Sail on, “Coach Al” Scramuzza.
“Al Scramuzza Way” at Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie, courtesy WGNO-TV
Al Scramuzza passes at 97
So, we lost Al Scramuzza, the owner of the late, lamented Seafood City, yesterday. He was 97. It was hard to avoid Seafood City’s television ads back in the 1980s. Scramuzza’s aggressive promotion of crawfish over crabs and shrimp increased the popularity of the mudbug. Crawfish were more of a Southwest Louisiana thing up until the 1980s. As their popularity increased, farm-raised mudbugs increased their availability and lowered their cost. Urban stores like Seafood City bought live crawfish from the the swamps. They boiled them, selling the spicy red crustaceans by the pound.
Seafood City became the city’s go-to for live and boiled crawfish. Boiled crawfish on a lenten Friday? Seafood City took care of you. You wanted to have a boil at your house? Go see Al.
And the commercials! So wonderfully local. Al stood tall, along with other local icons like The Special Man.
Talking Baseball
So, throughout my college years in the late 70s and teaching in the 80s, I experienced Al Scramuzza like most folks, watching the commercials and picking up crawfish for gatherings of friends. That changed in the late 90s, however. My now-36 year-old firstborn played soccer at Lafreniere Park and other sports at Johnny Bright Playground, on Cleary Drive, just off Veterans (behind the McDonald’s, if you know #themetrys).
The firstborn enjoyed soccer. I insisted he branch out, however. He played basketball and baseball at the playground. It wasn’t that I dreamt of him playing for LSU or anything. I just wanted him to have basic skills so that he wouldn’t be totally useless in a pickup game later in life.
All-Stars
When he got to Under-10 baseball, things got a bit more serious. At the younger ages, coaches/dads pitched to the boys. Eight-year-olds used a pitching machine. By U-10, however, they actually pitched. Additionally the kids moved into the world of inter-playground all-star teams. That’s when I met Coach. I saw him come over to the field where my boy’s team practiced, to talk to the coach. A mom turned to a dad and asked, is that Al Scramuzza? The dad said, “yes, they call him ‘The Commissioner.’ He handles all the all-star team stuff.
Scramuzza was that grandpa who stuck with the playground, even after his family aged out. He offered the continuity Johnny Bright Playground needed when coordinating with the other neighborhoods.
My boy only played all-stars that one summer, his U-10 season. I’m glad he benefited from having “Coach Al” around.
May his memory be a blessing.
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