On the same day the world mourned the loss of baseball icon Hank Aaron, Sachem and Long Island lost local coaching legend Bill Batewell. He died battling both COVID-19 and cancer on Friday, January 22. He was 79.
Of all the coaches and fine educators to go through Sachem, Batewell has captured the community’s spirit in such an elegant and sophisticated manner, even in his passing. Once described as a “gentleman and a gentle man” by longtime former Sachem teacher and PA announcer Spider Westervelt, Batewell’s selfless sense of adoration for his student-athletes and peers is admirable.
Known for his distinct voice and oratory smoothless, his cunning vocabulary and storytelling delivery, he was quick, witty, made you think, kept you intrigued and never disappointed with details and drive.
“Whenever you spoke to him you did not want the conversation to end,” said Tom Gambino, who played for Batewell, took over the varsity baseball program from him in 2005 and also coached JV football like him. “He made people happy and put a smile on their faces. We all have learned so much from Bates whether it be on the field, in the classroom, or at a local establishment.”
His one-liners and catchphrases were simply eye opening. They became known as “Bates-isms” over time. Everyone has dozens that resonate. They’re all unique. Like “let’s went” when he was ready to go, or “our friends ‘mo’ and ‘mentum’ will be joining us on the sideline after halftime” to rile up a bunch of impressionable teenage football players. Or his take on excuses, “If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we would all have a very Merry Christmas!”
“When you spoke with Bill he made you feel like you were the most important person in the room,” said Tony Petillo, a Sachem alum who was Batewell’s JV football assistant right out of college.
Apt to kick back a few “brown sodas” – you know what those are if you know Bates – at local haunts like Howard’s or Bruno’s, he was never shy in social settings and at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds in his prime he was always the center of attention.
Batewell attended the now defunct Seton Hall High School in Patchogue, NY. He played baseball for one year at Syracuse University before they dropped the program and he transferred to St. Michael’s College in Vermont where he studied French literature. You read that right.
“Half my relatives are French so I can recognize a true French accent,” said Sachem soccer coaching legend Frank Schmidt. “Bill had a superb French accent. He would listen to French speaking radio broadcasts of Montreal Expos games to maintain his language skills.”
He served his country, joining the U.S. Army and grabbing an assignment in the military police on a base in Stuttgart, Germany. Schmidt recalls attending a Mets game with him in 1970, a time when Vietnam protests were in the news. When they stood for the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner, two guys sitting in front did not stand for the anthem.
“Bill cleared his throat and said something to the effect ‘are you kidding me?’,” said Schmidt. “The two men turned around, looked at Bill, and sheepishly stood up.”
In 1966 he began his love affair and dedication with Sachem football and baseball, first as a JV coach in both and then as the varsity baseball coach in 1975 until his final season in 2004. In 29 years on the baseball diamond, he won 452 games, two Suffolk County championships, coached more than a dozen players who signed professional contracts, including two who played Major League Baseball.
Long before most high schools had batting cages, pitching machines and indoor mounds, Sachem was cranking with a full winter facility thanks to Batewell’s ingenuity. He converted the school’s basement fallout shelter to a fully functional workout space. Batewell positioned his office, a closet really, right there where he spent decades chaperoning batting practices, sounds of subtle wood and aluminum dings permeating through the underbelly of Sachem North.
And, of course, there was the fundraising for the team trip to Florida each year. Now unheard of, these spring training outings were more college-like than any program in the northeast experienced.
“Bill kept the bar high for his players,” said Schmidt. “No one boarded the plane to Florida without a tie and jacket. I remember hearing that for some players this would be their first time on a plane. Organizing a trip that involved hotel arrangements, transportation of equipment, vehicles to get to the ball fields and the airport, plus keep 20 teenage boys focused and act appropriately took a man with the heart the size of Mount Everest.”
Beyond Sachem, he was the first and only head coach of the Long Island baseball team at the Empire State Games, coached the powerhouse Suffolk Astros of the Long Island Stan Musial League, and coached the Center Moriches Battlecats of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League in recent years.
“As a player, you wanted to play for him, as a coach, you wanted to learn from him, and as an umpire, you always listened to him,” said Billy Alvino, who played for Batewell as an eighth grader and eventually signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers before becoming a collegiate coach. “I was fortunate enough to be able to play, learn, and always listen to Coach Batewell. He was the first to see my talents and propel my game not only on the field but off the field. ”
Former Sachem Superintendent James Nolan grew up in Bayport, NY and always heard stories that Batewell was “larger than life.” He was hired to teach and coach at Sachem in 1983 and saw immediately that he ran the team like it was a college program.
