John Jack P. Concannon

Concannon was a three-year starter as a shortstop for coach Jack Barry's baseball teams and he captained the 1952 NCAA Baseball Championship team. During that season he went on a defensive streak that saw him handle 85 plays without an error and only had two errors for the season. Concannon had a career batting average of .273, as he was a contact hitter who batted fourth in the lineup. In a game against Yale on June 5, 1952, he drove in five runs while going 3 for 5 and playing errorless ball at shortstop. An All-New England selection in his senior season, Concannon was drafted by the Boston Braves and played professionally. He became a lawyer and was appointed a judge in later years.

On June 17, 1952, the Holy Cross baseball team put the final exclamation point on a season that is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time. The small school from New England shocked the bigger schools of Texas, Missouri, Western Michigan and Penn State to capture the NCAA Championship. The Crusaders outscored their opponents, 52-17, in the seven games to become the first, and only, team from New England to win the College World Series.

The 1952 season was a magical one for the Crusaders under the direction of fiery skipper Jack Barry. The team featured a dominating pitching staff and explosive offense that enabled the Purple and White to outscore its opposition, 189-92.

Holy Cross opened the season in the middle of April, and after its exhibition game with major league baseball's Boston Braves was rained out, the Crusaders squared off against a tough Dartmouth squad. The Crusaders defeated the Big Green, 4-2, and went on to win its first eight games before falling in 15 innings to the same Dartmouth squad. That loss would prove to be one of only two setbacks during the regular season for Holy Cross, as the Crusaders quickly rebounded to knock off the Crimson of Harvard and the Bantams of Trinity College by the combined score of 25-10. After a hard-fought 16-inning 5-4 win over arch-rival Boston College, the Crusaders outlasted both Providence (16-14) and Yale (8-4). On June 7, Holy Cross dropped a 10-7 decision to Amherst College. The three runs proved to be its largest margin of defeat for the College that year. The Crusaders again showed great resiliency by completing a season sweep of Boston College, defeating the Eagles, 6-4 and 13-3. The victories gave the team exactly what it was looking for—its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

In the sixth annual double-elimination tournament played at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, which is still the site of the College World Series, Holy Cross played the school's first-ever night games and saw a number of heroes step up their play and lead the team to the gold. In game one against Western Michigan, the Crusaders dominated as hurler Jim "Shuffles" O'Neill '52 pitched a masterful five hitter, while striking out six. The Crusaders scored two runs in the second inning and three more in the third to shock the Broncos, 5-1.

In its second game, Holy Cross met up with a powerful Missouri squad which it would get to know quite well in the days to come. Despite a wonderful one-hit pitching performance by third-year player Jackie Lonergan '53, who had a no-hitter heading into the seventh inning, the Tigers capitalized on a seventh inning error to score the game's lone run and push the Crusaders into the losers bracket. Holy Cross' shot at tying the game failed to come to fruition as Missouri executed a perfect relay which cut down Frank Matrango '52 at the plate in the ninth inning.

Now facing an incredible uphill climb, Holy Cross' fate seemed dire in that its next opponent would be two-time NCAA champion and perennial baseball power, University of Texas. With every game possibly being its last, Holy Cross showed its true heart and soul and fought on. In that first elimination game, the Longhorns got on the board first with a run in the second inning but that was all the powerful Texas attack could muster against the crafty pitching of Ronnie Perry '54. Johnny Turco '52 refused to let his season end as he helped lift his Crusader teammates on his back by driving in Fran Dyson '53 with the first run of the contest and then scoring what proved to be the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth. Holy Cross had survived, and the mighty Longhorns were sent packing.

On June 15, the Crusaders would play a tough double header which would prove that the team was not only talented, but that fate was on their side. In game three, Holy Cross met Western Michigan for the second time in three days. The Broncos scored two runs in the top of the first inning and carried a 3-1 lead into the fourth before the Crusaders exploded for 14 unanswered runs to capture a 15-3 win. Holy Cross hammered out 17 hits and Artie Mossmann '53 and Peter Naton '53 each connected on home runs. O'Neill won his second game of the tournament, scattering nine hits in the complete game win.

Despite playing in the blazing Omaha sun, the Crusaders used some local help to rebound quickly from the Western Michigan game and battle Penn State in the nightcap. The squad went to a nearby Jesuit school, Creighton University, and stood in water up to their necks to try to cool down between games. Fortunately for Holy Cross, the pool did not cool down the Crusaders' bats as they connected on a 1952 tournament high of 19 hits and scored another 15 runs in a 15-4 win over the Nittany Lions. Turco again proved to be the hitting star, going 5-for-5 at the plate, while the lefty Lonergan evened his NCAA Tournament record at 1-1 with a complete game victory. The win eliminated Penn State from the tournament and set the stage for the Crusaders' rematch with the tournament's lone undefeated team, Missouri.

