Joe “Fashion” Fiorentino
Joe “Fashion” Fiorentino was….is one of the hardest sentences I will ever have to try and finish.
I never thought I would be writing anything like this. Yesterday I received a call around 5 pm telling me that Joe Fashion had died. I have very little details, but this is what I know… After spending the night with his family on Wednesday, Joe went to sleep and in the morning he never woke up. He leaves behind his incredible wife Ellen and their two beautiful children Clementine and Rocco.
Joe was an amazing father, coach, player and friend. He was made up of something that we all need to look for in ourselves. Anyone who talked to Joe for more than 5 minutes realized this man really had something special going on.
Joe was one of the founding fathers of this league and needs to be remembered that way. It was his softball gear that was borrowed and passed around in the very beginning when the league was just a bunch of artists and musicians that would get together and play ball on the patch of grass behind the McCarren Park field house.
Joe’s passion, love and energy is woven so deeply into the way this league operates. It is celebrated every Sunday when each team, win or lose, comes together, hangs out and has a beer. Most leagues are not like ours. Be grateful! We are not a bunch of faceless competition junkies. We are all friends and Joe made sure we all remembered that.
It was pretty great having him as a coach. His pre game speeches were truly inspirational and he and we believed every word of them. Week after week we fought hard to try and claw our way back. This last season was a tough one winning and losing games by 1 or 2 runs, but Joe kept us right in there with his clutch hits and his sheer will to help the Pinks achieve that W.
Joe Fashion was truly an original. We all lost someone very special here. I am going to miss our coach, friend and leader. Sundays will never be the same without him.
We will always remember you Joe Fashion.
– Wally
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