Mike Giardi, and finally, in
2004, went outside the town and succeeded another legend — Ron Bennett — as
baseball coach at Lynn English.
If you're thinking that's quite an apprenticeship, you'd be correct. But all's well
that ends well. As of this spring, Caponigro is back in town, and will be sitting in the
home dugout in April when the Big Blue play their first game.
"Growing up in town, I always wanted to play for the Big Blue, and always
wanted to coach," Caponigro said. "So, I'm honored and thrilled to have this
opportunity."
Caponigro spent the early part of his childhood in East Boston, and moved to
Swampscott when he was 9. From there, he went through the town's sports system,
playing Little League baseball, Pop Warner football and town basketball. He rubbed
elbows with the likes of Al Cerone, Frank Kelliher, Peter Beatrice, Andy Homes,
and Al Durati. Like many athletes from Swampscott, Caponigro bled blue.
"I remember as a kid going to those games, especially football," he said.