Newest Inductee for New York State Baseball Hall of Fame: James Fiorentino

James Fiorentino with his one-of-a-kind LatinoMVP Award for Nestor Cortes at Yankee Stadium in September of 2023 - Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

NEW YORK — Latino Sports’ very own James Fiorentino is heading to the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024, and it’s not just for an ordinary visit…

The 46-year-old Fiorentino, a graduate of Drew University, who is one of our exclusive LatinoMVP award artists, joining the Latino Sports family in the early 2000’s, will be inducted into the Hall himself in 2024 — becoming the first-ever artist to do so. 

“James is the FIRST artist to be chosen for selection. My mission with the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame is to honor people from ALL aspects of baseball, who have contributed to the game.” — Rene LeRoux, New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Executive Director

“I was very happy to make ‘the call’ to James, who had no idea this was coming,” LeRoux added. “During this holiday season it is even more fun to add special people like James! Congratulations and welcome to the Hall!”

James has dedicated his life to the craft behind the canvas, becoming the youngest-ever artist to be featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum located in Cooperstown, NY, at the age of 15 while still attending Middlesex High School in New Jersey. He has also painted one-of-a-kind trading cards for well-notarized companies such as Topps, Upper Deck and Kelloggs. 

Not to mention, throughout his illustrious 30+ year career in the industry, James has collaborated his artwork with the most iconic names in sports through charity events, making for exciting auctions and fundraisers across the country. Johnny Bench, Don Mattingly, Michael Strahan, Mike Piazza, and Yadier Molina, are just a few athletes that come to mind. 

“I painted a custom portrait of Honus Wagner, Cy Young, Chief Bender and Moonlight Doc Graham with the original 1906 Parkhurst Field grandstands in the background that was unveiled at the grand opening of the NYS Baseball Hall of Fame Museum this (past) summer, and we were all looking forward to visiting the museum on our next trip up that way,” said Fiorentino, “which made getting the call from Rene such a surprise. It’s an incredible honor.”

After all, what is most satisfying and rewarding for us here at Latino Sports, is having the opportunity to witness a MLB player’s reaction to James’ breathtaking LatinoMVP award portraits and watercolor paintings once unveiled to them. Their faces and responses are priceless each and every time, as if they just opened a gift under the Christmas tree… 

“Wow! Wow! That looks real,” said Mariners 22-year-old superstar Julio Rodríguez when he was presented his 2022 American League LatinoMVP Rookie award by James and Latino Sports president Julio Pabón. “Thank you so much James, this is really cool.” 

Newly acquired Yankee Juan Soto, who won the 2021 National League LatinoMVP award previously stated: “I got (James’) LatinoMVP painting hanging up on the wall at my house, and at my mom’s house.” 

“It’s incredible to think back at how many guys I’ve been able to paint,” James said in a YES Network interview this past September.

“Some of the greats in baseball — from Yankees like Robinson Canó and Mariano Rivera many times — to players like Miguel Cabrera, Francisco Lindor, Big Papi (David Ortiz), and Albert Pujols, so I’ve really been honored and humble to have this experience for this amount of years.” 

From all of us here at Latino Sports, we’d like to send a congratulations to James and his family for this well deserved honor! We’ll see you in the Hall!

Robert Rizzo is a journalist and editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com

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