Alumnus Reflects on Distinguished Baseball Career at St. John’s and in the Major Leagues

“It’s amazing to me how everything just fell into place. I wasn’t obsessed with making it to the major leagues or making a ton of money,” he recently reflected.

A native of Wantagh, NY, Mr. Proly came from a family of New York (now San Francisco) Giants fans, who would often visit the Polo Grounds to see them play against the fledgling New York Mets. “I’ve been throwing a ball or playing baseball since I could walk,” he recalled. “I played Little League. My dad played high school baseball. Everyone in my family played.” 

“Things were different then: in my neighborhood we must’ve had 25 kids. Every day during baseball season we’d go up to the school, and if there was just two of us, we’d throw a tennis ball or a Spaldeen into a box and hit it with a broom handle. If there were more than two, you’d find an empty lot and play half a field. You were throwing a ball or playing baseball every day in the summer.”

Mr. Proly played sports all year long, including football and basketball, but baseball was his passion. He attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY, playing baseball at various positions including pitcher, third base, and outfield. 

“I was a pretty good hitter at one point,” he said, but stopped taking batting practice to concentrate on pitching. “I had great coaches at Chaminade who instilled a great work ethic in us. We worked hard.”

During his senior year, Mr. Proly threw a no-hitter—a perfect game—and a one-hitter in his first three starts, yet was not drafted by any major league team, nor did he give a professional baseball career serious consideration. “I never really thought about playing professionally until I started playing at St. John’s and scouts started hanging around games.” 

A prophetic moment occurred when Mr. Proly found himself pitching for Chaminade in the Catholic League championships hosted at St. John’s. There he met legendary St. John’s Baseball Coach and Head Athletic Director John “Jack” Kaiser ’49C. After that series, which Mr. Proly helped win for Chaminade, Coach Kaiser offered him a full scholarship to St. John’s. 

Mr. Proly’s older brother, the late Peter A. Proly ’68C, ’71L, was an All-American swimmer at St. John’s who later enjoyed a distinguished law career, and his parents Peter and Ruth ’41CBA met at St. John’s. Mr. Proly’s father was forced to leave school to help support his family during the Great Depression. 

Coach Kaiser offered Mr. Proly the choice to pitch or play the outfield. “There was a list of about 12 guys playing the outfield and the list of pitchers was quite a bit shorter, so I said I’ll pitch,” he laughed.

“Those were some great years at St. John’s,” Mr. Proly reflected, and spoke in glowing terms of his experience with Coach Kaiser. “What a fine gentleman he was, and a role model.” 

He maintained close touch with Coach Kaiser, and last spoke to him about six months before he passed away in 2022. “When I met college coaches across the country, they asked if I played for Coach Kaiser, and would tell me how impressed they were by him.”

“Campus life at St. John’s was great,” Mr. Proly said. “The baseball team had a table in the cafeteria. We’d go to class and hang out in the cafeteria or in the gym. It was just a bunch of great guys who became friends no matter what year you were in.”

One of Mr. Proly’s teammates and good friends was future Major League Baseball scout Russ Bove ’72CBA. “My memories of St. John’s are great.”

When it became apparent a major league team would draft him, Mr. Proly sought Coach Kaiser’s guidance on what amount would be worth his while financially. “My scholarship was worth $2,500 a year, and Coach said if I could get twice that, I should go,” he recalled. 

Eventually, Mr. Proly was drafted in 1972 in the ninth round by the St. Louis Cardinals. After beginning his professional career in the minor leagues, he returned to St. John’s in the off season, earning his Marketing degree in 1974—only one year after his projected graduation date.

Mr. Proly was initially assigned to the St. Petersburg Cardinals in Single-A baseball, and his first professional roommate was future Cardinals and New York Mets legend Keith Hernandez. After doing well there, he was moved to another team in Modesto, CA, where he struggled. “I went back to St. Petersburg, spent a full year there, and did really well.”

Minor league baseball is often characterized as a rough experience for young players, with substandard facilities, low wages, and long hours traveling by bus. However, Mr. Proly has nothing but fond memories of the minor leagues. 

“You had 25 guys between the ages of 18 and 22, away from home for the first time. People say it sounds like a party—and it was. We had great coaches who would say, ‘I don’t care what you do off the field, just come to the park and be ready to give a hundred percent.’”

Mr. Proly gave himself four years to make the majors, and he made the Cardinals out of spring training in 1976. He spent two months with the team and was sent back to Triple-A in Tulsa, OK, for the remainder of the season. In 1977, the Minnesota Twins picked Mr. Proly in the Rule 5 Draft and sent him to Triple-A that season in Tacoma, WA. In the off season he received a fortuitous phone call from a very unlikely source.

“I got a call from Marvin Miller [Executive Director for the Major League Baseball Players Association]. I was like, ‘What did I do?’ How does he know my name?” he recalled. Mr. Miller is largely credited with the advent of free agency in Major League Baseball, which allowed players to finally wrest control of their futures from the owners.

“This was in the infancy of free agency,” Mr. Proly said, explaining that Mr. Miller told him that because he was on a major league roster in 1976, and put back on a minor league roster in 1977, he was eligible for free agency, and could be signed by any team who successfully bid for his services. 