Holy Cross avenged the earlier setback to the Tigers and forced a one-game Championship with a 7-3 win on June 16. Perry pitched his second complete game in a little more than 30 hours to capture the win. He scattered seven hits, allowing just three runs, and was helped out by the clutch hitting of Matrango and Dick Hogan '53. With the score tied at one, the Crusaders exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Missouri added one run in the bottom of the sixth and one more in the bottom of the eighth, but that was all they could muster as Perry and Crusaders held the Tigers at bay. In the tournament championship game, Holy Cross again proved how strong it was both on and off the field. The Crusaders, playing their seventh game in six days, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after two innings of play. Missouri answered back with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead and seemingly take control of the contest. The Tigers were just nine outs away from the National Championship, but they did not count on the heart of these Crusaders. Holy Cross responded with three runs in the top of the seventh, sparked by a bases-loaded single by Matrango, which plated two runs. Matrango's hit came after Missouri walked Crusader shortstop Jack Concannon '52. The Crusaders continued to keep the pressure on and after a scoreless eighth inning, Holy Cross added two more runs in the top of the ninth to secure the victory and its place in collegiate baseball history. O'Neill continued to display his masterful pitching as he picked up his third win of the tournament, all complete games, in six days.

O'Neill earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors with his remarkable three-win pitching performance, allowing just eight runs in 27 innings of work. Turco joined O'Neill on the All-America Team while Crusader coach Jack Barry was named National Coach of the Year. The Crusaders' resiliency was no more evident than in the fact that Barry used just 11 players during the entire series, including three pitchers, who pitched a record seven complete games.

Some may say that the 1952 Holy Cross baseball team was one of destiny, fighting off elimination and setting a NCAA World Series record by winning six games and becoming one of just two independent teams (Miami, 1982, 1985) to win the NCAA Tournament. But this team was about more than destiny, it was about a group of young men who epitomized Crusader athletics. They fought hard and would accept nothing less than leaving every ounce of energy they had on the field and were awarded with a championship. The '52 season needs to be remembered as one of great pride for the College because it was in that season that the rest of the baseball nation saw what it meant to be a Crusader.

Larry Napolitano is the coordinator of athletic media relations at Holy Cross.

The Greatest Team of All

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Honorable John P. Concannon, 1929-2011

Former First Justice at South Boston District Court, Captain of Holy Cross 1952 N.C.A.A. Championship Baseball Team

HARWICH PORT – John P. “Jack” Concannon, 82, former First Justice of at South Boston District Court, died Saturday, August 13.

He leaves his beloved wife of 42 Years, Janice M. (Monahan) Concannon; three sons, John Concannon of South Boston, Mark Concannon and his wife Julie, of Ridgewood, NJ, Patrick Concannon and his wife Julie, of Scituate; two sisters, Patricia Concannon of Harwich, Claire O’Connor and her husband Joseph of Mashpee; four grandchildren, Owen, Caroline, Grace and Benjamin; and cousins, nephews, nieces and friends. He is preceded in death by his sister Margaret Concannon and parents Patrick Concannon and Katherine (Hamilton) Concannon.

Judge Concannon grew up in the Neponset neighborhood of Dorchester, lived in Milton and Braintree, and retired to Cape Cod. He graduated from Boston College High School in 1947, Tilton School in 1948, and College of the Holy Cross in 1952.

Judge Concannon was captain of the Holy Cross 1952 N.C.A.A. Championship baseball team, during which season he handled 85 plays at shortstop without an error and only had two errors for the season. He was thereafter signed by the Boston Braves and spent four years in professional baseball, concluding his career in 1955 in the Mexican League. Judge Concannon was inducted into the Boston College High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 based upon his baseball accomplishments.

He attended Boston University Law School while playing professional baseball, graduating in 1955. From 1956 through 1958 he acted as a member of the U.S. Army Contract Review Agency. After his army service, he practiced admiralty law as an attorney in Boston prior to a successful political campaign to serve as Clerk of Courts, Norfolk County, unseating an incumbent. He thereafter served as Norfolk County Clerk of Courts from 1965-1982.

In 1982 he was appointed Associate Justice Boston Juvenile Court, and was later appointed Justice South Boston District Court in 1983. He served as a judge at South Boston District Court from 1983-1997, when he retired from the bench as First Justice.

Judge Concannon was a member of the Milton School Committee from 1964 to 1967. He coached American Legion baseball in Milton and served as the Director of the Milton Babe Ruth program. He was the President of the Association of Clerks and Assistant Clerks of the Supreme and Superior Courts from 1966 – 1970, President of the Bar Association of Norfolk County 1975- 1976, and appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court as Chairman of Massachusetts Judicial Record Committee in 1976.

He will be warmly remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. He was a member of the Holy Trinity Church in Harwich and volunteered at the local Councils on Aging with the Meals-on-Wheels program.

Funeral services will be held at Holy Trinity Church, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28) West Harwich, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, August 18. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours on Wednesday from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. at Doane, Beal & Ames funeral home (www.doanebealames.com), 260 Main Street, West Harwich. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to The Family Pantry, 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645 (www.thefamilypantry.com) or Society of St. Vincent de Paul, P.O. Box 682, West Harwich, MA 02671.