Hall of Fame
The Eugene “Buzz” Keefe Award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the mission of Westchester Community College Athletics. Intended to honor the memory of the late Eugene “Buzz” Keefe, a three-sport coach and the first-ever Athletic Director at WCC, this award is presented to an individual who has been a great friend and supporter of WCC Athletics.
Buddy is a lifetime resident of the area. As a youth, he was standout baseball player at Westlake HS as a infielder. After his graduation in 1969 he joined the Navy and served on a guided missile destroyer. During his time in the service he played fast pitch softball when he was in port. After returning home, he continued to play in a similar league in Mount Pleasant throughout the late 70s early 80s. Many years, his teams were nationally ranked as one of the top fast pitch softball teams in the country.
Buddy’s son Michael followed in his dad’s footsteps with a particular love for baseball. At one point he met former WCC Baseball coach, Athletic Director and WCC Sports Hall of Famer, Larry Massaroni, who helped coach Michael in what turned out to be an impressive career of his own. Buddy and Larry became fast friends.
Later, Buddy moved to Florida and opened up an indoor batting cage where he met and worked with several major league players including Hall of Famer Fred McGriff. He got back into game playing senior professional baseball. During that time, he stayed in contact with Larry who invited him to work with him as Asst. GM at the Elmira Pioneers. That led to a position with The Tri City ValleyCats, the minor league affiliate of Houston Astros. During his time there he got to help develop eventual Major League Players and World Series Champions, Jose Altuve, Ben Zobrist, and Hunter Pence.
He then moved on to an advisor role with the Saten Island Yankees. This led to him being hired by the Newark Bears as their General Manager, where his staff included ex major leaguers Ken Oberkfell and Hall of Famer Tim Raines.
While working for in professional baseball, Buddy returned the favor to Larry where he helped when he could with the WCC Baseball team. He was officially brought in as the hitting coach in 2013, where he helped the team to win the region twice and was part of the 2014 World Series team.
Buddy came full circle back into softball, signing on to coach the Vikings from 2015-2017. In addition, over the years he has worked as a driver for most of WCC’s sports teams. At times, not only did he drive for the Bowling teams but also coached them. He’s stayed involved with the program working as a member of the table staff for basketball games and general help with our athletic programs.
Buddy resides in Hawthorne, NY. He lives close to his son Michael, his wife Stacey and his two grandchildren Michelle and Macey.
