Fairfield American's Historic Run Brings Back Memories for Longtime Southport Barber

John Faillace, a barber in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood for 47 years, watched the game Saturday night that sent Fairfield American Little League into the World Series - the first team from Fairfield to ever play on baseball's biggest stage.

The emotions Faillace felt when Eddie Magi struck out the final batter to secure Fairfield American's 1-0 victory over Rhode Island, though, may have been different than most people's. Faillace, 67, owner of Southport Center Barber Shop on Pequot Avenue, played left field in the Babe Ruth World Series in 1958, and, while his Stamford team lost its opening game against Berkeley, California, the memories of that game in Vancouver, Canada remain sharp in Faillace's mind.

"I think it's great," Faillace said of Fairfield American's historic run. "I watched the game on TV the other night. It was exciting. I can feel for the enthusiasm and joy the kids had. I can remember when we won the game to get us to the World Series, I was in tears I was so happy."

The Babe Ruth World Series in 1958 was single elimination, so the Stamford Babe Ruth team didn't play again after it lost 6-4 to Berkeley. Faillace said the Stamford team played the third game of a triple-header in a stadium the Baltimore Orioles used for its AAA team. He said the game started at 10 p.m.

"We played under the lights. We had never played under the lights before," Faillace said, adding that teams from Texas and Georgia had played under the lights before because it was too hot to play in the day. "It was the thrill of my lifetime, the thrill of my life," he said.

Asked how he did in the World Series' game, Faillace said he went one for three at the plate and drove in the first run and caught two fly balls.

The Stamford Babe Ruth team traveled by train to Vancouver because the league wouldn't let the team fly for insurance reasons, Faillace said. "We had to go by train, which was great for 15-year-old kids. We met up with other kids from the U.S. in Chicago and it took three days to get there," Faillace said.

Before he played Babe Ruth, Faillace played Little League and also played baseball at Stamford High School and on an American Legion team. In Little League, Faillace was a pitcher, but he said his arm gave out when he was 14, and he switched to left field in Babe Ruth, though he sometimes played infield as well. Faillace knew how to pitch - he said he recorded five no hitters and once struck out 18 batters in a single game.

Faillace, who lives in Ridgefield, said every kid dreams of playing in the majors, though he said he didn't think he was good enough. But Faillace's accomplishments on the diamond as a youth are not only memories - they're recorded in the Little League section at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.