Babe Ruth Wives

The Babe Ruth World Series is to begin today, with manager George Barone and coaches Frank Cosoro and Tony Hills directing the action of the Chautauqua County host team. Meanwhile, in the bleachers will be the supporters of these men and their sport, which, possibly takes up just about all of their husbands’ wakeful lives.

Confirming this, Vickie Barone says her husband spends almost every evening at the 16-to 18-year old Babe Ruth board meetings during the spring and summer months. “He’s always involved in a fund-raiser or something for the league.” she says, adding that his 25 years of baseball coaching have led him to the 1985 presidency of the 16- to- 18- year old Babe Ruth league.

Barone is busy with practices during the day, his wife says, “And then he comes home and spends about two hours at his desk working on the mental aspects of the game.”

She says she used to go to most of the games that her husband coached before 2-year old Brooke was born but doesn’t attend many now.

“Lots of people say, ‘Don’t you mind not seeing him very much?’ I feel that a husband and wife don’t always have to be together to have a good marriage.” Mrs. Barone says she is looking forward to the world series games.

“It will be exciting to see people from all over the country,” says the native of Jamestown, who adds that she spends part of her time with her husband, part of her time at Jamestown Community College lifting weights and swimming, and most of her time raising Brooke. She adds that she intends to be employed soon and may use her arts degree toward working as a professional actress in the future.

As for her husband, she says baseball and the players will continue to be a major part of his life.

Pam Corsoro, wife of coach Frank Corsoro of Dunkirk says she keeps busy raising their four children: Carrie, 5 ½ Christie, 4; Julie, 2 and Michael, 4 months. She says Michael, who is the couple’s “grand finale.” has received many baseball oriented gifts. “Everyone probably knows he will be playing baseball.”

Mrs. Corsoro says her husband began coaching the sport when he was 16 and has coached ever since. She says she often feels like a “baseball widow.” He is gone five nights a week in nice weather. Sometimes I feel like doing rain dances…”

Mrs. Corsoro says she doesn’t have much spare time, but even when she does, she keeps busy.  “My mother lives across the street and has a large backyard where the children and I relax quite often, and we attend baseball games together when I have the car...and I look like mother duck with all my children.” She says she likes to sew, embroider and paint and does so during “my time late at night when everything is quiet.”

She spends one night a week working on the 3-11 p.m. shift at Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk where she is a licensed practical nurse. “It allows me to keep my seniority, provides spending money, and eat without having to cut someone’s meat...and I love my work,” she says with a smile.

Mrs. Corsoro says she plans to bring her children to today's parade and then take them back to Dunkirk to stay with a babysitter while she attends the play-off. “It will be having babysitters Friday and Saturday evenings...two nights out!...I’m looking forward to it.”

One baseball wife who is free of small children and can attend all of this year’s Babe Ruth World Series games is Maureen Hills. Mrs. Hills says her 18 -year-old son, Darren and her daughter, Vanina, 22, and her husband, also will be attending the games.

Musing that she is a real baseball fan and really gets into the spirit, Mrs. Hills says her family attended the games of both the 1980 and 1981 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series and she’s looking forward to this year’s series.

“If the Jamestown team plays through the whole series I won’t see my husband; if they finish early he’ll attend the games with me,” says the employee of Hills Department store.

Mrs. Hills says she and her husband, Tony, both natives of England, became interested in baseball when their son became interested in Little League.

“There was no baseball in England, so my husband didn’t play there,” she says, adding that she thinks recreation for children is stressed more in America than in Europe.

“You have to go out of this country to appreciate what we do for our children here,” she says, explaining that her family travels to England to visit relatives every four years. “We were there a few weeks ago for a wedding and missed only two practices because the others were rained out so it wasn’t so bad.”

She says her husband is busy with the Babe Ruth league board during the year and also is president of his union at Hope’s Windows, where he is employed. “And he writes in his spare time, so he keeps quite busy.”

And as for herself, the baseball wife says she hopes her husband will continue to coach even though their son is too old for Babe Ruth, because she enjoys attending the games. She adds that she also likes to sew, knit, embroider and read in her spare time.

Smiling she adds: “After leading Brownies, Cub Scouts and Girls Scouts when my children were younger, I’m ready to find a new hobby now that my kids are all grown up.”