When I learned that my American Legion baseball coach Dick Cassidy had passed away at the age of 97, I called one of his daughters, Collette, who assured me that her dad was in heaven. Several years ago, when I was working in Iowa, we visited the site where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed, and I vividly recall in the film Shoeless Joe Jackson melting into the cornfield. He asks Kevin Costner, “Is this heaven?” Costner, replies, “No, it’s Iowa.” I have to believe that God prepared a beautiful baseball field for coaches who loved the game as much as Dick Cassidy did.
I met Dick when we were neighbors in the Mississippi Courts, the new housing development built in 1949 along the Mississippi River to accommodate soldiers and their families right after World War II. Dick’s address was 5032, ours was 5040. Later, when I was 12 and had the Courts paper route, I remember delivering the paper to the Cassidys. I only remember that Dick was a generous tipper.
Then, I graduated from De La Salle high school in 1962 but had not played high school baseball. I was a wrestler, but a friend, Gary Chesner, encouraged me to try out for the American Legion baseball team coached by Cassidy. I had played a bit of sandlot baseball, but Legion ball was like the minor leagues or preparing for college. Nevertheless, Cassidy gave me a chance to play, and put me in right field, even though I couldn’t hit the curve ball.
I quickly learned that Dick was an excellent coach and teacher, but he believed in giving everyone a chance to play, and he rewarded hustle.
So who was Dick Cassidy? Richard Vernon Anthony Cassidy was a child of the Great Depression, born in 1928 in north Minneapolis. He attended North High, where he played baseball, football, and basketball, participated in skiing, and co-edited the annual sports yearbook. But baseball was his great lifelong love, and he showed enough talent that he played minor league professionally, as a pitcher in the Yankee farm system, in Cedar Rapids and Grand Forks, and then one year in the Midlands. But married life to Pauline (Polly) Shaw and the arrival of children called for steady employment, and so he learned to be a tile setter, a trade he practiced and passed along to his sons.
His passion for baseball continued, as he coached high school and American Legion teams, and kept meticulous scorecards throughout his life, according to his daughter. He also spent countless hours, according to his friend Dave Wicker, grooming the baseball field at Patrick Henry High School, where he coached. Dick passed along his love of sports to his sons and daughters, all of whom were successful athletes. Two of his sons had tryouts with the major league Twins organization. Barb Johnson, former president of the Minneapolis City Council, said that she watched Dick coach her brother’s baseball team and 30 years later he was coaching her daughter’s basketball team. “He never gave up!” Barb could only describe Dick as “a great man,” a description that was repeated over and over as I interviewed people for this story.
Dave Wicker, athletic director at Patrick Henry High school (now Camden High) says about Dick that he literally coached hundreds of athletes in North Minneapolis, not just in baseball but in basketball as well. He spent hundreds of hours bringing the field at Henry up to mayor league standards. Dick Rainville, who played for Navy Marine American Legion under Cassidy, recalled that they almost never had a winning season. But one year, they made it into the playoffs, meaning that they would be playing at Parade Stadium. Dick was almost in tears. They beat the top-seeded team but then lost in the second round. But they beat the top seeded team in the first round, and it was like winning the World Series for Dick. Rich Subject, who played for Navy Marine and Henry, said that over the years, the Navy Marine team just didn’t have the talent to compete with some of the other teams, but that Cassidy never gave up, working with his player to improve skills play smarter.
Gary Chesner recounted this memory: After singling up the middle Gary was standing on first. Coach Cassidy was coaching third base and flashed the steal sign over to Gary. He doesn’t go. Again coach flashed the steal sign, Ches still doesn’t go. Finally Coach Cassidy takes a few steps toward first and yells out “ Hey Ches, STEAL”. So he did.
Steve Lasley remembered that he played center field for Dick and once dropped a fly ball. Instead of criticizing him, Dick simply encouraged him and told him we would get the run back in the next inning. Sure enough, Steve made a difficult catch in the next inning, saving a run., Dick Rainville remembered the tough years with losing records and the year that Navy Marine made the playoffs. He described the first game against the top seed, and the victory the team felt they owed the coach for all his years of coaching.
One measure of the love and respect Dick earned from players, teachers and coaches was the fact that the baseball field at Camden High now bears his name.
I hadn’t seen Dick since my Navy Marine year, a year our team went winless in 1963, yet Dick was always cheerful and supportive. We played two prison teams (Stillwater and St. Cloud) that year. But on a whim, about five years ago, I convinced my brother Kerry to attend mass at Our Lady of Victory before they closed the church. When I entered the church, I noticed an older couple sitting on the aisle on the right side. I slipped in behind the couple, and tapped the woman on her shoulder. “Does Dick Cassidy still go to church here?” I asked. She said, “You are sitting right behind him.” Dick and I spent an hour after mass (he recognized me right away) and took a selfie. That was the last time I saw him or spoke to him.
As I contacted individuals who knew Dick, the same words were repeated: “a great man” “selfless coach” “dedicated individual” “always positive” “great love and respect for baseball.” Dick was up on a ladder at age 85 painting the scoreboard at the Camden field.
At Dick’s funeral, the church was standing room only, and speakers reiterated the same words I heard from everyone I interviewed.
Dick was a great inspiration for me, and one of the finest individuals I’ve known in my eighty years. I do believe, if there is a heaven, God has prepared a beautiful baseball diamond, with some Wilson gloves, Hillerich and Bradsby Louisville Slugger bats, and Rawlings official baseballs for Dick Cassidy.
