Harv's Story
Harv was 6 years old in 1951 when he saw his first Athol Little League game down at Fish Park. After a few innings of watching the local Kiwanis team (in red) and the Lion's Club (in green) Harv asked his Dad, Sam when he could start playing. Sam said" your suppose to be 8 yrs. old to sign-up for little league. Perhaps next May when you'll be 7 ¾ and your 8th birthday is only a month away. Maybe they'll let you get started before your 8th birthday." And so, that's what happened, little 7 yr. old Harvey Krupnick while finishing-up with 2nd grade classes tried out for the Athol Little League with 11 and 12 yr. olds. Harv at 7 and left handed could throw the ball from short-stop to home on a line and with knee high accuracy. Being a fly weight at 63 lbs. he could hit a little. Harv was the youngest player in the league and was assigned to the Exchange Club. He was put in right field and being left handed Harv was soon seen chasing down line drives hit down the right field line and making running back handed catches with ease. No one had ever seen a little boy this young get such a "jump on the ball" and have such a natural instinct for judging fly balls like this little kid did. At this time the Boston Red Sox had a fantastic rookie outfielder, noted for making sensational catches and this player was Jimmy Piersall. Well it wasn't long before this tiny little second grader was nicked named "Piersall."

From Harv's first year of putting on that baseball uniform and getting to ride on the hook and ladder fire engine during the 1952 opening day parade Harv never stopped playing the game. He continually played the game for 48 consecutive seasons from 1952 to 1999 from the age of 7 to 54 yrs. old this little kids love for the game has burned bright as a flame never even flickering.

In 1952 the Athol Little League Field was moved from Fish Park to a beautiful elevated scenic view behind the Athol Legion Home. The field was nestled on the edge of the Millers River and was carved out of a natural lower level amphitheater creating an exciting view from above. It was here in this beautiful 1950's baseball atmosphere that a young Harvey Krupnick was impressed with the importance of playing every game hard, with meaning and where his love for the game was nourished. Harv then went on to play 3 years in the Athol Babe Ruth League and finally in his 7th yr. of baseball his Athol Daily News baseball team coached by Chuck Stone and Barnie Cummings won The League Championship. Harv took the mound in the final game and batted third. He had great teammates in 1959 with Tom Lefsyk batting 4th along with a line up of Rocky Stone, Jim "Pumpsi" Young, Mark Engle, Dickie Foster, Dennis Duguay, Roland Landry, and Bobby Evans.

With no Legion team in Athol, young Harv had no placed to play ball in the summer of 1960. Seeing a story in the Boston Globe Sports page about the Ted William's Baseball Camp in Lakeville, MA. Harv wrote a letter to inquire about going. The response indicated the cost of 225.00 for a month might be a bit much, he decided to write back and apply for a job and play baseball. Harv was hired to wash dishes 3 meals a day and attend camp for 110.00 and he took it. He was so excited about going to Ted Williams Camp and be able to play ball morning, noon and night. The summers of 60 and 61 were filled with baseball everyday. Harv got to know and hit with "the Greatest Left Handed Hitter To Ever Lived...Ted Williams." Harv played Ping-Pong after meals with Ted and Ted nicked named him "Lefty." During the summer of "61" Ted lived at Camp and took batting practice with Harv and other kids at camp. He gave personal one on one instruction to Harv and once after watching Harv hit balls around the batting cage commented to Harv "you have a million dollar swing and now you need to get more hits in games." This comment was made because in a pick up game Ted was going to pinch hit. Harv was up with two outs and popped up making the third out and Ted didn't get up that inning. A week later Harv hit his first Grand Slam Home Run and Ted was in the camp station wagon parked next to the third base dugout and as Harv was rounding third base, Ted was BLASTING AND TOOTING on the car horn.

Harv played 4 yrs. Baseball at Athol High School and 4 year varsity starter at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. Captain and Most Valuable Player his Junior and Senior Years, and was twice selected to first team All Mich. Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Later in 1986 Harv was Inducted into the Adrian College Athletic Hall of Fame. During the summers of 62 to 65 Harv played for the Gardner Panthers in the Blackstone Valley League in North Central Massachusetts. In 66 after graduating from Adrian College Harv played for the Adrian Merrillat team in the Toledo Federation and in the United Baseball Congress League in Michigan. Later in August of 1966 Harv was invited up to Tiger Stadium and worked out with the Detroit Tiger Major League Team . He was in right field with Hall of Famer Al Kaline and player Jim Northrup and they all took their throws during outfield and that little lefty from Athol Mass. made four on the line one hop throws and hung in with the Big Boys. Later that day Herman Kander , scout and Don Lund farm director signed him to a Detroit Tiger Contract.

In 1964, two years prior to this Detroit tryout, Harv met the Detroit Tiger Radio Announcer Ernie Harwell, and Mr. Harwell set up a try-out for Harv with the Detroit Tigers in Boston at Fenway Park. Harv got to dress in the Detroit Tiger locker room and wear a Detroit uniform and participate in batting practice at Fenway Park. During batting practice a young 19 year old slugger by the name of Tony Conigliaro was hitting one drive after another over the "Green Monster." When he came out of the batting cage, Harv being 20 yrs. old was introduced to Tony C. and during conversation Tony asked Harv if he had a bat to use and Harv said "no." Tony handed Harv his bat and Harv took a couple of swings with it and it felt great , big and light and the same K55 model he used in college. Tony smiled and offered his bat to Harv to use. Harv went out in the outfield with Detroit to shag flies and noticed the Red Sox players had disappeared into their club house and he began to wonder how he would get or find Tony C's bat. A Detroit player came out and told Harv to go in to hit and as Harv came jogging in to the third base dugout a photographer came up to him and said ,"Tony Conigliaro told me to tell you he left his bat on the Red Sox dugout steps for you." Sure enough Harv went over and there was Tony C's bat. Harv got up and hit one over the left field wall (green monster) and one off of the center field wall with 5 swings. No one signed Harv that day and he will always remember Ernie Harwell's kindness to set up this try-out for him and he has always remembered Tony Conigliaro's generosity and unselfishness in letting me use his bat. He has always followed Tony Conigliarno's baseball career and felt so bad to see his career take a downward turn because of the BEANING Tony took, and consequential loss of vision in his eye. He loved watching him hit home runs at such a young age and felt he could have reasonably reached 600 home runs at the pace he was going.

