Newtown’s Dick Ruscoe Lives Dream And Sings Anthem At Bluefish Game

By Andy Hutchison

BRIDGEPORT — Having an opportunity to get in front of fans at a professional sporting event and sing the national anthem is a dream come true for many people. Newtown’s Dick Ruscoe lived that dream on Tuesday night when his voice emanated throughout the stands prior to the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball game against the York Revolution at the Ballpark At Harbor Yard.

At the time of the anthem singing tryouts at the ballpark this spring, Ruscoe almost missed the chance to live the dream. In fact, he almost stopped living — period. He had a heart attack — the fourth he has suffered, in fact — the day of the anthem tryouts (March 20).

The resilient near-70-year-old, who has also survived cancer scare and having a kidney removed, would not, however, be denied the chance to hold the microphone (and the attention of the 1,300 Bluefish fans). He bounced back, took advantage of another chance to try out at Harbor Yard and, on a stormy, chilly late-March day — only a week after sustaining the heart attack — won over the judges. On Tuesday, with family and friends in the stands, the day had finally come.

Ruscoe, donning a “Go Fish” T-shirt, and possessing lots of enthusiasm, made the dream a reality. He said he felt like “a million bucks” after the crowd gave him a supportive cheer and even sang along.

His son Michael, of Stratford, had sung the anthem prior to a Fish game last year. “I said ‘I want to do this,’” recalled Ruscoe, whose prior formal singing experience consisted of a year-or-so with the choir at Trumbull Congregational Church back in the mid 1950s.

Lucky To Be Here

Ruscoe’s third heart attack, ironically, saved his life. In the fall of 2001, following that heart attack, Dr David Charash (also of Newtown and of Danbury Hospital), did a cat scan to check the condition of Ruscoe’s aorta. The aorta turned out to be fine but it was discovered that Ruscoe had kidney cancer. Approximately a month-and-a-half later the kidney was removed and Ruscoe has been cancer-free since.

“If it wasn’t for Dr. Charash … I would probably have been dead four to five months later,” Ruscoe said. “Every time I see him I give him a big bear hug.”

His latest scare did not come without warning. Two days prior to the original anthem tryout day, Ruscoe went to Danbury Hospital when he experienced pains and was concerned about his health. Ruscoe said he was deemed to have had borderline heart attack symptoms but was given the option to stay in the hospital or go home. He did not want to miss the tryout, so he checked himself out the day before the big day at the ballpark. And the next day, for the fourth time, he had a heart attack and found himself back in the hospital, for an angioplasty.

The 23-year Newtown resident and veteran of the Army and Navy, is not slowed by these setbacks. The man with an electronics engineer and facilities maintenance engineer background is retired from his career work, but he does put in several hours during five days of work at Ashlar of Newtown. He drives residents to medical appointments, and — interestingly — has assisted Dr Charash’s mom, he said.

Tuesday night was a special night for Ruscoe, and not only because he got to sing the anthem. His granddaughter, Sarah J. Hanlon of Trumbull, celebrated her 13th birthday and was among his family members in attendance to support him. Employees and residents of Ashlar were also on hand. And, to top it all off, Ruscoe got to shake hands with Bluefish Manager Tommy John, whom Ruscoe said was his idol back in the 1970s when John was a Major League pitcher. Ruscoe said he pretended he was John on the mound when he pitched to his children during backyard Wiffle Ball games. Ruscoe even had his baseball glove autographed by John prior to Tuesday’s game.

Not a bad night for a man who had a heart attack the day of his anthem singing tryouts.

The Bluefish beat the Revolution 3-2 and will be at home every day for a homestand through July 2.

For information, visit www.bridgeportbluefish.com.