Waterbury baseball man Tony Santoro now a Tri-State Hall of Famer

In Waterbury, Tony Santoro is one of the people that makes things go on baseball diamonds around the Brass City.
Santoro was recognized for his hard work on Monday night when he was inducted into the Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League Hall of Fame. The induction took place before Game 1 of the league’s World Series at Fuessenich Park in Torrington.
Santoro is a long-time fixture in amateur baseball, span of over 40 years to be more accurate. He has worn many hats in city baseball, and he got his start as a kid because of his father. Santoro played in the Waterbury Boys, Koufax and Connie Mack leagues, and he also suited up for Sacred Heart High School. That’s according to a post on the Hall of Fame inductees on the Tri-State website.
Santoro also gave his time as a coach, helping his father with the Townsend Odd Fellows for several years.
Santoro got involved with the Mickey Mantle World Series while it was held in Waterbury from 1984 to 1992. From 1992 to 2004, he served as the Waterbury Mickey Mantle League’s president.
Santoro continues to serve as president of the Connecticut Amateur Baseball Congress, a position he has been in since 1995.
Santoro received a great individual honor in 1999 when he was named American Amateur Baseball Congress National Executive of the Year.
From 2012 to 2015, he was Sandy Koufax Division Vice President, and he is currently in the same position for Mickey Mantle.
Together with Ray Brown, the CABC served as host of the Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial World Series in July and August. Games were played at the Municipal Stadium complex, which includes Bob Palmer Field.
At the induction, Santoro had plenty of people to thank.
“Tony would like to thank his father for instilling in him a life-long long of baseball and his mother for supporting him in all of his endeavors,” the post on Tri-State’s website reads. “He would also like to thank his “significant other” Susan Wampler, the late Frank Battelli, Ray Brown and all of the dedicated and talented individuals he has had the pleasure to meet and work with in amateur baseball.”
Outside of baseball, Santoro is an attorney in the city.
Santoro joined Jim Isaacson, Dan Hamel, TJ Campion, Chris Beach and Donny Crossman in the 2016 class.