Two years later, in the fall of 1966, Harv with a Detroit Tiger Contract signed was invited to Spring Training and enrolled in graduate school at Michigan State University. While at Michigan State Harv met and worked-out with future 1974 Cy Young Award Winner Mike Marshall. Since both students were signed to play for Detroit it was natural that they both would get together and work out. During that year Mike Marshall and Harvey Krupnick took classes together, worked out together and became friends. Mike was involved with doing a study on batting technique using a high speed camera and became a strong influence on Harvey Krupnick's understanding of the key ingredients needed to be a good hitter. Later Harv would begin a batting school and credits Mike Marshall shared knowledge on hitting as a major factor influencing Harv to become a hitting instructer. Mike gave Harv a foundation of understanding things about hitting that allowed Harv to further develop his own thoughts about hitting and put them into video batting training films.

Harv played a season in the Detroit minor leagues and got drafted into the Vietnam War. Harv got to play Army Fast Pitch Softball in Alabama. He got to be player-coach of the All Thailand U.S. Army Softball Team and was sent to Hawaii to play in the All Pacific Championships in 1970. Upon Harv's return from the service he played 25 years for Mass Envelop in the Boston Park League and was Inducted into the Boston Park League Hall of Fame in 1994. He played in the Stan Musial League for 22 years while he simultaneously played in the park league. While this was going on Harv started the Harvey Krupnick's Batting School in 1974. To stay in shape Harv ran twice a week from Sept. to April and lifted weights. Jogging 30 min. running bleacher stairs, doing 10-100 yard sprints, stretching and weight lifting. This working out , coaching the Holliston High School Baseball Team and being able to throw batting practice 3 to 5 times a week kept his arm and body in excellent shape, so much so that from the age of 19 to age 54 his weight was the same, 175lbs. Harv's Holliston High School Baseball Team won the Massachusetts State Baseball Championship in 1987 two players from that team distinguished themselves in baseball. Mark Sweeney went on to play Major League Baseball and played for the Padres in the World Series against the New York Yankees and Rich Cordani batted fourth for Louisiana State University Baseball Team and in 1991 LSU were College World Series Champions. Harv's 1990 Holliston High School Varsity Baseball Team won the Eastern Mass. Championship and were State Runner-Ups. The 1990 team had 3 players sign Professional Baseball Contracts, Doug Carroll, Seattle Mariners, Chris Festa, Boston Red Sox and Bill Knight, Oakland A's.

From 1975 to the present Harv has been a guest hitting instructor and coach at the Bucky Dent Baseball School in Del Ray, Florida. Harv at the invitation of his long time home town friend Larry Hoskin's Vice President of the Camp and Bucky Dent arrives during X-mas or February vacation weeks. This is a serious baseball camp, very well run with quality instructors who know how to teach baseball skills. Harv has had the honor and opportunity to teach hitting with Don Baylor, Hal Mcrae, Champ Summers, and listen to Don Mattingly, Dave Justice, and Pete Rose talk on hitting. Bucky Dent is the one to listen to when it comes to his forte of infield skills and drills.His presentations are clear, detailed, informative and he can demonstrate all the plays with adept fluidness. Bucky is always available to people. Easton Bat Company and Collegiate Baseball Newpaper honored Harvey Krupnick at the National American Baseball Coaches Association Convention by Awarding him with the 2nd annual National Master Coach of The Year Award.

In the summer of 2001 Major League Baseball selected Harv to be their International Envoy Coach to South Africa where he did 54 baseball clinics in 28 days. At the present time Harv is still coaching the Holliston High School Baseball team in Holliston, MA. He schedules an annual alumni game every 3rd Sat. in May, and Coach K still bats 4th for his high school while old time alumni players love to come back and play and RAZZZZZZ their coach just like in the ole days of the fifties. Harv's still enjoys his close association with the Massachusetts State H.S. Coaches Association where he's honored each of the past 28 years with being the State Baseball Clinic and Hall of Fame Banquet Co-Chairman. Harv still gets out to travel and speak at state baseball clinics and travels to give Batting Lessons all over the country and internationally.
Harv credits the following people that influenced his baseball career:
Mr. Samuel Krupnick, Dad
Mr. Charles "Chuck" Stone, President Athol Little League
Mr. Eddie Cetto, First little league coach, Exchange, Team
Mr. Pete Dean, also first little league coach
Mr. Barnie Cummings, and Chuck Stone, Athol Babe Ruth League, Daily News Team
Mr. Tom O'Brian, Athol High School Varsity Baseball Coach
Mr. Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, and MLB Hall of Famer, Ted Williams Baseball Camp
Mr. Charles "Chappy" Marvin, Adrian College Varsity Baseball Coach
Dr. Mike Marshall, MLB 1974 Cy Young Pitcher, Michigan State University
Mr. John Kelliher, General Manager, Mass. Envelop Team, Boston Park League
Mr. Jim Lefebvre, MLB player, Hitting Instructor, and Manager
Mr. Mike Hughes, Best Friend and Baseball Practice Partner.

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