HHH Alum Pitches in NY-Penn League All-Star Game

Reliever John Mincone has pitched brilliantly for the Brooklyn Cyclones, the short-season A affiliate of the New York Mets, this season, posting a 2-0 record with four saves to go along with  a miniscule 0.40 ERA in 22.2 innings of work through 15 games.

For his stellar efforts, Mincone was one of four hurlers representing the Cyclones on the National League affiliates’ roster at the eighth-annual New York-Penn League All-Star game Tuesday at Mahoning Valley’s Eastwood Field.

“It means a lot to me, especially being back home, being able to throw in front of family every night,” the 23-year-old lefty said of his All-Star selection. “It’s great to be having a good season here.”

Mincone has been virtually unhittable out of the Cyclones’ bullpen, but he’s had to battle through a number of obstacles, dating back to his sophomore year at Half Hollows Hills High School East in order to get the opportunity to stymie opposing hitters this season.

“Injuries have been around,” the Cubs’ 2009 11th round selection out of Suffolk Community College, said of the early, arduous years of his baseball life. “It’s great to finally be healthy and having a great year.”

But last August, the loss of his father Joseph Mincone to lymphatic cancer at the age of 50 devastated Mincone.

While rehabbing the torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee with short-season Class-A Boise of the Cubs in 2010, his dad called to tell him that the cancer he had when Mincone was in the fifth grade had reappeared.

The Melville resident asked Chicago if he would be allowed to rehab back home so he could to be with his family during the trying time. The Cubs agreed, and Mincone returned to Long Island to help ease the burden on his family.

Back in Spring Training the following year, Chicago released Mincone before his ailing knee had the chance to return to full strength.

“Baseball’s not a fair game,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s a business like anything else, and they had to do what they thought was best for business. And that’s what they thought was best.”

Mincone played some ball with the Long Island Storm, a competitive amateur men’s league, while nursing his knee back to health. He didn’t want to take another crack at pro ball until his knee was completely healed.

With his knee fully mended, the 6’2”, 215-pounder worked out for the Cincinnati Reds in 2011, and was shipped to the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Independent Frontier League, with the hopes of getting signed after a month or two if things went accordingly, he said.

But after a month with the Thunderbolts, his dad took a grave turn, and Mincone returned home again. After a couple of weeks in the hospital, Joseph Mincone passed away.

Mincone didn’t have it in him to leave his family behind, and return to baseball just yet.

That August, a scout from the Mets called to offer his condolences. The team had been following Mincone since his high school days at Half Hollow Hills East, he noted, and the scout invited Mincone to a workout, with the primary focus on his little brother, however.  Fortunately for the older Mincone, the scout gave him a few more looks over the winter, and New York inked him to a minor league deal in March.

Raising his four boys as Mets fans, Joseph Mincone would have gushed over his son’s initial success in the Mets’ organization.

“It would mean everything to him, especially me being here,” Mincone said of the joy his father would’ve have received due to him making the All-Star squad, and playing at MCU Park. “He used to come to my high school All-Star games here. He’d always say, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could come out to your games and be able to watch you play baseball here?’ I’d be like, ‘that would be nice.”’

Moreover, Mincone said, “Now that I’m here, and my Mom is able to come out with my brothers, that would just mean the world to him.”

As far as being injury-free now, Mincone feels his rebirth in the Mets’ organization has been his chance at redemption that he’s truly grateful for, and will take as far as possible as long as he stays off the MASH unit.

“Not many people get a second chance to come back and play the game, especially in this sport,” he explained. “I’ve been blessed.

“Ever since my father passed away,” Mincone continued, “this is really a blessing, and unbelievable for getting a second chance. As long as I can continue being healthy, we’ll see what can happen.”