Like the Vet, guard was institution

Albert LaGrotta excelled at baseball as a young man and was surrounded by the sport in later life.

As a security guard at Veterans Stadium from the first pitch in 1971 to its closing in 2003, he rubbed elbows with players and the public, enjoying every minute of it.

Sadly, health reasons kept the decorated World War II veteran from ever stepping foot inside the Phillies’ new home, Citizens Bank Park. Mr. LaGrotta died last Thursday at age 86 after complications from hip surgery.

Mr. LaGrotta was born and raised at 23rd and Tasker streets. He learned to play baseball during the summers of his youth on the grassless ballfields that were then throughout the neighborhood.

In 1938, at age 18, Mr. LaGrotta was a standout third baseman who was getting attention from scouts. He was offered a chance to leave South Philly and join a semi-pro team in Maryland’s Eastern Shore League. In 1940, the old Philadelphia Athletics invited him to Shibe Park for a tryout, but military service was a more urgent call.

Mr. LaGrotta put his baseball career on hold to serve in World War II through 1945, earning the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal and Asiatic-Pacific Medal with a Bronze Service Star.

After the five-year hiatus from the sport, Mr. LaGrotta gave up his goal of playing in the major leagues and instead found a job at the Schmidt’s Brewery working on the bottling machine. He saved his money and purchased a home on the 2500 block of Rosewood Street, where he lived until he died.

In 1957, Mr. LaGrotta married Carolyn Cifuni at St. Theresa’s Church, formerly at Broad and Catharine streets. The couple had one daughter, Elizabeth, and three granddaughters. Carolyn died seven years ago.

Mr. LaGrotta took the job at the Vet to earn some extra money, with the fringe benefit of being close to baseball again.

His post was between the players’ parking lot and their entrance. Each game, the Phillies passed him they arrived and left the park.

Mr. LaGrotta had his own personal hall of fame of athletes he befriended through the years. Mr. LaGrotta was buddies with former second baseman Manny Trillo and outfielder Bobby Abreu. He even had a treasured encounter with first baseman Pete Rose. Rose asked Mr. LaGrotta to drive one of his European sports cars to a gas station and fill it up during a game. The guard happily obliged and Rose tipped him $20. Rose autographed the bill at Mr. LaGrotta’s request. His daughter, Elizabeth Bisaccia-Hanson, said the $20 memento still rests alongside Mr. LaGrotta’s impressive set of Phillies’ collectibles.

His all-time favorite Phillie was Jim Eisenreich, who played with the team for four seasons, including with the 1993 National League Championship squad. The outfielder, who suffered from Tourette’s syndrome, was a fan favorite for reaching out to others with the disease.

Mr. LaGrotta retired soon after Veterans Stadium saw its last game in fall 2003.

Bisaccia-Hanson said her father was fiercely independent and even when it would have been prudent for him to move in with family, he insisted on staying in his Rosewood Street home, where – among other pastimes – he would watch baseball on TV and read the Review.

An especially fond memory for Bisaccia-Hanson came during her father’s last years at the Vet, when the two traveled to Boston to see the Phillies play at Fenway Park. Mr. LaGrotta did not travel much and the trip was a highlight of both their lives, she said.

"My father was a very special person and I will miss him very much," she added.