Dreaming Of Cooperstown

I never met Nick Fagnano but I’ll always remember the day, in 2015, when I met his father Jay. I was attending a pre-season meeting for the parents of Notre Dame High School’s baseball players. It was a baseball meeting like many I had attended before, until suddenly it wasn’t. After the usual announcements and requests for volunteers, Tom Dill, Notre Dame’s head coach, introduced Jay who, coach Dill informed us, had an announcement. Everyone in attendance grew quiet as Jay stepped to the front of the room. I think most if not everyone in the room that night were familiar with the story of Nick Fagnano, the former Notre Dame Student and baseball player, who the previous summer had tragically lost his life when a lightning storm struck Venice Beach. The lightning strike claimed 13 victims. Nick was the only fatality. Jay fought back tears as he told us of his plans for the upcoming baseball season. He would use his passion and background in food service to transform the Notre Dame Baseball Stadium concessio