When Mark Sperandio bought the Everett AquaSox from Bob and Margaret Bavasi in 1998, he had big shoes to fill. The ones he leaves are at least as big.
Sperandio and his wife, Joan, love baseball and they came to love Everett, too. Understandably, though, nothing could compete with the yearning to raise their young daughter near her grandparents, which meant moving east.
After seven successful seasons at the helm, the Sperandios are selling the team to the Carfagna family of Cleveland, experienced minor-league owners with the know-how to maintain the franchise’s sparkling reputation. Day-to-day operations will overseen by Pete E. Carfagna, the 25-year-old son of Frog owners-to-be Peter A. Carfagna and Rita Murphy Carfagna. Pete will move here; his parents will stay in Ohio, where they also own the Class A Lake County Captains.
Early impressions are that the Sperandios are leaving the Frogs in good hands. The Carfagnas’ baseball experience will lessen their learning curve, at least on the business end. Mark Sperandio says the Carfagnas share his goal of providing an outstanding experience for fans, and will keep the current front office in place.
But there’s more to running a successful franchise than business acumen, as the Bavasis and Sperandios have shown. It takes a commitment to the community, an honest and deep involvement its activities and organizations. The Carfagnas seem to get that, as evidenced by their philanthropic work in Ohio.
In his seven years as owner, Sperandio’s AquaSox donated some $600,000 to community organizations. He launched and nourished a reading program that was a hit with area youngsters (which the new owners plan to continue), and when the city’s Fourth of July fireworks show was in jeopardy, he stepped forward with a contribution of nearly $20,000 to make sure it not only survived, but thrived.
His relationship with the Everett School District, which owns the ballpark the team calls home, was a win-win partnership, with Sperandio footing the bill for recent improvements that benefited the team and area schools.
Clearly, when it came to civic pride, Sperandio not only had it, he knew how to spread it. He says the new owners will do the same.
“We know they’re going to carry it forward and do a better job than we did,” he said. “Trust me.”
Good enough for us.
Mark and Joan Sperandio deserve that community’s thanks for taking good care of one of its valued assets, and making it even stronger. It’s a community that wishes them nothing but the best.
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