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I post infrequently, but felt compelled to say something about Pat Santarone, who passed away the other day. I worked for the Baltimore Orioles on Pat's groundcrew for nine years, from 78-86, in what had to be the greatest job any high school or college kid ever had, at a stadium loved by anyone who grew up in the 60s or 70s in Baltimore. Pat was a tough guy. He did not put up with any crap. As a kid, I always thought he could be a little mean. But I always respected him. And as I got older, and learned about the world around me, I realized that Pat was a shining example of his generation, young men and women who were growing up during WW 2...people who valued action over words. Pat always told you where you stood, almost never fired anyone, and let you act like a stupid kid when the work was done, as long as it was not too over the top. I remember him as an honest, hard-working, straightforward man who did not ask anything of those working for him that he had not done a thousand times himself. In the 70s and 80s, I know that he was well respected by the Orioles organization, and throughout the majors, as someone who was very good at what he did, and a little ahead of his time when it came to the difficuly of maintaining a major league baseball diamond in peak condition for six months out of the year.
I wish I could have spoken to him one more tim and tell him how many valuable lessons I learned from him when I was in my teens and early twenties.
RIP Pat.
Steve Sandler
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