James Frascatore, the NYPD cop who had his gun and badge removed after taking down retired tennis star James Blake earlier this week in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, was a local budding baseball star before
starting what has been a tumultuous career as a police officer. The
younger brother of former major league pitcher John Frascatore, had a strong amateur career that he hoped take him on a similar path.
The 38-year-old Oceanside, New York native was a standout pitcher at Oceanside High School, where he earned honorable mention for New York State Player of the Year in 1995 by USA Today.
A right-handed pitcher, Frascatore was attempting to follow in the
footsteps of his older brother John, who excelled at Long Island
University-CW Post before spending seven years in the major leagues as a
pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the
Toronto Blue Jays.
Frascatore played his collegiate ball at New York Tech and Queens College, but ultimately could not duplicate the success of his older brother. He ran the Big League Baseball Academy
in Oceanside from 2002-2007 before working towards his current position
with the NYPD. In 2013, three separate excessive force complaints were
filed against him with the Civilian Compliant Review Board.
