Smallest Steamer is Durable
By Arnold Irish (11/15/1984) St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It isn't the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.
The Steamers' Jeff Cacciatore, 5 feet 4 and 125 pounds, is the smallest player in the Major
Indoor Soccer League, and one of the most indestructible as well. The perpetual-motion
forward scored two goals Tuesday in the club's 5-2 victory over the Tacoma Stars, and also
set a club record by competing in his 128th consecutive game.
"I knew about the record, but I haven't had time to think about it," Cacciatore said. "After
my playing days are over, there will be plenty of time to think about things like that."
But in MISL circles, they are wondering how a little guy like "Catch" has managed to
forge forward where countless seemingly more robust athletes have fallen by the wayside.
It's simple. He watches his diet, keeps reasonable hours, trains by running and lifting
weights and plays a lot of soccer - the complete package.
"I take good care of myself," Cacciatore said. "Playing soccer is the business I'm in. If I
feel a cold or fever coming on, I take medicine right away. I don't do it tomorrow. And I
get proper nourishment. I eat right. My mom is a great cook. She fixes different kinds of
pasta and dishes like linguine in clam sauce."
Cacciatore is a good hand around the kitchen himself.
"I cook spaghetti, barbecued chicken on the grill all summer, make a lot of side dishes -
parsley and potatoes - plus a lot of stuff out of a box," he said.
"I always cook breakfast on game days - bacon and eggs with toast. In the afternoon, I'll
eat some pasta because it's easy to digest.
"I'm not a big beer drinker. Maybe a glass after the game. Even then, I'll make sure I run
it out, sweat it out.
Cacciatore has played with his share of nagging injuries, but he hasn't missed a Steamers
game since the 1981-1982 season, his first with the club.
As if he needed encouragement to work out more diligently, Cacciatore trains with a little
help from his friends.
"I lifted weights with a friend of mine from high school, Joe Anstey, and built a pretty
good base of strength without overdoing it," Cacciatore said.
"Last summer, Rich Haffner, another friend from my high-school days, talked me into
entering a six-mile run, a 10K, downtown. We ran the course once for practice and again
for the event. It was fun and worth doing. I finished in 40 minutes, which wasn't bad.
Next year. Yeah, I might enter again."
His lack of size is something on which Cacciatore no longer dwells.
"You can't think about it," he said. "If you get the ball, it's what you do with it that's
important. You don't have to push anybody out of the way."
Which is not to say that "Catch" wouldn't push somebody out of the way, if such behavior
were indicated. Now that his consecutive-games streak has reached 128, has Cacciatore
staked out an objective for his club-record skein?
"Yes, 129 games," he said.
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