Kackley, known around Arm & Hammer Park as Tonto, is the Trenton Thunder clubhouse manager.
TRENTON - Tom Kackley has three Eastern League championship rings, and a World Series ring from the New York Yankees 2009 championship season.
He was not a player, not a coach, and does not have a name plate in the front office.
But he does have their respect.
Kackley, known around Arm & Hammer Park as Tonto, is the Trenton Thunder clubhouse manager.
His responsibilities are relatively unknown by those outside of baseball, a job that on home stands begins before noon and typically goes past 2 a.m.
"A lot of people think the job is easy," Thunder manager Al Pedrique said recently from his office, where a rear door connects to the clubhouse. "I'm the first one to admit we can be a pain in the butt, because I was a player; and we're so picky.
"We're picky with our personal things, picky with our food, picky with how our laundry's done. They have to put up with a lot of stuff. He's a very respectful man, and he's always busy."
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Former Thunder manager Tony Franklin hasn't forgotten the 56-year-old.
"He had a good feel for me and certainly took care of me for eight years," said Franklin, whose been in more clubhouses than Arnold Palmer. "He took care of my clubhouse like no one else I've ever seen.
"Things go on in clubhouses that a manager doesn't have an awareness of," Franklin added, "which a clubhouse attendant does. For me, Tonto was that guy; without throwing anybody under the bus. For that I am forever grateful."
Rob Segedin, who has been at the Double-A level a few seasons, called Kackley, "A great clubbie. I love the guy. He's a great dude."
Residing in Canton, Ohio, Kackley grew up a Cleveland Indians fan. While he loved baseball, he never imagined himself having a career in the game. While most classmates took jobs or prepared for college right out of high school, Kackley left town immediately and hitch-hiked across country for a few months.
Back home he wanted to write the great American novel. The typewriter keys were still cold when a relative hooked him up with a job with the new Double-A affiliate in town.
Making $12 an hour doing videos for the coaches, he eventually started helping out in the visitor's clubhouse, and after the home team clubbie was fired he stepped in. That was the mid-90s.
The Indians affiliate moved to Akron, where they remain, and Kackley followed. He eventually took a similar job in Jacksonville in the Dodgers organization, but wanting to return north he landed the Thunder position in 2005.
"A lot of teams talk about tradition, they pay lip service to tradition, but the Yankees tradition and character are a very real thing," he said. "Guys who come up through the system, by the time they get to us in Double-A they have a pretty good understanding of the Yankee way; what's expected on the field and off the field character-wise. So that's a big help in dealing with personalities."
It was a player in Cleveland's chain that dubbed him Tonto. Kackley's hair was in a ponytail and the look reminded a player of the actor who played Tonto in the TV series, "The Lone Ranger."
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"I told the player that Tonto was ugly and wasn't very smart, so don't call me that. He was very apologetic, but the next few days every time I walked into the clubhouse players would holler, 'Tonto!' So it just kind of stuck. I've worked with people who never knew my real name."
Players pay clubhouse dues after each home stand, the money primarily for food: pre-game meals, snacks and the post-game spread. This year the Yankees have contributed more to the budget, and a nutritionist has improved the quality of food.
Laying out food, cutting fruit, doing laundry (workout clothes, uniforms, towels) several times a day, keeping the clubhouse clean, dealing with 25 players and a coaching staff, it is certainly not a glamorous job. But there are tips from players (Yankees who spend even just a day rehabbing here can tip upwards of $1,000, as well as pay for a clubhouse spread).
"A lot of guys aren't getting rich playing pro ball, so while tips are appreciated," Kackley said, "that's not really what it's all about. You know when you get respect from them you feel you're doing a good job."
It is a job that, like for so many in the game, involves being away from family sometimes more than half the year. That was starting to wear on him, but for the first time during a season his wife Kelly is with him.
That hasn't interrupted his love of the game, however, as he continues to take part in more than a dozen fantasy leagues.
They will return home to Canton next week, an area where family and friends remain; a couple of brothers, his father, and they're 27-year-old son.
"Actually, my son Adam is my wife's sister's son. But she died tragically when he was eight, so we've had him since then."
His sister-in-law was murdered by her husband. Kackley for the past eight years has run an on-line auction of baseball memorabilia to benefit a domestic violence shelter back home (tkackley@yankees.com).
He is also volunteers with Meals on Wheels, "And I've done a few other things,'' he said modestly. "But mostly when I return home I'm just lazy."
