After qualifying for the second round of the 2014 European Baseball Championship and placing sixth overall in the 12-nation competition, which was won by the Netherlands after the Dutch defeated two-time defending Euro champion Team Italy 6-3 in the final on September 21st at Draci Ballpark in Brno, Czech Republic, Team France manager Eric Gagne took time out to share his thoughts.
On the Dodgers chances in the playoffs: “They can win it all with their starting pitchers they got. I mean they have got a lot of guys, especially with Kershaw. He goes out there, it’s pretty much lights out every time. You know in the playoffs you need two starters…they have six! They are going to be good. Their bullpen was a little shaky for a while, but they pitched a lot of innings. I think they’ve made some good moves. I think the Dodgers are the favorite team for me. Of course, they are my favorite. I played so many years in the Dodgers minor leagues, and I was only in Boston for four months. I was good in LA and never got a ring. But I was terrible in Boston, and I got a ring. So I can’t complain. I was lucky.”
On Derek Jeter’s retirement: Number 2!!! That’s pretty simple. He’s done everything in the game you can think of. A lot of people were wondering five years ago if he was done. Just to have him around in the clubhouse and having his attitude is amazing. He’s done so much for the game. Everybody knows it. If you go to France, people know Jeter. There’s over 10,000 people playing so it’s really, really good. He’s the Jordan and the Gretzsky of the sport. It’s cool to see a guy like him. It’s not like he just hits home runs. He’s just a winner, and he’s won everywhere he went. It’s good to see him retire on top. It’s awesome to see him go out with the Yankees.”
On growing the game in Europe along with Team Italy coach Mike Piazza: “It’s in our blood. We certainly aren’t doing it for the money…that’s for sure. It’s just fun. It’s fun to watch guys get better, listen and learn. For us that’s what I guarantee Mike loves about it. The kids learn…you can tell and see improvement every day, every single at-bat. It’s very rewarding and for us baseball is our life. For me it is, and I’m sure it is for him too. He’s a catcher. They are aware. They love to control the game and stuff like this. And I love baseball.”
The holidays may be over but San Diego is still celebrating since two of the most influential artists behind the Artists’ Tribute to Italian Americans in Baseball Exhibition are speaking this weekend in America’s finest city. Traveling all the way from New York’s Greenwich Village is internationally-renowned sports artist Vincent Scilla. San Diego Hall of Champions resident artist and local favorite educator Christopher Paluso will host the visiting East Coast cultural icon on Sunday, January 12th at the Convivio Center in Little Italy. As a multi-talented painter, filmmaker, and photographer, Vincent Scilla has come a long way since graduating from college at the University of Michigan. During his illustrious four decade career, he has garnered countless accolades, grants, and honors for his fine craft. Beginning as a photographer, Scilla’s works were first showcased at the Detroit Institute of Art in 1969 as part of the prestigious Michigan Artists show. His images have graced the pages of the New York Times and the Village Voice. The experimental filmmaker and director of “Thunder in the Afternoon” and “Flyin’ No-Low Altitude” received numerous awards and noteworthy praise at popular film venues including the Collective Living for Cinema and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Despite being a prolific artist in multimedia formats, Scilla’s artwork–particularly his baseball paintings–has received the most amount of notoriety. Measuring at 8.4″ x 10″ and printed using archival inkjet print on somerset velvet paper, Vincent’s baseball paintings highlight his subjects by utilizing popular advertisements to serve as the backdrop with a true vintage feeling. Ads from popular brands such as Krispy Kreme, Mercury Paint, Cracker Jack, Mobil Oil, White’s Dairy Bar and Ragu are included and used for various backdrops in some of the most unique baseball art anywhere. Although Vincent Scilla often fuses commercial advertising and baseball in his artwork, he has some strong feelings on the branding of our national pastime. In his personal blog, Scilla wrote: “Contrary to what MLB thinks, baseball does not belong to them. It’s not their property. It is the property of generations of Americans dating back nearly 200 years. It’s our mythology and legends. I don’t need Mastercard telling me that.” Having his work displayed in the pages of various books– including “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Treasury of Baseball”, “Baseball Postcard Box”, and “Top of the Ninth”–as well as at some of the best galleries and ballparks in America, the great Italian American artist Vincent Scilla is undoubtedly in a league of his own. See for yourself at Convivio. Christopher Paluso is a native San Diegan, an internationally recognized sports artist, illustrator and educator. Entrusted to create the images of their honored members, he is the Official Artist of the San Diego Hall of Champions’ Brietbard Hall of Fame, the San Diego Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame, the Hawthorne Race Course Jockey Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, and the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Known for his ability to capture a strong real life likeness of his prized subjects, he has gained a massive amount of respect within the world of sports as well as kudos from insiders within the aerospace and entertainment industries. Paluso’s artworks of Muhammed Ali, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Wayne Gretzky, and Michael Jordan are among his most sought-after pieces. His art has been seen on everything from magazine covers to limited edition collector plates and lithographs. In addition to being one of top Italian American artists of our time, Paluso shares his craft with San Diego youth and adults working as an instructor teaching art at area public schools and the Convivio Center. Paluso’s love for his Italian heritage is apparent in his illustrations in the Artists’ Tribute to Italian Americans in Baseball exhibition. Perhaps one of Christopher Paluso’s most memorable moments took place when he was privately commissioned to create a painting of Joe DiMaggio for a lithograph project in 1992. Paluso consulted with DiMaggio to get his vision depicting him as the complete ballplayer that he had been known and loved for. Just before the great Joe D passed away, he saw the image on the cover of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame magazine “Red, White & Green”. According to those close to DiMaggio, it was reported that he was very pleased with the design. Paluso is offering an eight-week “Drawing Italian Style” class at the Convivio Center beginning Monday, January 6th at 7 pm. Borrowing from Italian Renaissance masters da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, students will learn about art history while discovering their individual creativity and unleashing the Italian in all of us. In addition to drawing shapes, using the value scale, proportions, and experimenting with one- and two-point perspective drawing, the very popular artist and illustrator will provide step-by-step instruction in the foundations of drawing, elements and principles of design as well as in the creation of classic-style drawings. For more information on the drawing class and the Vincent Scilla/Christopher Paluso meet-and-greet on Sunday, January 12th at 6:30 pm, visit http://www.ConvivioSociety.org or phone 619-573-4140.