Audubon's Carlucci to enter Hall

Rich Carlucci has fashioned a baseball career that merits a long, leisurely look at his past.

He prefers to gaze into the future.

Carlucci will be inducted into the Camden County Hall of Fame on Oct. 30 in well-deserved recognition of his sensational work as a pitcher for Audubon High School in the mid-1970s.

Carlucci was a three-time all-South Jersey selection and won 36 games in his career, pitching 18 shutouts. He was 13-0 as a senior in 1975, and led the Green Wave to their first state title.

"I was very fortunate to be around some great people," Carlucci said. "I had a lot of help."

Carlucci said he couldn't count all the baseball uniforms he has worn since he put on his first one as an 8-year-old in Audubon's Little League.

"It's been a lot," Carlucci said.

Here's the remarkable thing: At 57, Carlucci still plays the game. He is supposed to suit up for a doubleheader Sunday morning in a fall men's league, weather permitting.

Carlucci said he has missed two baseball seasons since his first one in 1965. That was when he was finishing law school after a long minor-league career.

He went from Audubon to the University of Iowa on a baseball scholarship. He was an all-Big Ten pitcher in 1978, when he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 18th round and signed his first professional contract.

Carlucci played 10 minor-league seasons with the Yankees, Reds, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Phillies organizations. He spent several seasons in triple-A but never got a chance to pitch in the big leagues.

"I always felt like I could have pitched in the majors," said Carlucci, who has a law practice in Ocean City. "I didn't throw quite hard enough. The people in charge told me I wasn't good enough."

Carlucci stuck around the minors for a long time. He used to pitch in the offseason, too, playing several seasons in the Puerto Rico winter league.

Carlucci's closest brush with the big leagues was his time in Toronto's training camp, when he pitched a couple of innings with the parent club in an exhibition game.

Carlucci played for legendary coach Hank Greenberg at Audubon.

"Such a superstitious guy," Carlucci said. "The bats leaning up against the fence, they could never be crossed. And if he picked up a stone and put it in his pocket and we won, he would have that stone in his pocket all season."

Carlucci said Greenberg and Brooklawn American Legion manager Joe Barth and then-assistant coach Joe Barth Jr. were instrumental in his development.

"I was lucky to be where I was," Carlucci said. "I had so many people help me."

Audubon is one of the great baseball towns in New Jersey. The Green Wave have won eight state titles since the creation of the state tournament in 1971, more than any other public school.

Audubon baseball has been something special for decades. The Green Wave won South Jersey Group 3 titles - which was as far as a team could go in those days - in 1961, 1964, and 1969.

But Carlucci's 1975 team was the first to win a state title.

"I was playing with so many of my friends, guys that I'm still close with today," Carlucci said. "It was a great time."

Once he was out of law school, Carlucci went right back to playing baseball. He has played for men's league teams in the Atlantic and Cape May County area since 1990.

Carlucci still pitches, too.

"I'm careful," Carlucci said. "I limit myself to around 50 innings a year, from April to November."

Carlucci plays on one team with his 29-year-old son, also Rich. But the elder Carlucci has bigger goals in mind.

He hopes to keep playing for another 10 to 12 years, so he can participate on a team with both his son and his 5-year-old grandson, Mason.

"I played against men when I was 16," Carlucci said. "I think he [Mason] could do it. I just have to keep playing until he's ready to play with me."