Scott Pitoniak

Rochester

Freelance Writer and Editor at Freelance

Sports Columnist at Rochester Business Journal

Husband, dad, grandfather, friend, storyteller, best-selling author, nationally honored columnist, TV contributor, volunteer, historian, work-in-progress

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Articles

Opining on longest game time capsule, Stefon Diggs, crazy Name, Image, Likeness money

4 days ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

I wasn’t at that 33-inning baseball marathon between the Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox during the spring and summer of 1981, but thanks to scores of conversations I’ve had with players, managers, announcers and spectators who were there I’ve come to feel as if I were sitting in the front row. The longest game in baseball history has been somewhat of an obsession with me ever since I wrote my first story about it on its 10th anniversary.
Bobblehead dolls are a nod to the past

1 week ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

My introduction to bobbleheads occurred while riding in a neighbor’s car when I was four or five years old. My friends and I burst out laughing as we watched a glued-to-the-dashboard hula dancer’s hips sway back and forth when the car started moving. All that was missing was Hawaiian luau music on the radio. We later would pine for the cherubic-faced, ceramic bobbleheads of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle in their baseball uniforms when they were first issued in the early 1960s.
Pope Leo’s sporting interests rooted in Chicago’s southside

3 weeks ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

Not long after the white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney in Vatican City and news broke that Robert Prevost had become the first head of the Catholic church to hail from the United States, fans began speculating about newly elected Pope Leo XIV’s sports allegiances. Since Prevost hails from Chicago, the search for his fandom roots began in the Windy City.
Aaron Judge inching closer to Cooperstown immortality

1 month ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

Home>Columns and Features>Aaron Judge inching closer to Cooperstown immortality Every few weeks, I seek refuge from the chaos and cruelty of the modern-day world and call my long-time friend and mentor, Frank Bilovsky.
After hoops stardom at Athena and Syracuse, John Wallace devotes himself to assisting others

1 month ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

John Wallace didn’t understand what was going on at the time. And neither did most of his basketball peers. The news three decades ago that Kendall Gill was taking a leave of absence from the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics because he was suffering from clinical depression was difficult for them to comprehend.
A decade ago, a Syracuse quarterback’s decision gave Josh Allen a chance to showcase his talents

1 month ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

University of Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl thought for sure he was all set at quarterback heading into the 2015 season. But when Eric Dungey decided to call an audible at the last minute and accept Syracuse University’s scholarship offer instead of Wyoming’s, Bohl was forced to scramble. He remembered a highlight email with the eye-popping highlight video that a strong-armed junior college quarterback from rural Northern California had sent him.
McIlroy conquers demons to forge place in golf history

1 month ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

The toughest foe Rory McIlroy encountered at this year’s Masters wasn’t Scottie Scheffler or Bryson DeChambeau or Justin Rose. Nor was it the famed Augusta National Golf Club Course, where prayers are answered or denied on the world-famous holes known as Amen Corner. No, the toughest opponent McIlroy faced was McIlroy himself. Never mind what the yardage markers said. The most difficult stretch of real estate the Northern Irishman had to negotiate was the five inches between his ears.
A night to celebrate Miller’s time with Rochester Americans

2 months ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

Home>Columns and Features>A night to celebrate Miller’s time with Rochester Americans Although 8-year-old Ryan Miller was dominating play as a forward, he was upset with the ease in which opposing hockey teams were scoring goals against his squad.
Wings' prospect Robert Hassell knows how to handle pressure

2 months ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

He was nicknamed “Bobby Barrels” for his ability to consistently smash baseballs with the sweet spot of his bat. And like other boys his age, Robert Hassell III dreamed about appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter someday. Well, “someday’’ arrived on his 13th birthday at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. in 2014 when Mo’ne Davis made baseball history by shutting out Hassell and his Nashville, Tenn. teammates in a preliminary round game.
After impactful spring, Brighton’s Ernie Clement has soaring expectations for the Toronto Blue Jays

2 months ago | rbj.net | Scott Pitoniak

Baseball is a contact sport, but this obviously wasn’t the kind of contact Ernie Clement had in mind. The Toronto Blue Jays’ third baseman was hoping to connect bat — not face — with ball, but in a scary moment during an exhibition game a few weeks ago an errant 91 mph fastball smacked the former Brighton High School sports star in the kisser. “It was a shock at first,’’ Clement said by phone recently from the Jays spring training complex in Dunedin, Fla.