Here's a page with some old Brookline Journal clippings featuring a few of the BLLA coaches and officers that were present back in the 2000 season. Some are still active in the program. As adults, they pushed brooms, settled disputes, filed paperwork, applied band-aids, coached and umpired games. But once, long long ago, as children, they too roamed the diamonds of the Brookline Little League, settling their scores with a bat and ball. Without further ado, we present Tony the Tank and an ensemble cast of characters:

Dateline: July 25, 1966

Johnny Diethorn ran his season record to 7-1 by pitching and batting (4-for-4) Droz to a 14-1 romp over Quaill. Tony Colangelo stroked three hits and Butch Liebman a pair as Quaill's Ed Gremba dropped his 1st after winning four in a row.

Dateline: July 27, 1966

Tony (Tank) Colangelo rapped three hits as Droz tripped Legion's tailenders, 6-3. Matt Vietmeier socked two hits for Legion.

Dateline: June 21, 1967

Jimmy Sheridan made his pitching debut by twirling a 1-hitter as DeBor spilled Denmark, 5-1. Sheridan, a catcher, struck out six and walked only one. Mickey Glumac was the loser.

Dateline: June 22, 1967

Jack McGlynn ran his slab mark to 3-0, second best in the Senior circuit, by chucking DeBor to an 8-2 rout of Automatic Sales. Jimmy Sheridan and P.J. Fisher paced manager Bob Hurley's rising DeBor tossers with two hits each. Ralph Spadafore continued his slugging with a pair, including his 2nd homer. Dave Ogglesby also belted a roundtripper for DeBor.

Dateline: June 26, 1967

Frederick (Snow Shoes) Talak chucked his third straight victory after two early season setbacks by subduing Denmark's Amazin' Milts, 1-0, in the second half opener. Ron (Speed Boy) Magrini romped home to score the only run on Tony (The Tank) Colangelo's infield out. Talak used his curveball almost exclusively to whiff eight.

Dateline: June 30, 1967

Baby-faced Jimmy Draper exploded a grand-slam homer and clicked for his 5th straight pitching triumph as McGaffin's first-half champions pulled into a tie with Legion for the second half pace by thrashing Denmark's Amazin' Milts, 9-2. Rick Kesich socked a 2-run homer for the losers. Draper, Don McMurtry and Jim Butler swatted two hits each for McGaffin. Timothy Reitmeyer and Mickey Glumac whacked a pair of safeties each for Denmark.

Dateline: July 6, 1967

Billy Farrell twirled a 1-hitter but he was the losing pitcher on an error as BYMC's almost unbeatable squad squeaked out a 1-0 victory over Sam's Hardware. Tom Baginski and Ron Baumiller combined in a 3-hitter.

Dateline: June 3, 1968

Ron Baumiller, a 13-year old righthander, made his Senior LL pitching debut by chucking a three-hitter while catcher Tony (Tiger) Colangelo was driving in all three runs with a homer and bases full single in Denmark's 3-2 triumph over DeBor. Ed Helbig homered for DeBor.

Dateline: June 12, 1968

Kerry Donato swatted a pair of homeruns, one with two on, and Rick Joseph smashed a solo round-tripper as Automatic Sales and Denmark's Amazin' Milts waged a 6-6 tie called because of darkness after eight frames.

Dateline: June 14, 1968

Tommy Eperthener, fated to break his leg a few days later, bombed a three-run homer and Rick Joseph connected with one on as Automatic Sales thumped DeBor, 16-2. Tony DelMastro struck out eight and did not issue a walk. Eperthener, who loomed as a likely All-Star pitcher, will be out for the season.

Dateline: June 15, 1968

Bombing Tommy McGrath smacked a grand slam and Rick Joseph a solo homer as Automatic Sales spilled Spadafore from the unbeaten, 6-5, in a 10-inning game. Ed Gremba was the winning pitcher, Mark Donato the loser, his first after three victories.

Dateline: June 17, 1968

Manager Ed McGrath's McGaffin sluggers, sparked by Rick Kesich's pitching and hitting, toppled DeBor, 8-4. Kesich whiffed 12 and drove in four runs with three hits. Ralph (Big Tank) Spadafore and Georgie (Porgie) Mahfood hammered homeruns for the losers while Pete Bucci slapped a 3-run roundtripper for the winners.

Dateline: June 18, 1968

Chuck (What's Up Doc) Blobner struck out eleven and Tony (Big Cat) Colangelo powered a homer as Denmark squeezed past Legion, 7-4. Glenn Schwartz collected three hits for Denmark. Jerry Kail rapped a pair of safeties and Bill Decker accomplished almost the impossible on the Senior Field by lacing a triple to right-center.

