Nick Tropeano, West Islip, native is currently a pitcher for the Long Island Ducks. Tropeano is a West Islip High School alumnus and pitched at Stony Brook. Tropeano  was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2011 and spent seven seasons as a Major League Baseball pitcher playing for the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets. 

IB: Growing up in West Islip, playing baseball at West Islip High School, talk about how your West Islip roots may have paved the way for a pro baseball career.

Tropeano: Yeah, coming from a lacrosse town primarily being a baseball player is something I took pride in. So, coming from West Islip kind of made me a boy into a man growing up in high school and it revealed to me what baseball was to me—how much I love the game. My love started when I was young and grew as I was successful in high school. So, it definitely grew my love for the game and made me who I am today.

IB: Sept. 10, 2014, you earned your first win vs. the Seattle Mariners at Safeco  Field. Talk about how it felt to earn your first career MLB win.

Tropeano: Oh man, it was surreal. You get that first call up, you’re working for this your whole life. Ever since tee ball, your aspiration is to become a major leaguer and when that call came, I was excited and nervous at the same time because you want to perform but luckily, I had a good group of guys with Houston that took me with open arms, and it was exciting. It was one of the best days of my life. Obviously, making that major-league debut and fulfilling a life goal.

IB: A couple weeks later, the last game of the season, you pitched at Citi Field vs. the Mets. Talk about how that was pitching not far from your hometown to complete your rookie season then coming home for the winter.

Tropeano: It kind of all came full circle. When I got to pitch that last game at Citi Field, I had probably about 300 people in attendance. Family, friends, college friends, everywhere from the island growing up here in New York and just being able to play at Citi Field, watching the Mets growing up and watching the Yankees growing, up it’s very exciting and surreal for sure.

IB: As a member of the Angels, Mike Scioscia was your manager, and Billy Eppler, former Mets GM, was the general manager. You played with Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Shohei Ohtani. How was working with all those iconic names?

Tropeano: When you just mention those names, first thing that comes to my mind is Hall of Fame. And getting to play with these type of players and seeing what they do, day in and day out, to prepare for a game and be a professional, you learn a lot of things from guys that have been around, especially Albert and Mike, who have been around for so many years and won multiple MVPs, and now Shohei, it’s a great feeling to know that I can tell my kids one day that I got to play with those types of players.

IB: Talk about currently playing for the Long Island Ducks. 

Tropeano: Yeah, I was coming to these games when I was 10, 11 years old. And we have a great group of guys here. Obviously, we’re all working towards one goal, to get back to affiliated ball, but you can’t ask for a better group of guys and the coaches to get you to that position.