Baseball was Rocky Marciano’s first love

Before he discovered boxing, Marciano had dreams of being a professional baseball player.

He was a typical youngster during the 1930s, spending countless hours with friends playing baseball and football.

Before Rocky Marciano embarked on a legendary boxing career, he was a well rounded athlete who took full advantage of living on Dover Street, which is close to Edgar Playground.

Being the undefeated heavyweight championship with a 49-0 record is what Marciano will always be remembered as, but his introduction to sports came on the baseball diamond.

Whether he was playing for an American Legion or a CYO team, Marciano was one of the top young players during his early days in Brockton.

 So devoted to baseball was Marciano that he drove to Fayetteville, N.C., in 1947 to try out for a minor league team affiliated with the Chicago Cubs.

When Marciano didn’t make the cut following his discharge from the Army, he went back home to Brockton and started on the path of a boxing career that brought him to the top of the sport.

 “He was always a long-ball hitter with a very weak arm’’ said younger brother Peter Marciano. “He had good mechanics, but he couldn’t throw at all.

 “How ironic: The same right arm that was so powerful for him to knock out all those fighters was too weak for baseball.’’

 Marciano was joined by a few friends from Brockton for the springtime trip to North Carolina where they all made a bid to join the Cubs’ organization.

It was about a month into his stay that Marciano learned he was not good enough for the minor leagues, and he eventually returned home.

“He didn’t have a great arm, but he could hit the ball a mile,’’ said Marciano’s brother-in-law, Armond Colombo. “He was very slow of speed and that held him back. He was a better-than-average baseball player, though.’’

Marciano was a starter for the Brockton High School football team during his sophomore year, playing center and linebacker for a team that is now nicknamed the Boxers in his honor.

According to the book, “Rocky Marciano: The Rock Of His Times,’’ by Russell Sullivan, Marciano was one of the top players as a sophomore in 1940.

“He was only a sophomore, but he played nearly sixty minutes a game all season,’’ coach Charlie Holden is quoted as saying. “He was a rough, tough, powerful kid of about 155 pounds who never got tired and never got hurt.’’

One of the top plays made by Marciano that season, according to the book, was a 65-yard touchdown he scored after intercepting a pass against New Bedford High School.

That season would be the end of Marciano’s football career, though, as he left school during his sophomore year and went to work.

 Marciano kept playing baseball around in the city and got a taste of boxing when he was in the Army.

“He made the statement one day that if you win a fight, you got a weekend pass,’’ said Peter Marciano. “He wins by knockout in the first round, and every week, he got a pass and he kept winning to get passes. That was his motivation.’’

That was the foundation for a boxing career that would be one for the ages. It was a sport that Marciano had little to do with before joining the Army as he was happier to be on a baseball field in Brockton.

“He never thought of becoming a fighter, never talked about it,’’ said friend Nick Sylvester, who lived in the same neighborhood. “He never gave any indication about it.’’

Baseball’s loss, though, became boxing’s gain, and Rocky Marciano went from being a catcher behind the plate to an expert thrower of punches.

Source: http://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20110611/News/306119858