Dateline: June 1, 1969

The sluggers turned Big Sam Bryen's "Bandbox" into a paradise as seven baseballs sailed out of Community Center Field while Denmark's Amazin' Milts were squeezed by Jack "Stanky" Lombardi's Spadafore Roofers, 12-11. Bobby O'Connor smashed two while Mark Donato, Denny Calabria and Jimmy Weber belted one each for the losers. Calabria connected with the sacks packed. Ron Baumiller, Johnny Molinda and Tony (The Tank) Colangelo hit for the circuit to pace Denmark.

Dateline: June 6, 1969

Three-Ton Tony Colangelo socked a three-run homer and Ron (Bubbles) Baumiller twirled four-hit ball as Denmark's Amazin" Milts made it two in a row by drubbing DeBor, 8-1.

Dateline: June 19, 1969

Tony (The Tank) Colangelo stole the show by driving in all the runs with a pair of homers and a single as the Amazin' Milts squeezed by Spadafore, 5-4. Mark Donato limited Denmark to four hits, but Tony the Tank's three proved decisive. Ray Doria collected three hits off Johnny Molinda, the winning hurler.

Dateline: June 14, 1970

Billy Farrell, a lanky lefthander, struck out 15 and yielded only two hits as Legion toppled McGaffin's defending champions, 2-0. Ray Korzenowski whiffed nine and allowed only five hits as a hard-luck loser. Danny McGrath broke up Farrell's no-hit try with a 6th inning single and Tommy Rump followed with a double. Farrell calmly pitched out of the jam.

Dateline: June 23, 1970

For the second straight night, nary a ball left Prez Sam Bryen's ball park as DeBor squeezed by Spadafore, 2-0. Paul Romano bested Ray Doria in a tight slab struggle. Romano turned in what may be a Brookline Senior Circuit record, nine assists by a pitcher. Joe Brickner and Johnny Quinlan slapped two hits each for DeBor, while Spadafore's Billy Taylor, Denny Calabria and Doria also rapped a pair each.

Dateline: June 26, 1970

LL HOME RUNS -- Angelo Masullo, Manco, 1 (Grand Slam) ; Brian Albert, St. Mark, 1 (Grand Slam); Joe Lang, Droz, 1; Randy Camarco, BYMC, 1; Ray Homer, Legion, 1.

Dateline: July 1, 1970

Rege (Li'l Elroy) Carver, limited to four innings by LL rules, shared an 8-0 shutout with Joe Lang as Droz knocked St. mark from the unbeaten ranks in second-half play. Mark Constantino, Vince Panucci,and Lang swatted two hits each for Droz. Jeff Buskirk slapped two for St. Mark.

Dateline: July 2, 1970

Mark Wenger, an 11-year old righthander and the most promising curveballer since the days of Jackie Flavin, ran his pitching record to 4-0 as BYMC toppled Manco, 7-4. harry Bersani's bases-loaded double was the clincher for BYMC. Wenger contributed two singles to his own cause. Angie Masullo, George DelGreco and Bruce Buskirk socked a pair each for Manco.

Dateline: July 4, 1970

Tommy McGrath conked his 7th homer with a mate on as Miller nipped DeBor, 5-3, in the makeup of a first-half rainout. Pat (Mighty Mouse) Connors struck out seven to notch his 1st pitching win. Paul Romano clouted a solo homer for DeBor.

Dateline: July 20, 1970

Johnny DelGreco plastered his 12th homer and Tom McGrath equalled that total as Miller crushed DeBor 8-3. Paul Romano homered for DeBor. Kurt Vietmeier, who is making a career of beating the tailenders (this was his 3rd win of the season over DeBor), tossed up his teasing hooks to run his pitching record to 5-0, tops in the Senior circuit. DelGreco, McGrath and Ray Abbondanza rapped three hits each for Miller. Romano stroked three for DeBor.

Dateline: July 21, 1970

Kevin Walsh outdueled Regis (Li'l ElRoy) Carver as St. Mark, managed by Walt Evans, toppled Droz, 5-3. Jeff (The Little Plumber) Buskirk stroked a single to drive in the clinching run in the 5th inning. Carver and Mark Constantino belted two hits each for the losers.

Dateline: August 12, 1974

Clint Burton, who is undefeated with a LL pitching record of 12-0, fanned 13 and pitched a two-hitter as the Brookline All-Stars whipped Bellevue-Avalon 3-1 in the first round of the 32-team tournament. Brian Phillips sparked Brookline's three-run first inning with a two-run double and scored himself on Tim Gremba's RBI single. Bobby Frey and Ray Benvenuti also drilled singles for the winners. Burton used an assortment of palmballs, curveballs and fastballs to keep the Bellevue-Avalon batters off balance. B-A's only run was unearned.

