Vince Naimoli
Encyclopedia
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
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Biography
Naimoli's father was an Italian immigrant who worked for the New York City SubwayNew York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
system and became a self-taught stationary engineer. Naimoli attended the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, graduating in 1959 and earning a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology is a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It is often also referred to as Newark College of Engineering ....
in 1962. Naimoli received his Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
in 1964, and completed Harvard University Business School’s advanced management program in 1974. http://inside.fdu.edu/otw/1109/naimoli.html
Naimoli still attends Irish athletic events regularly with his wife, Lenda, who retired after working for 24 years as an Eastern Airlines flight attendant. Naimoli has four daughters—Chris; Tory Ann Jarvis, Stephens College
Stephens College
Stephens College is a women's college located in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833 as the Columbia Female Academy. In 1856, David H. Hickman turned it into a college,...
and Kellogg Graduate School alumna; Alyson, a '94 Notre Dame graduate; and Lindsey, a `05 Notre Dame graduate.
Naimoli is currently a member of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Board of Trustees. On Wednesday, October 5, 2011 the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex on the Metropolitan Campus of Fairliegh Dickson Univerity was dedicated. This “Field of Dreams” became a reality thanks to the generosity of Mr. Naimoli.
Naimoli negotiated a naming-rights deal with Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products is an American based company, and was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A. Since 1998, it has been owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Tropicana's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.-Anthony T. Rossi:...
for Tropicana Field
Tropicana Field
Tropicana Field is a domed stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has been the home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays since the team's inaugural season in 1998, when they were the Devil Rays. It has also served as the host stadium for the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, an NCAA-sanctioned college...
, with the team paying for improvements to the stadium and other auxiliary facilities. Naimoli oversaw a design for the stadium with asymmetrical outfield dimensions and dirt base paths, and seats located close to the field of play. FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
was added before the start of the 2000 season.
Thriftiness
Naimoli is famous for his thrifty ways. Naimoli refused to purchase internet access and an email system for the Rays to keep costs down, as he felt email was a fad . Naimoli made waves with his policy of enforcement of not allowing outside food against ballpark patrons erupted into an incident in which an elderly woman with diabetes was prevented from bringing food in to the park to regulate her sugar levels . As a result, the woman had to sit in her tour bus for the duration of the game.Philanthropy
As a long-time resident of Tampa, Naimoli received the very first "Bridging the Bay" award in 1996, recognizing him as the individual who has done the most to unite the citizens of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. He also has received similar community service awards from the Urban League, the Jewish National FundJewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
, the Tampa Sports Club, Boys and Girls Clubs and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He received an honorary monogram from the Notre Dame Monogram Club in 1999.
Naimoli, who received an MBA in 1964 from Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
, contributed $1 million in 2007 to be used towards the construction of a baseball complex at his alma mater. The gift will pay for the construction of the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex on FDU's Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
campus and will include an artificial surface, new lights and a 500-seat stadium, to be constructed at the site of the school's current baseball field along Route 4 and the Hackensack River
Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River,...
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In 2006, Naimoli made a contribution of $5 million to his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, to be used towards a $24.7 million renovation project of the Edmund P. Joyce Center
Edmund P. Joyce Center
The Joyce Center is a 9,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Notre Dame, Indiana just north of South Bend, Indiana. The arena opened in 1968. It is home to the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball and volleyball teams...
, an 11,418-seat multi-purpose arena that is used by the school's basketball and volleyball teams. A 16500 square feet (1,532.9 m²) club / hospitality area which will include concession stands and restrooms, designed to accommodate 750 spectators, will be named for the Naimoli family.
In 2009, Naimoli donated a generous gift towards the construction of the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The facility will be approximately 25600 square feet (2,378.3 m²), housing courts for tennis, and will be made available for other athletic and recreational activities. The facility will be heated, air conditioned and utilize a flooring appropriate for the intended athletics and recreational activities. It is intended to meet the growing demand by our students, faculty and staff for such facilities, particularly, as our student population continues to increase.