Q: You were an instrumental part of helping put together, promote and execute the inaugural Clemente Cup in the spring of 2016. Can you talk about your role in that process? How did the idea come about, and can you briefly describe some of the key aspects that went into the planning and execution?
A: Joe (Carbone) and I were on the bus one day talking about playing in Puerto Rico. We started recruiting all the universities. Little by little we got the Clemente family involved. We thought it would be great to do a Clemente Cup. The idea took off on its own. After two years in the making we realized we had no funding. We used money from the universities and resources with Randy (Sieminski) and you guys. To this day it is one of the most talked about events. On the way here, I got two calls about when are we going to return to Puerto Rico with the Clemente Cup. Right now, we are talking about returning in 2020. We are talking about doing the Clemente Cup next year in Boston, the third week in March and then in 2020 returning to Puerto Rico. We already have teams lined up for 2020 in Puerto Rico. When you go into something with passion (this is what can happen). In 2016 the Clemente Cup was the fifth largest event for the economy of Puerto Rico that year – over $2 million of profit. Those two weeks in 13 days we created that. For me that was a shock to realize we affected the economy that much.
 
Q: Can you tell us about your connection to the Clemente family and some of your work and what role you have with the Clemente Foundation?
A: As a Clemente fan as a kid when I was still active duty military and one of my jobs was marketing. I met the Clemente Family in 2008 and developed a good relationship with them to the point that when I retired I told them I wanted to help out the foundation more. I had no money, but I had time. Since then I have been working with them mostly in the fall to bring projects to Puerto Rico, to support the city, to keep the Clemente legacy alive. Through baseball clinics, through comedy shows, through the Clemente Cup and many other projects we do.
 
Q: What motivates you and drives you to continuously give back to those around you?
A: For me, when you go around the world as a guy of many faith, a Christian, you go around the world as a soldier, the things you see in other places. You see the lack of selflessness service is not there. Most countries I have been to like Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Panama – all these countries I've been to – the lack of people helping people is not there. Everyone is on their own. All you see is poverty, crying, hunger and killing because there is no love for thy neighbor. That's one of my largest drives – I believe the bible is the true way to god. It says love your neighbor, love yourself. If you do that you can serve people, the kids, provide better future for adults versus the things I have seen around the world. I've been around 27 countries around the world and you can live next to someone for 20 years and not know each other. The lack of communication with each other – any friction becomes chaos. I believe that our country is so wonderful because we care for our neighbors, we care for our community. You come to SUNY Canton, to a small community, kids around here come from all the states because people get to know them by name.  
 
Q: What has the game of baseball and your experiences with the game taught you?
A: The game of baseball helped me early in my life and brought me a sense of belonging, teamwork, discipline, physical fitness; all the things that helped me in my military career. My military career when I took the challenge the largest problem I had was the language barrier; transition from Spanish to English. All the qualities of leadership, teamwork, physical fitness, all that foundation was already there. Baseball gave me that foundation after playing the sport since the early 80s. By having ex-Major Leaguers and Hall of Famers as coaches that structure helped my military career. So now I've gotten away from the military I come back to baseball and it's like riding a bike, you never lose it. The foundation of life is about discipline, teamwork and communication. Baseball and my career in the military gave me both.

 
Q: Talk about your time in the US Army and how that has helped shape your values and in turn how you've been able to use those experiences to teach young men at SUNY Canton not only about the game of baseball but how to be good men in life?
A: My time in the military was easy because the value that the Army has are the same values your parents give you: respect others with dignity, be kind to others, love what you do, have compassion for the folks you work with. There were hard times: I'm not talking about the combat tours, but the foundation of it was easy because it was the same foundation my parents gave me. It had a major impact on my life because it was life or death. When you go into combat if you don't have a sense of values already established it can cost you your life. Many people lose their life because of lack of discipline. Because of that (discipline and values) I believe I'm still here.
At SUNY Canton with the baseball program I try to teach a young man some of the things I teach in the army: leadership, be an effective communicator. Most people say the army is a group of men working to a common goal to defend our nation's Constitution. The Webster definition says two or more men working for a common goal. For me, the army is men working together to achieve victory, which is what I try to teach our men. For example, this trip to Florida this is the first time we left Florida with a winning record (3-2). We beat two ranked teams (preseason Top 25) and realized we can be as good as any team in the country. Now they realize if we do the things we've been taught in practice and execute we can beat anybody. We try to teach self-respect, to believe in themselves and their teammates, be kind to each other, to respect one another.
 
Q: What are some plans you have for the future to help continue to create more opportunities for the people of Puerto Rico and the United States through community service and outreach?
A: Our future plans are to be continued. We raised $12,000 for Puerto Rico, $2,900 through SUNY Canton. We have provided meals for many homes, widows and disabled veterans. We are going to do the same during my induction ceremony in April to deliver more food and clothing. We are going to go back in April and June to repair homes and we are not going to stop. SUNY Canton for me is an agency that is supporting my efforts to go to Puerto Rico. People of Puerto Rico now know where SUNY Canton is, they know Joe Carbone, and they know what SUNY Canton is all about. When I go to Puerto Rico I am proud I take the US News Magazine and say by the way, we are ranked No. 25. U.S. News Magazine when they rank us 25, the best university in Puerto Rico is ranked 1,000. We have a great venue and I'm using that as a platform to tell the kids in Puerto Rico, SUNY Canton is the way to go when it comes to cost, education, opportunities and so forth. Now people are starting to understand what SUNY Canton is all about.
 
Q: What does winning an award of this magnitude mean to you?
A: The magnitude of the award is something you never work for. The game of baseball, NBA, hockey they have their Hall of Fames. Players know if they exceed certain gates then they will get into the Hall. For example, baseball you get 3,000 hits or more, play 20 years or more you get a couple batting titles, you go into the Hall. The NBA if you are one of the best in your era, you win titles, you're going to go to the Hall of Fame – same thing with hockey. The Hall of Fame I'm going to means a lot because 1. I didn't know it existed. 2. it's something you never work for. The things I have been doing for the last 40 years are things I've been doing because I was taught by my parents to do the right thing and help others all the time. I never worked for a final price. A lot of baseball players are superstars in their era and then they go and don't make it and they have a lot of anger or they are disappointed about their life because they were shooting for that.
For me it's like wow me, really, simple man of Puerto Rico. I come from a small town, simple family, large family, but poor family. To see how far I came from my military career by being on an honorary command team. I am an honorary member for the Field Artillery of Fort Drum with General Bartell as a retiree. We are an honorary command team – that's somewhat like a Hall of Fame because as long as we are alive no one else can get that recognition. For me it was an honor. The award is shocking because everything I did from my heart, everything I did from kindness, everything I did from love turned to an award that I never expected to happen in my life. For me to be a Hall of Famer, who would've thought. It took 40 years to get to this point.
   
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About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 13 exclusively online degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and are joining the North Atlantic Conference beginning in the 2018-19 academic year.