“You were never considered a junior high coach, a ninth grade coach or a JV coach,” said Nolan. “You were on Bill’s baseball staff and he made you feel valued and appreciated always. I learned so much about baseball, coaching and working with kids during those years. I am eternally grateful for my time spent with Bill.”
Connecting with players and students was a specific knack he cherished. His ability to relate to whomever he spoke with really drove his motivational and coaching persona. He was beloved as a social studies teacher as much as a dominant coach. The extra attention he spent with players before and after practice, to get them into college, to guide them past their weaknesses and turn them into strengths helped mold thousands of former students, athletes and coaches.
John Matheis, who helped Sachem win its first baseball county title in 1979, recalls Batewell driving him to Towson State University to make sure his financial aid and scholarship information was in order.
“He was a believer in people and he sure believed in me as an athlete and man,” said Matheis. “That was very powerful for me as a teenager building self esteem and confidence. Bates was a guy who took no shortcuts in life or with his players. We had to do things the right way. I remember him always saying ‘be true to yourself and loyal to your friends’.”
Known so much for his baseball genes and prowess, he was equally instrumental to Sachem football. He was there before Fred Fusaro arrived in 1971 and he stuck with him, running JV, the entire time through their final season together in the fall of 2003.
“Bill Batewell was one of the finest human beings I have ever met,” said Fusaro. “Much of our success in football was directly related to him and how he encouraged and nurtured kids at the JV level. I would always go to Bill for his perspective. I have the utmost respect for Bill. He will be sorely missed and he has had a profound influence on many lives both in the classroom and on the athletic field.”
On the delineation between teaching and coaching, Petillo said, “he made it clear from day one that coaching was not a part time job. Throughout the year he was always available to discuss personnel issues, coaching strategies and, of course, lesson planning.”
He had this special way of tapping your chest to wake you up and let you know you needed some extra attention. It could have been a missed ground ball or a missed tackle, but he always isolated a moment and used that to make you better.
“Coach Batewell had a special ability of letting you know that he believed in you as a player and you the person,” said current Sachem varsity football coach David Caputo, who played JV football for Batewell. “You played with confidence when playing for him. He also taught us how to conduct ourselves the ‘Sachem way,’ living a life of class and dignity.”
It’s cliche to say that he cared or that he did it for the kids, but he did. He never married or had kids of his own and he dedicated every ounce of his being to the school community and Sachem kids. He was always concerned about making sure every player had an opportunity to touch the field. Sachem has always been about opportunity, not just wins, but the victories piled up because of the culture that was created by people like Batewell.
“One Saturday morning his JV football team played well and won,” recalled former longtime Sachem Athletic Director Tom Sabatelle. “When I spoke to him afterwards he was more excited that all 50 someodd kids played in the game. That was who he was. None like him. He touched the lives of many kids.”
“If you were one of his players he held you accountable but was fair in his treatment whether you were the star or a backup player,” said Larry Huggins, another star from the 1979 championship team who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. “He loved a lot of us like the son he never had, I’m grateful I was one of the guys he loved. He never had to say it, but I knew it.”
Joe Murphy was his student, player, assistant and friend for 50 years. He was checking in on his health until the last moments and relayed endless calls and texts for countless players looking for word on their coach. Murphy spoke proudly of Batewell’s “evolution as a man,” shifting from a real tough coach to a father figure throughout his life.
“He’d let you know you did wrong, but then he’d have his arm around you making sure you didn’t feel too bad about yourself,” said Murphy. “He just wanted you to succeed.”
Four years after retiring from Sachem he was back in high school baseball at Bellport, turning around a team that had a dismal run until Batewell arrived. Murphy and John Clarke, his assistants at Sachem for years, joined him for the ride. Within three years they were a semi finalist and in 2017 the Clippers won their first league title in 51 years. He finished with more than 500 wins and is one of the winningest high school baseball coaches in New York State history.
His legacy was honored by induction to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2004 he earned the President’s Award from the Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association, in 2010 he was presented the Steve Lembo Award at the New York Professional Baseball Hot Stove League dinner, and in 2008 he was voted National Region 1 Baseball Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Due to restrictions and health concerns from the pandemic, his family said they will likely have a memorial service for him when the time is right. Sachem Report will provide information about future events for Batewell on our web and social platforms.
Since he would leave the bar or the ball field with a one-liner slipping expressively off his tongue, here’s a Bates-ism to end this tribute. If you asked if he was leaving, he would say, “No, but I’m going … and I’ll see ya when I see ya!”