Mr. Proly was told that White Sox owner and legendary baseball showman Bill Veeck was interested. “They had a list of all available free agents, and my name was the only one left off,” he explained. “I called the Twins and asked for a two-year contract at the major league minimum, and they said no.” The White Sox signed Mr. Proly in the spring of 1978. 

“There had to be 50 pitchers in camp,” he said. “Bill Veeck signed everybody.” 

Nervous that he would lose his job with all that competition, Mr. Proly asked Mr. Veeck for a guaranteed contract and got one. “To this day, I believe I would’ve been released by the White Sox because with all those pitchers we just weren’t getting any work in spring training.”

“My career is defined by so many different breaks,” Mr. Proly remarked. When White Sox Manager Larry Doby lost a pitcher to injury, he needed guidance about the available pitchers in Triple-A. Don Kessinger, Mr. Proly’s former Cardinals teammate, now a member of the White Sox, recommended he be brought up. He was promoted to the White Sox in July of 1978, and stayed in the majors until 1983. “My career is just one opportunity after another.” Mr. Proly stressed that it’s how one responds to big events in life that makes all the difference.

On August 1, 1978, Mr. Proly got his first major league start against the Boston Red Sox in historic Fenway Park. His parents came to the game, and Mr. Proly said team management treated them like royalty. Bill Veeck put my parents next to General Manager Roland Hemond.”

Mr. Proly gave up one earned run on the way to a complete game victory. “Walking off the field I saw my dad, who was a very nondemonstrative guy, with his hands over his head. I raised my glove at him and gave him the ball. The ball stayed in my parents’ bedroom until they passed away. It doesn’t get better.”

A few bad breaks defined Mr. Proly’s career as well. In September, a line drive hit him on his pitching hand, breaking his thumb and relegating him to the disabled list for the remainder of the season. That winter he pitched in the Dominican Republic for future White Sox Manager Tony LaRussa and came back as the third starter for the White Sox’s promising young staff in 1979. 

Then he did something few starting pitchers ever do.

“Our bullpen was struggling, so after about three starts I volunteered to pitch in relief,” Mr. Proly explained. “I said as long as I get work, I’m happy to do it.” He became a strong relief pitcher, throwing almost every day, until eventually hurting his elbow. “Today I might’ve had Tommy John Surgery,” he explained, adding that he missed about five weeks of the season. 

By 1980, he was a spot starter and reliever, pitching 150 innings in 62 games. “We were a young team with no big names, and Bill Veeck didn’t have the money to pay people,” he said. Mr. Proly was thrilled when he was signed to a two-year contract for $50,000 and $65,000 in 1979 and 1980. 

“Then I was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1981, which were a team of Hall of Famers and defending world champions,” he noted. There, Mr. Proly did well. “I was coming in with runners on base and getting guys out. During one game, after I got someone to hit into a double play, Pete Rose walked the ball back to the mound, looked at me, and screamed, ‘Keep this up, and you’ll be our closer.’”

The infamous baseball strike of 1981 and resulting split season hurt Mr. Proly’s momentum, and he struggled in the second half of the season. He was released by the Phillies in the spring of 1982 and signed by the Chicago Cubs, another contending team. After a brief stint in Triple-A, he was called up to the big club, spending the rest of 1982 and 1983 with the Cubs. 

During spring training in 1982, Mr. Proly met fellow Johnnie Frank Viola, who had just broken in with the Twins. “We had never met before. Frank mentioned my statistics at St. John’s, and he told me they were always trying to break my ERA (Earned Run Average) mark. I hope he did,” he laughed.

In 1984 he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and started the season in the minors. “I was struggling, and by June of that year I knew I was done,” he reflected. “I thought maybe it was time to put my St. John’s degree to work. It happened sooner than I thought, but I played a full six years in the major leagues, so I got a nice pension.” 

Prior to free agency and in its infancy, most players worked in the off season, and Mr. Proly, with a young family to support, was no exception. He worked for the Coca-Cola Company as a management trainee, sometimes driving trucks. “Even that was fun,” he said. 

Mr. Proly entered the insurance business after retiring from baseball. He was with Prudential Financial, Inc. for 15 years, working his way up to management, ultimately running an office in Clearwater, FL. He eventually worked for The Guardian Life Insurance of America and Metropolitan Life Insurance (now MetLife Services and Solutions, LLC).

He retired in 2017 as an agent emeritus, and still services about 50 clients. Today he spends his days enjoying his grandchildren, all of whom play sports, including baseball. Recently his grandson asked if he played against any Hall of Famers. Mr. Proly compiled a list of 28 Hall of Famers whom he played for, with, and against, and was impressed at how well he did against several of them. In 1991, he was inducted into the St. John’s University Athletics Hall of Fame.

“My life has evolved around nice people and great teammates,” he said. “I never thought I was above anybody. A lot of that was instilled in me by Coach Kaiser. As successful as he had been in his career, he was a great, down to earth guy. That was my career: you never took yourself too seriously. You had fun, but when it came time to work, you worked.” 

He added, “I have no regrets. I lead a charmed life. I had fun on the field and off the field. I was grateful to play professional baseball, being paid to do something that I loved. I never begrudged going to the ballpark. I appreciated wherever I was, whether it was St. Petersburg, Little Rock, or Syracuse. It was never a job.”