North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: 'My Dad Would Want Me To Do This'
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BY TIM PEELER
But when Tommy Foschi awoke to find his older brother Mike and their father’s best friend, Joe Vetrano, in his apartment last May 20, he was worried. With, it turns out, good reason. Tommy had just seen his dad, Pat, the day before. Like he did every week, Pat Foschi flew from the family home in La Quinta, All last season, Pat Foschi missed exactly three of the Wolfpack’s weekday games. He had the luxury of travel with his job as the director of West Coast sales for cellular provider Sprint. He could conduct his business on his company phone from the stands at Doak Field at Dail Park. He had almost as many monthly minutes as frequent flyer miles. But when he cut out after the seventh inning of the Pack’s 6-3 loss to the Tigers that Saturday afternoon, Pat Foschi had no idea how little time he had. For Tommy Foschi, the little wave from the dugout was the final good-bye with his best friend, the guy he had spent so many hours with talking baseball and life as they traveled from place to place. “For the last couple of years, when my family went on vacation, I couldn’t go with them because of baseball,” said the scrappy senior shortstop. “So I would go somewhere with just him. We would go to “I never personally met anyone who disliked my father. He was the coolest guy ever.” During his flight from The rest of the Foschi family wife Patricia, oldest son Mike, 16-year-old daughter Ashley and assorted friends found out by phone. Mike didn’t want that Tommy, stuck by himself on the other side of the country from his support system, to go through that. So he and Vetrano hopped a red-eye from “It was a very grown-up thing for him to do, to be there with me,” Tommy Foschi said. Foschi went home for a week, but returned to be with his team for the ACC Tournament in “Some might say I did the wrong thing, coming back so soon,” Tommy Foschi said. “I believe my dad would have wanted me to. I would think about him during the game. I knew he loved to watch me play, so I just played hard.” The Foschis were connected by their love of sports. Pat Foschi was a basketball schoolboy legend in the small town of The elder Foschi accepted a full scholarship to play basketball at “He always regretted not staying with basketball,” Tommy Foschi said. “He wanted me to pursue baseball as far as I could.” So the two darted from field to dusty field, pursuing their twin dreams of baseball scholarships and professional contracts. In each of the years Tommy was eligible in the Major League Draft First Year Player Draft, they would sit by the computer and wait for Tommy’s name to come up. So far, it hasn’t. The last few months have been hard on the Foschi family, particularly high school junior Ashley. Patty Foschi went searching for her first job in 25 years. Tommy considered finding a school near home where he could play his final baseball season. Wolfpack head coach coach Elliott Avent helped him make a few calls. In the end, however, Foschi decided he wanted to return to “I really considered staying home,” Foschi said. “I wanted to do it for my mom and to be close to my family. But my mom said I'm a grown woman, I’ll be fine. If you really want to strive to be the best, stay where you are. I know you love it there.’ "I also didn't want to disappoint this group of guys. They're like my family out here and they were so supportive of me. My dad would want me to do this." Foschi heads into the 2008 baseball season full-squad practice began last Friday as the Wolfpack’s starting shortstop. His teammates have noticed a change in him. “He's always been a hard worker, but he's been completely focused on his school work and his game,” said first baseman Pat Ferguson, also a Plus, life is different now. The little mistakes that sometimes got in the way last year as he tried to earn more playing time, aren’t nearly as important anymore. “I'm not letting the little things bother me,” Foschi said. “If I make and error, then, screw it, I'm going on to the next one. You can’t dwell on it. Before, I'd make an error and I was pressing so much to play that I just couldn’t let it go. It would take a lot out of me. “Now, I have a more positive outlook on life.” You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
