King to celebrate Macaluso as 50th & final season nears end
For 50 seasons Jim Macaluso has led the King Lions onto the diamond of the field that now bears his name. As the regular season comes to a close this week, there are just two games on the schedule at home for the Lions, hoping to send Coach Mac off with a playoff run and delay his retirement a few more weeks. Former players, fans and friends are invited to King’s home game on Thursday at 7 pm for a special pregame ceremony honoring Coach Macaluso, with a game against Brandon High to follow (813Preps file photo, J. Guthrie 2019).
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
TEMPLE TERRACE – There are at least three more days of a routine so engrained in Jim Macaluso’s soul he probably goes to it now without even thinking about it. Like generations of baseball men before, and for hopefully many more in the years to come, laying out their uniform prior to gameday is an essential part of that preparation.
Three more days for sure, maybe more, for good ol’ Coach Mac to lay out the King Lions No. 1 jersey, pants, blue belt and socks. To make sure his trademark briefcase is filled with rosters and lineup cards and scouting reports and other essentials as it, or one just like it, has been for the decades of games before this – his final regular season week of his 50 seasons coaching the King High baseball team.
King’s Final Two Regular Season Home Games
Tues, April 8 v Tampa Bay Tech, 7 pm
Thurs, April 10 v Brandon, 7 pm (w/ pregame ceremony)
Macaluso, 76, who took over the baseball program in 1976, ironically never played baseball at King High. He was a standout track and field athlete and football player, who ran at Manatee Junior College and Pembroke State (now UNC-Pembroke) before settling back in his hometown.
813Preps file photo
But for a half-century – longer than any Hillsborough County head coach ever – baseball has been a part of the Macaluso way of life. Not just Jim’s, but his wife Karen’s, son Anthony’s, and daughter Gina’s, too. Now his grandchildren have grown up on and around the field named in his honor.
There hasn’t been a quick trip to a grocery store or a stop at a local restaurant without at least a few minutes of King baseball talk with someone they’ve bumped into unexpectedly for the Macaluso family in decades.
And they’ve all loved every minute of it.
There have been 689 wins so far, 12 district championships, 14 region appearances, three Saladino Tournament titles (1983, 1992, 2018), three final four appearances (2010, 2013, 2017) – the last of which earned Macaluso our first-ever All-813Preps Coach of the Year honors – Coach of the Year honors from FACA and Western Conference, Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame, a Lifetime Achievement Award from University of Tampa, among the multitude of honors.
Through it all Macaluso has been a steward of the game at the high school level, the dean of coaches and the last of an old guard given tremendous reverence for helping to shape Hillsborough County’s high school baseball legacy into one of the best in the state.
Coach Macaluso interviews with Spectrum Sports 360 reporter Katherine Smith at the field dedication in his honor in April 2022 (813Preps file photo, J. Guthrie)
But last November during an fall ball workout, in a moment of clarity, according to Macaluso – a voice in his head said it plainly: “it’s time.”
Macaluso said he called his wife and two children to the field’s clubhouse, curated as a King High Baseball museum by Karen Macaluso in 2022, and told the family of his decision.
Since then, he said there have been the typical emotions that come with any major life decision, but very little second-guessing.
“I haven’t really been down about it,” he said. “But now, when I’ve put on the uniform the last few weeks, you go, ‘six more times, five more times, you know?’
“I’d kind of had it off my mind at the middle of the year and wasn’t giving it a lot of thought. I’m at peace with it. I feel I’m doing the right thing and It’s definitely the right time, but I am struggling a little bit thinking about the end of it.”
Follow along here at 813Preps.com as we pay tribute this week to Coach Mac with a series of features and coverage of his final regular season games, or better yet, this week King has two home games – Tuesday against Tampa Bay Tech and Thursday against Brandon.
That’s two chances Macaluso and his family hope will be an opportunity for generations of former Lions players, parents, fans, volunteers, King High alums and area baseball people to stop by Jim Macaluso Field for a visit.
There will be a pregame ceremony on Thursday, featuring special guests from the City of Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County Public Schools and more all beginning just prior to game time at 7 pm.
We’ll be there, and hope many of you will, too.
