Community Magazine July 2016

“The Red I knew was a big kid who didn’t want to grow up. He always made me laugh whether he meant to or not,” recalls Jack. “He was a unique, fun-loving kind person who hustled his butt off, and accepted nothing less from his teammates.” Marty Gemal, 71, became friends with Red as a center-fielder alongside him in the late 1970s. “He was the Babe, the crowd attractor,” Marty said of Red’s magnetism. “He was the essence and heart of the Sephardic league, always getting the young kids to join. He had a great rapport with them.” Ike Dweck, a friend since age nine, played a variety of sports with Red as a boy. Most certainly, he said, Red was “a fierce competitor who gave it his all,” but there was also a soft side to him; he didn’t tolerate coarse language and was sweet and kind. His loving nature surfaced when Ike served in Vietnam. “Red would make sure to write a letter tome everyweekwithout fail. He nevermademe feel like I was alone,” Ike remembers. As a child, Jack Picciotto lived a few minutes’ walk from Red in Brooklyn. “As a little kid I kind of idolized him,” admits Picciotto, who later moved to Deal and joined the softball league. “Red was a main card,” Jack says. “If he was on your team, you knew it was going to be very serious and that you had a good chance of winning.” Case in point, the championship game of 1979. Disastrously, Picciotto’s feet became too sore for him to play but Red volunteered to leave first base to replace him in center field. Their team went on to win it all because of Red’s heroics. “He loved the game,” Picciotto says of his good friend. "Redwas just apleasure tobe around.” Sadly, Red Nesser succumbed to diabetes and heart failure, this past April. He is survived by brothers Michael and Larry, and sisters Pat and Germaine. He will be missed by all who knew him. He loved the game. Red was the guy you wanted to be with. Red was just a pleasure to be around. The 2003 Deal Softball League Champs – Old School. Red (3rd from right) captured his 8th and final championship title in 2003 on this squad. Eight Championship Titles Red Nesser is the first player to win the Deal Softball League Title in four different decades. He played a primary and pivotal role on all eight of his Championship Teams. Year Team 1978 Red Devils 1979 Gemal’s Pals 1981 Dallas 1985 Stingrays 1988 Heet 1990 Eggheads 1997 Fiddler On The Goof 2003 Old School 30 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE