Siena baseball coach Tony Rossi said Monday night he is retiring, just 12 games into his 54th season. Siena confirmed the announcement with a news release.
Rossi, 79, was the longest tenured head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history and the longest active tenured college baseball coach at any level.
“Nothing happened,” Rossi said. “Just decided to retire. … I mean, most people know me and it’s time to go, I guess. I’m not really commenting much on it because it just happened about a week and a half ago, so I just did it.”
Rossi said the choice was solely his and he’d considered retiring for several months. Though his retirement is effective March 20, Rossi said he will not coach any more games. He’ll go into the office, but assistant coaches Joe Sheridan and Boby Bodieri will go with the team to this weekend’s series at the University of Florida.
“I figure I should stay away from the two assistants and let them do it,” Rossi said.
Sheridan will take over as interim head coach on March 20.
“I’m never ready for when somebody says they’re going to retire, but I trust his judgement and he’s been doing it a long time and he’s done it at a high level,” Siena athletic director John D’Argenio said. “The last few years, when he and I meet at the end of the year, we always have those (retirement) discussions and I have it with other coaches, too, just in terms of what their future is with the program. Obviously, when you have somebody that is ready to retire, I think you ramp up the (talks) a little bit.”
His final game was a 10-3 loss at Miami (Ohio) on Sunday. The day before, the Saints (2-10) swept Miami in a doubleheader for their first two wins of the season. Rossi, a six-time MAAC Coach of the Year, is the winningest head coach in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference history with 936 victories.
He won five MAAC…
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