BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE, 2018) — THE PLANET is thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s coveted ORBIT AWARD.

Before we announce the victor, let us thank the Selection Committee (SC) for their stalwart work, taking the time as they did from their attentions both prior to and after the Syracuse Orange’s football pummeling of the West Virginia Mountaineers, 34-18. The Orange rose to the occasion when it mattered the most in a clutch 4th quarter that belong up there in the ‘Cuse’s storied football annals. In a way, the win in its own way glorifies the SC’s choice, for he himself faced the-then Orangemen several times in old Archbold Stadium.

And the winner is …

… Chuck Garivaltis.

The SC selected Garivaltis on the basis of his cogent remarks on this board. They also gave weight to his past decades of service to the city of Pittsfield, going back to the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, Chuck first made his name on the playing fields and sandlots of the city. THE PLANET still rates him as the best all-around pure hitter ever to come from the Berkshires, a group that includes major leaguers Gene Hermanski, Dale Long, and Tommy Grieve. He starred in the outfield for the Generals of PHS, with his future Colgate roomie Larry Bossidy anchoring the rotation. At Colgate, Chuck played baseball and was a two-way starter, playing halfback on “O” and defensive back on “D.” He’s probably the only man (one of the few, at least) to bring down Jimmy Brown with an open-field solo tackle.

The tackle on Brown has ascended into myth. A few years back, we asked CG to recount the moment while we both looked at the photo [EDITOR’S NOTE: TECHNICAL REASONS PREVENTED US FROM REPUBLISHING THE PHOTO HERE; WE TRIED BUT THE GREMLINS SAID “NO”]

“Everyone who sees this photo asks me if I got him. Indeed I did. Notice the caption says he gained 11 yards. I was defensive left halfback and if he got by me he would have gone 70 yards for a touchdown. Notice his look of determination. I got him in the knees and he went down. One of the few times he [ever] went down with a single tackle.

“If I had hit Jim above the waist he would have carried me forward for another 10 yards or plowed me over and went for another 70 yards. I saw many pros wind up on their backs when they hit him above the waist. Notice the blocking. The play was designed for Jim to take the inside route. I was to be blocked to the outside and the route cleared to the inside. Notice other Syracuse blocks. Jim made his move to the inside expecting the blocker to take me out. I had to wave the blocker off and watch Jim, who expected his blocker to take me out clearing his way to the end zone. He was now a step away coming full speed. That’s 6’2″ 220 pounds at full speed. So it was get rid of the blocker and take a step forward in a crouch so I could hit him in the knees. Talk about split second timing.”

Chuck was a two-time (consecutive) selection to the prestigious Heart New England All Star Game, played at Fenway Park. Each year, the Hearst team chose the top 38 ballplayers from all of New England. How do you top that? By winning the batting crown two years in a row at the nationally acclaimed AABA Tournament, hitting an otherworldly .483 in 1952 and following it up with a .625 average. His lifetime .533 mark in the tourney, played to this day, still stands. No other hitter has won two battings crowns. And by the way, playing with him during those years was an outfielder named Al Kaline. Maybe you heard of him.

———- ooo ———-

More than a collectible.

After college, Chuck spent two years in the New York-San Francisco Giants organization, playing with future Jint stars Felipe Alou and Jose Pagan. Then it was off the Chicago then Boston as a rising marketing executive for Revlon. But as fate would have it,  family matters called him home, and there he stayed, taking over management of the old Pickwick Hotel on West Street. He would go from there into real estate and city politics, serving as a councilor, member of the school committee, parks commissioner, and mayoral candidate. For many years, just as with Peter Arlos, nearly all of the city and county’s would seek his advice. Including THE PLANET. We’ve had four local political mentors: The Aging Greek God, the redoubtable Mary Flynn of Stockbridge, and Chuck.

If this sounds like hero worship, well, it is.

THE PLANET fully agrees with the selection of Chuck as this year’s ORBIT winner. We shall be having the pleasure soon of hosting him for breakfast at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, a venue fit for this man of distinction, a man we are proud to call a long-time personal hero (that word again) and — more importantly — friend (one of the English language’s best words).

We thank all those who participated not only in this year’s ORBIT but also contributed through their readership to the popularity of this site. Won’t you join me in extending congrats and good wishes to this solid, decent man.

Let’s ring out 2018 with thanks.

Let’s ring in 2019 with the determination to improve.

Go forward.

Make it new.

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“I can spin on a nickel and spit out the change” — Sir Tiberius Fruitjuice.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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