Former Red Sox pitcher dons new uniform: Port Authority Police

A former Boston Red Sox pitcher who hails from Staten Island has a new uniform and a new career.

Anthony Vavaro, 32, who spent five seasons with three teams before being sidelined by an injury in 2015, on Friday became one of 80 cadets to be graduated from the Port Authority Police Academy.

The career change doesn’t come completely out of left field.

Before he played for the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox, Vavaro had earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from St. John’s University in Queens. He had a career 3.23 earned run average and recorded 150 strikeouts in 183 innings.

“I kind of felt like my body was breaking down a bit. I felt like my career may have been coming to an end,” he told the school newspaper on Dec. 2. “I probably could have played a little longer, but that’s when an opportunity with the Port Authority Police Department arrived.”

A ceremony for the graduates was held Friday morning in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Port Authority police officers patrol the city’s airports, bridges, tunnels and transit systems.