reprise

First Favre, now D’Amodio launches comeback bid
If NFL quarterback Brett Favre can once again come out of retirement, then so can Joe D’Amodio.
And that is exactly what the 43-year-old infielder intends to do in the Robert Kelly Memorial Fall Hardtop League.
But instead of donning his usual Ted Parnese Law uniform, D’Amodio will wear the blue and white of perennial league playoff contender Coachways on Sept. 12, a rare Saturday doubleheader in the loop.
D’Amodio, who sat out all but one week last season, is anxious to get back on the playing field.
"There’s a great opportunity here for this team to win a championship," he said. "Coachways is loaded with a lot of talented players. They came close to winning it all the past few years. Can I help them win it all? I’d like to think so."
D’Amodio, who first retired in 2005 but came back to play later that season for Parnese, said he was talked out of retirement this time by longtime friend Phil Bracco, a current pitcher on Coachways.
"He said we started out together back in this league in 1987 and that we should finish our careers together this season," laughed D’Amodio. "We won the title that year and the hope is we can do it again."
The Manahawkin, N.J., resident, who twice batted .600 or better in the league during his stellar career, said he’s wants to help Coachways in any capacity he can.
"Pinch-run, pinch-hit, play the infield, play the outfield ... whatever they want, I’ll do," said D’Amodio. "Hey look, I’m old and out of shape and I don’t even know if I can still play, but I’m going to give it a try."
Bracco, whose father Tom discovered D’Amodio in 1982 while driving up D’Amodio’s Eltingville block, knows his childhood friend still has what it takes.
"This makes our team stronger," says Bracco. "His heady play in the field and steady bat will make all the difference."
The righty-swinger, who hopes to at least play the required four weeks to qualify for the playoffs, originally had planned to play with Coachways full-time.
"My mind said one thing, but my body said I couldn’t," explained D’Amodio. "Having to commute 150 miles round trip to play softball on a Sunday morning after commuting back and forth from work all week takes its toll. I hope Coach Dondiego and the rest of the guys understand that. Plus, I have two daughters and I missed a lot of their activities working weekends at the paper (the Staten Island Advance) all these years and now they’re playing travel softball on Sundays and I didn’t want to miss all of those games. I learned the last few years, it’s not about me, it’s about my kids."
D’Amodio leaves behind a Parnese squad, which copped the league championship last year and two out of the last three. Parnese and Coachways met in the first week of the season two weeks ago. There’s a chance D’Amodio could face his former teammates come playoff time.
"It’ll be fun and strange playing them if that happens," said D’Amodio. "I have a lot of friends there. They’re a bunch of great players who have worked hard to get to the top of the heap in this league.
"I’m sure Chucky’s not happy about this, but he’ll get over it. Parnese is doing just fine without me."