A contribution to The Figment Sporting Journal from Brooklyn.
TOM AIELLO IS FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS
The memories aren't very vivid but Tom Aiello has an old photo of himself as a 2 year old, clad in a tiny Brooklyn Kings jersey and ballcap, perched on the dugout steps at Kings County Ballpark. He looks at that photo every day and longs for the opportunity to re-enact that image while dressed in an official Kings uniform. The man standing behind Aiello in the photo is his father John, who played 195 career games in the Brooklyn outfield including 43 in the year the picture was taken. The younger Aiello is now just one step away from making his childhood dreams, like those of his father, come true.
Tom is a 22 year old catcher who the Kings selected out of high school in the 4th round of the 1925 amateur draft. In the past three seasons he has worked his way up through the Kings system and was promoted to AAA Houston last May. He is expected to start this season in AAA but at Rochester instead of Houston, as the Kings have moved their primary affiliate to the New York city. In 85 games with the Bulls last year, Aiello hit .291 and provided very steady defense behind the plate. That is an impressive stat when you consider last season only 5 catchers age 22 or younger played in either a AAA or FABL game. They include rising Baltimore Cannons star Joe Welch, Philadelphia Sailors rookie Jim Kyle, Pittsburgh Miners 21 year old prospect Charlie Ward who played 7 games at AAA and Brooklyn Kings rookie phenom Mike Taylor. It is the last name on that list that might make Aiello's dream of playing for the Kings very difficult as Taylor is considered by many to be a future star and may block Aiello's path to the big leagues.
"I can't control that," stated Aiello recently. "Mike's a great player and is making the most of his opportunity. I have to do the same and focus on my game. If I play like I know I can and continue to be a great teammate, the chance will come."
Aiello knows a little better than most what it takes to get to the Federally Aligned Leagues, and how hard it is to stay there. Tom was born in in El Paso, Texas in 1906 to his parents John and Mary. John was playing semi-pro ball for El Paso's entry in the Lonestar League that season when a scout for the Brooklyn Kings spotted the 26 year old outfielder. The following season John was in Brooklyn, playing for the Kings and earning a decent wage from baseball. The elder Aiello played 144 games for the Kings that season and batted .250. That would be the high point of his professional career as, after hitting .241 in 43 games in 1908, John was dispatched to the minors. He would play for all the same Brooklyn minor league clubs his young son would nearly two decades later with stops in Omaha, Knoxville and at AAA Houston. John would become a career minor leaguer but he did get 8 more games in the big leagues, 4 each in 1914 and 1915 and would get just 1 more major league hit, giving him 168 for his career. John's advice to his son - savor every moment of it.
"As much as I loved playing in El Paso, the difference of being in the Aligned Leagues and playing in Brooklyn was just unbelievable," explained John. "I thought it would last forever too, but all I got was a little over a year. It was by far the best time of my pro career. The other stops were nice. I got to see a lot of things and make a lot of friends in Houston, Omaha and Knoxville but nothing compared to playing in a big league park in front of all those fans."
To see his son now be on the cusp of that experience is as much of a thrill for the elder Aiello as his son. "It was amazing that Brooklyn, of all teams, selected him and has been a thrill for me revisiting all these places I used to play at when Mary and I make the trip from our home in Connecticut. It will be a lot nicer easier now that the Kings moved their AAA team to Rochester for us to see Tom next season." John broke into a smile and added, "but we would love to make a trek to Brooklyn to watch him play one day soon."
Tom is not the only Aiello child with major league dreams. His younger brother Jim, who was born in Mary's childhood hometown of Winsted, Connecticut six years after Tom was born, is playing high school ball in Birmingham, Alabama. Jim, a third baseman, may be the best hitter in the family after batting .298 with 7 homers and 31 rbi's in 40 games as a rookie with the Bulldogs.
So how did a Connecticut kid end up in Birmingham playing prep ball. The baseball world is a small and close knit family and a friend of a friend, former Philadelphia Keystone and Toronto Wolves third baseman Hugh Hayes got wind of the younger Aiello and convinced the family to send him to Birmingham, where Hayes is the manager.
"I'd love to see both my boys make it," summarized their father. "Obviously Jimmy has a long ways to go but Tommy is so close now. And he is ten times the player I ever was."