George Zanfini never quite understood.
In 2013, a bunch of friends joined George for a nice dinner in Belleville. I was fortunate enough to be there, and said to George, “do you realize the impact you’ve had on so many of us ‘kids'”? (And bear in mind, some of the ‘kids’ that night were well into their mid 50s).
And, typical George, he just smiled, said “I guess”, and we continued with an enjoyable evening.
None of us knew, that night in 2013, that George would leave us a little over two years later, at the age of 72. And while he’s deeply missed, his contributions to so many in Belleville have not been forgotten.
George’s legacy will be honored at a dinner on Thanksgiving Eve, 2023. It made me think of some of the memories I had with him, first as a student, and later, a writer for a local newspaper, and, most importantly, a friendship.
My birthday falls on Sept. 8, and as a kid, that was sometimes the first day of a school year. Such was the case in the fall of 1971, as I began the eighth grade. My first period class, at the junior high, would be History, and my teacher was George Zanfini.
I had gotten to know ‘Mr. Z.’ when I was in the seventh grade, but it was in the 1971-1972 school year where I found out what a phenomenal teacher George was. From the Civil War through World War II, I learned so much about the various U.S. presidencies, and how our country grew from infancy into a power.
I always reminded George how much I got out of that class, and more importantly, my love of history grew substantially, thanks to him.
As the years progressed, George’s love of sports would make for some nice early morning conversations, before school had started. Many of us kids would stop by George’s classroom, before the first period.
We learned that George loved the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program. He would tell me about these mini college pennants he kept in his classroom, which taught his students about different colleges, while spinning some sports analogies, as well.
George and John Senesky would coach the Belleville High freshman football team for six seasons, with a great deal of success. George also coached the freshman baseball team to a lot of wins, as well, in six seasons.
George and John were also teachers at the junior high for many years. In the fall of 1974, they both came up to the high school, to continue teaching and coaching. George had been promoted to the varsity baseball coach while John would be on the varsity football staff, as an assistant coach.
It was the start of my junior year at Belleville High, and it was nice to see those guys again.
George would begin a 9-year run as the varsity baseball coach in the spring of ’75. In his first year, the Bellboys would jump out to a 9-1 start, before an epic 14-inning game against Irvington, on May 9. Irvington was undefeated and ranked first in the state, at the time.
Belleville lost, 4-1, when Irvington scored three times in the top of the 14th inning. That following Monday, I was in George’s classroom, before first period, and he had said what an incredible game that was.
As the years progressed, George would always read my articles, and was always supportive. He did get on me, however, about writing about that ’75 game, which I did, from time to time.
“We lost!” he’d say in that voice of his. And I kind of replied how I know he was proud of that team’s accomplishments, despite the loss.
When I was in high school, one of my jobs was manager of the varsity basketball team. George would run the scoreboard at all the home games, as well as for girls basketball and wrestling in the winter, and football in the fall. During basketball games, George and I would always be talking about something, during time outs.
Years later, he would say to me, “You kids were the best. I made, maybe $10,000 a year teaching, and I wouldn’t have traded those times for anything. You guys were fun, but respectful, and that was because of great parents. It was a different time.”
A generation of kids got to know George for his working the scoreboard. After he retried as a teacher in 2007, George stayed on to work the scoreboard at various Belleville High games, especially during the winter months, in the gymnasium.
George worked the scoreboard at Caldwell College basketball games, as well.
Over the years, the level of success on the Belleville High varsity baseball diamond, spoke for itself. George would coach an incredible team in 1976, to a 24-4 record, and the state’s top ranking for a 5-week period.
In 1981, he led the Bucs to the program’s first Greater Newark Tournament championship, with a 10-4 victory over Glen Ridge, on May 31.
Mr. Z. would step down as a coach, after the 1982 season, but returned to lead the 1987 squad, guiding them to an NNJIL championship.
When Alan Frank, a student and player for Zanfini from the Class of 1973, was named the head varsity baseball coach at Belleville, in 1999, George came back and served as an assistant coach to Alan, for two seasons, at Alan’s request.
When Phil Cuzzi, another student and player for Z from the Class of 1973, expressed an interest in attending umpire school in 1982, it was George who lent Phil the money to attend the school. And, of course, we all know the tremendous career Cuzzi has had as a Major League Baseball Umpire, including the home plate assignment in Game #1 of the 2017 World Series.
In 2007, it was announced that the baseball field at Belleville High would be named in George’s honor. In the spring of 2008, a ceremony was held to officially change the name to the ‘George Z. Zanfini Municipal Baseball Field.’
It was nice that George could enjoy going to the field which bore his name for seven years. He literally cried during the entire renaming ceremony, but those were tears of joy. Many of his former players and colleagues attended the ceremony that evening, in the Belleville High library.
It is still hard to believe that George has passed away. Belleville was always his home. A Silver Lake resident, he went through the Belleville school system, and was graduated from the high school, in 1961. After college, George returned to Belleville as an educator and coach.
He will always be known as ‘Z’ to so many.
Thanks, George, for all the memories.
Mike Lamberti, From Margate To Cleveland, And Back ! 