Local writer and videographer John Mason recently interviewed former West Hartford resident Gary LaRocque, now retired after a nearly 50-year career in baseball.

By Ronni Newton

Gary LaRocque recently retired from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was an assistant manager and director of player development, but he got his start in baseball as a child right in West Hartford, where he started in the youth league, and went on to star at Conard High School and the University of Hartford before beginning his professional career.

LaRocque has three World Series rings – from the 1981 and 1988 Dodgers wins and from the Cardinals in 2011.

John Mason, a local writer and videographer, recently spoke with the 71-year-old LaRocque about his background, his career, and what has motivated him along the way. He also spoke with some of LaRocque’s former colleagues, teammates, and friends.

Gary LaRocque, who graduated from Conard in 1971, speaks to students and supporters of the Conard baseball program in 2016. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

Since 2016, LaRocque has actively supported the baseball booster club at his alma mater, and in the video Mason also interviewed Conard’s current coach, Brendan Smith, and booster club founder Eric Mallinson. In October 2024, LaRocque and about 70 other golfers together raised $5,000 during a tournament at Rockledge Golf Club to support the Conard program. Thanks to fundraising, a new scoreboard has now been installed at the school.

The video can be seen in its entirety on YouTube through the link below.

Johnny Mason, 71, is a South Windsor, CT writer, videographer and floor installer who has lived in Glastonbury for the past six years. He was an award-winning news reporter (correspondent) and hard-news, religion columnist for the Hartford Courant and Inquiring News in Hartford, CT. He credits Courant editors Sheri Venema, Carole Goldberg and Deb Leekoff for getting him this far. 

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