Dateline: June 13, 1976

DeBor, managed by Bob Sherry, moved into a first place tie as Jimmy DelGreco won his 3rd straight game by subduing Denmark, 7-4. Tommy Matrascia drilled three hits, Andy Clark a pair and Dino DelMastro a ground-rule double for Denmark. Johnny Boyle and Shawn Sherry slapped two hits each for DeBor while Tommy Kinzel drove in two runs and Rick Schumacher continued his hitting streak with a double.

Dateline: June 13, 1976

Boulevard Lounge downed Ressi by a score of 10-9. Chris Weigold got the win by striking out two and walking only one. Leading the hitting attack for the Lounge was Jim Ehland with a double and triple. Doubles were had by Weigold, Bernie Meyer, Jimmy Ott and Rich Donato. For the losing Ressi nine, Larry Ott was tagged with the loss. Batting stars for Ressi were Jim Motznik and Mark Roper with three singles each. Larry Ott collected a double and single.

Dateline: June 21, 1976

BYMC, behind the pitching and batting of Rusty Miller, beat St. Mark, 4-2, in the second half lidlifter. Miller and Bobby Matrascia rapped two hits each, but it was Wally Impell's bases-loaded single that decided the outcome.

Dateline: June 22, 1976

Ray-Ray Benvenuti found his long lost control, whiffed 12 and held off DeBor's first-half champions as Denmark scored a 7-5 victory. Manager George (Bruno) Kinzel's winners rode the hitting of Benvenuti, who rapped two doubles and a single; Handy Andy Clark (2-3), Ron Hitt (3-5) and Dino DelMastro (2-4). Rich Schumacher (2-4) and Billy Toskey's two doubles topped DeBor's attack.

Dateline: June 27, 1976

Mark Donato's Big Green Machine provided Dave (Brute) Healy with a 22-1 lead, then held off Stebbrook's furious late surge for a 22-20 victory. Mike Raimondi slammed his 2nd homer and two singles, Healy a pair of doubles and two singles, while Ed Ridge, Ed Beveridge and Steve Horvath added two hits each for McGaffin. Clint Burton slammed three tape-measure doubles, Brian Phillips and Pat McGrath added three hits each, while Mike (Bomber) Bonnar and Tim (Jaws) Sharkey swatted two each for the late-charging pharmacists.

Dateline: July 1, 1976

Roger Malone struck out eight and swatted a solo homer as Legion squeezed by Stebbrook's hard-luck crew, 4-3. Mark Sciulli went 2-for-2 and stole four bases to lead Legion. Tom Sanders, Stebbrook's 6-6 skyscraper, slashed a mile-high double and single while Clint (Bo) Burton socked his 7th fence-clearing double and a single in three trips. Brian Phillips added his 6th double for the losers.

Dateline: July 1, 1976

Resurrection, now on the move, picked up its second win by downing Boulevard Lounge, 9-5. Don Lodge got his second win of the week while Bernie Meyer picked up the loss. Jim Motznik paced Ressi with three singles and Mark Roper added a double. For the Lounge, Chris Weigold had a double and single.

Dateline: July 12, 1976

Bob Smith Ford won its first game of the second half by downing Boulevard Lounge, 10-6. The winning pitcher was Tim Lannon, while Bernie Meyer picked up the loss. For the auto gang, Dennie Schmidt had two doubles and Tom Martin went 3-for-4. Jim Ott and Jim Ehland stroked a double and single apiece.

Dateline: August 13, 1976

Jim Rohall sparkled in the field and at the plate to lead his team to a 24-13 win in the final game of the all-star series. Jim banged out four base hits and ended the game by starting a double-play. Tim Lannon hit two doubles and a single and Donna Caterino added two doubles to aid in the victory. The winners scored 14 runs in the third inning to sew up the win. Jim Motznik had three hits for the losers and Chris Cicchitto and Ross Torquato added two apiece. Lou Fisher was the winning pitcher while Scott Griffin suffered the loss.

Dateline: May 19, 1977

St. Marks got its second win by downing Legion, 4-2. Dom DePasquale picked up the win and Larry Ott took the loss, both in relief. Gary Lapia tripled to drive in the winning run in the tenth inning. Mike Joseph had two hits for Legion while Tom Lyons and Mike Hamilton smacked two apiece for St. Marks.