Page 15 - Fall 2019 Rochester Athletics Newsletter | University of Rochester
P. 15
When Donahue asked his teammates and their coach, Bob Go Gooch!
Hartz ’90, ’98S (MBA), to help fund the locker, everyone
jumped in. “Within minutes of reaching out via text and It took just one game for the team to adopt a family
email, people were donating,” he says. “What we’ve done is nickname for their pal, Dave. That’s when they
really a small drop in the ocean, but it’s something.” heard Dave’s mom shout out, “Go Gooch!” It was
a childhood nickname adopted by the team and
Capucilli’s parents and his younger brother, Matt, are then forever used in college. “We started calling
grateful that Dave’s memory is honored in this way, in him “Gooch” and “Davey Gooch” when he was a
a place on the River Campus where Dave formed many baby,” says Mrs. Caps. “I was a loud and proud mom,
friendships. “We were overwhelmed and overjoyed when so it’s no wonder the boys ran with it.”
Ryan and our other “sons”—that’s how we think of them—
presented us with a photo of the locker and the plaque The Foursome
inside it,” says his mother, Jo Anne, who the team calls Mrs. Gooch wasn’t the only one with a nickname—
Caps. “It is an amazing tribute.”
everyone on the team had one. Donahue was
Kolich is touched, too, as baseball meant so much to her known as Maestro, a self-anointed moniker that
husband. “When I want to understand Dave’s lifelong love gives a nod to a favorite Seinfeld episode. Two
of baseball, I think about his favorite film, The Natural,” she buddies had aptly selected names, too. Bryan
says. “It beautifully weaves together a story of an imperfect Hollihan ’99 was called Sticks, because he wore
yet finally heroic character and America’s love of baseball. number 11, and Lindsay Parker ’99 was coined
In many ways the film exemplifies the way that Dave lived Tedward, because he looked like a combination
his life—with courage, tenacity, and love.” of television news anchor Ted Koppel and
Capucilli’s friends and family also remember him at a Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy.
memorial golf tournament held each September in his Field Clean Up
hometown of Baldwinsville, New York, just outside of
Syracuse. Proceeds support the Capucilli Baldwinsville After every home game, the team would be
Community Scholarship Fund, which has provided tasked with field clean up. “Gooch always
scholarships to two qualified local high school students angled for a really good job, like driving the
each year since 2013. tractor to rake the infield. The whole team
would actually pick him up and throw him onto
“Dave was a kind and intelligent child who grew to be
an example to everyone he ever met,” adds Dave’s father, the tractor . . . gently, of course,” says Donahue.
Dennis, known to the team as Mr. Caps. “I think about how Mrs. Caps recounts how the boys would dance
he graduated 20 years ago and that we lost him in 2013, six out on the field together, like Michael Jackson,
years ago. His lasting impact on so many people is amazing to cover the mound during a rain delay. “They
to me, even after this much time.” were so much fun to watch,” she says.
Traveling Men
“The fact that his teammates did this for
him is an example of their connection to “We had a lot of pre-game rituals when we
traveled,” reflects Donahue. “We’d play euchre,
each other and Dave’s effect on them,” says share stories, and laugh together a lot.” Donahue
Mr. Caps. “My family is grateful that they, and Capucilli would always bunk up, too. “Gooch
along with so many others, still revere his would get the sheet and I’d take the comforter,”
he adds. “It’s just what we always did. Those were
memory and hold him deep in their hearts.” good times that I’ll never forget.”
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