Barry Fitzpatrick saw the tender, unsure nature of kids and drew them out in baseball.  For over 40 years, he guided them whether their skills needed batting expertise, how to run bases, throwing a meaningful pitch or catching a ball.

“He had honesty and integrity and real conversations and was able to figure out a way to get through to his players,” said Ryan Cox, Sayville High School’s Director of Health, Physical Education & Interscholastic Athletics and a former student. “Everyone learned differently. I pitched for him and he taught me a changeup (an off-speed pitch thrown at a slower velocity than a pitcher’s fastball, often with similar trajectory and arm motion to deceive the hitter).  I was the only one to throw that ball.”

His dedication was legendary. “He’d put on his uniform and go to all the home and away games,” said his wife Barbara Fitzpatrick of his diligence and love of the game. “He was assistant coach until last year.”

That’s when his Parkinson’s Disease got worse. He was still attending games, at age 78, then had to step back. “He was vibrant until October,” she said.

So Cox led a campaign to honor him. After approaching the board of education for approval to rename the baseball field, it happened earlier this month before the Sayville Varsity Golden Flashes game against Mt. Sinai, their annual Salute Our Troops Day. Fittingly, the star of the day is a Vietnam Vet. 

It was a heartwarming lovefest at the newly named Barry Fitzpatrick Field emblazoned on the scoreboard.

The Sayville Athletic Foundation and Sayville Baseball Booster Club provided funds for the scoreboard header, banners, and plaque; the Sayville Booster Club coordinated the attendance. T-shirts with his name and No. 24 (Willie Mays number) were donated too.  “Forty family members showed up and almost 200 former students,” said Barbara Fitzpatrick.

That’s because of his impact which spread to all the sports he oversaw. Barry was also a physical education teacher throughout the district and coached 9th grade baseball, wrestling and soccer.

Nassau BOCES Administrator James Bertsch, admits he wasn’t the greatest Sayville student, but loved gym and athletics, especially because of his mentor at Sunrise Drive Elementary School in 1975 after Fitzpatrick returned from the Army in Vietnam as First Lieutenant.  “He would open the gym early for intramurals that included wrestling, gymnastics and other sports,” Bertsch said. “He was an incredibly kind, warm and humble man.”

Varsity Baseball Head Coach from 1978 to 1999, Fitzpatrick retired from that position, eventually assisting Cox. “The essence of that is that when I returned to Sayville and coached the varsity team, he was my assistant coach. It was nice having someone who was the winningest coach in Sayville.”

(That was 316 victories, leading his teams to five league championships and earning Coach of the Year in each championship season.)

Fitzpatrick was able to attend the day with an aide and was surrounded on either side by the varsity team. Even the junior varsity girls softball team was there. There were representatives from the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Navy Seal Museum, bagpipes, and also a flyover from the Bayport Aerodrome, his wife said.

Barbara Fitzpatrick, a great helpmate, is an energetic, stalwart, loving force herself, raising four children (Brian, Wendy, Thomas, and Barrie). She is past president of the Sayville Village Improvement Society, former president of The Common Ground now corresponding secretary, a reiki master and co-vice president of Sharing A Meal. She is also earning a degree at Empire State University and is a past Suffolk County News Inspiration Award Winner. One of her mantras is taking each day as it comes.

Her husband has always had a good sense of humor, she said. “My daughter asked Barry what was his favorite baseball game?” And he answered,  “The one not played yet.”

As for the event, “I was grateful he could see the love the community had for him.”

It surely was a lot.