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Organization soon could have up to 10 second-generation players.
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In the fifth inning of a spring training game
against the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Ariz., the Dodgers hit for the cycle
as a team.
But this was not just any cycle: All four
players were the sons of former big leaguers.
Tony Gwynn Jr. singled, Sellers doubled, Ivan
DeJesus tripled and Scott Van Slyke homered.
"Oh, wow," Sellers said. "That is very
unique."
Almost as amazing is the fact that the
Dodgers have three other second-generation major league players in their
organization: Dee Gordon, Matt Wallach and Jerry Hairston Jr. (Hairston is
actually a third-generation player; his grandfather, Sam, spent most of his
career in the Negro leagues before playing five games for the White Sox in
1951.)
The Dodgers haven't stopped there. In three
days earlier this month they managed to draft three more sons of major-leaguers:
shortstop Jesmuel Valentin (son of Jose Valentin), pitcher Jordan Hershiser
(Orel) and shortstop Jose Vizcaino Jr. (Jose Sr.).
It has become common practice in recent years
for major league teams to track and draft prospects with baseball in their
genes, though not all make it this far.
Preston Mattingly, for example, was a
first-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2006 who was never invited to the
team's major league camp. He signed a minor league contract with his father's
former team, the New York Yankees, in January.
Considering that only 214 sons have followed
their dads into the big leagues, it's no small feat that the Dodgers can count
seven second-generation players in their organization.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said those
seven have an advantage.
"To me, the biggest advantage is being around
the clubhouse. They understand that guys are just regular guys," he said. "For
me, growing up in Indiana, not really being around a major league city or major
league teams, trying to go into a locker room with Goose Gossage, Graig Nettles,
names like that - you kind of have this awe."
Some of those players can recall getting the
awe out of the way early. Some can't. Here are their experiences:
Ivan DeJesus Jr.
The 24-year-old infielder, who made his major
league debut with the Dodgers last April, is the only member of the seven who
doesn't remember his father playing in the major leagues. That's because DeJesus
was only 1 when Ivan DeJesus Sr. played his final major-league game as a Detroit
Tiger.
But DeJesus Sr. went on to coach with the
Houston Astros, and his son tagged along during summers, befriending the likes
of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman.
"I saw (Berkman) last year when I played
against him in L.A., he was in St. Louis," the younger DeJesus said. "He said,
`I'm getting old. I saw you when you were little.' I said no, everyone's getting
old."
When your father, uncle, grandfather and
brother were all professional baseball players, what's the plan if you don't
ever reach the big leagues?
"That's a good question. I really don't
know," he said. "Everyone says I can be argumentative at times ... maybe I'd
make a pretty good lawyer."
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Hairston has carved out a pretty good career
as a baseball journeyman; the Dodgers are his ninth team in 15 seasons. Last
season with Milwaukee, he played five defensive positions and hit .274 with one
home run in 124 at-bats.
At 35, Hairston is old enough to have played
with Harold Baines (as a rookie in 1998 with the Orioles) and to have been an
8-year-old milling around the Chicago White Sox clubhouse when Baines was in his
heyday.
"I knew that it was a big deal," he said,
"but at the same time it's something that my dad did. When you came to the
ballpark, it was something I always wanted to do."
Dee Gordon
Tom Gordon's 21-year major league pitching
career ended in 2009, the same year his son was turning heads with the Dodgers'
Single-A club.
This year, Dee Gordon is trying to make the
leap from prized prospect to everyday shortstop and leadoff hitter.
More than a decade before he first set foot
in the Dodgers' clubhouse, Gordon followed his dad into the clubhouse at Fenway
Park. Back then, he was anything but nervous.
"I didn't grasp it then," Gordon said. "I was
too busy playing basketball, running around. I was not in tune with baseball at
that time."
That changed over time, of course, and Gordon
brought plenty of butterflies to his first major league camp a year ago.
"Why wouldn't I be (nervous)? If I weren't,
something would be wrong," he said.
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Tony Gwynn Sr., whose 3,141 hits rank 18th
all-time, waited until his namesake son was 9 years old before bringing him to
work one day, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
"I knew none of my friends got to do that
kind of stuff," the younger Gwynn said. "I was very aware of my surroundings,
what I was doing. That's probably the reason why my dad allowed me to start
going with him."
Taken in the second round of the 2003 draft
by the Brewers, Gwynn Jr. debuted with Milwaukee three years later but didn't
become an everyday player until 2009 with the Padres.
Though he felt comfortable from the outset,
there was one thing Gwynn Jr.'s dad didn't teach him.
"I came here and ate what I wanted to, didn't
have to think about it - not realizing my dad had to pay for both mouths in the
clubhouse," he said.
Justin Sellers
Sellers, a 26-year-old infielder, played 36
games for the Dodgers in 2011 and made the big league roster out of camp. A
bulging disk in his back has sidelined him since May 23.
His father, Jeff, is a Compton native and
Paramount High alum who pitched for the Red Sox over parts of four seasons
(1985-88).
"I remember talking to Jim Rice, I remember
talking to Mike Greenwell," Justin Sellers said. "I was nervous. Those memories
carry on to today. I never forget that stuff."
Those early experiences couldn't prepare him
for his first major league game in Dodger Stadium last Aug. 12 - especially, he
said, having grown up in Southern California. Sellers starred for Huntington
Beach Marina before moving on to Cal State Fullerton.
"To really soak that up, words really can't
explain the feeling that was running through my body the first time I got called
up," Sellers said.
Scott Van Slyke
The Pittsburgh Pirates staged an annual
father-son game when Andy Van Slyke was roaming the outfield, and Scott was a
regular participant beginning at age 4.
Having toiled seven years in the Dodgers'
system, the 25-year-old outfielder was called up to the big club May 10 after
hitting .338 with eight homers and 25 RBIs at Triple-A Albuquerque. His first
major league home run came 11 days later, and it was memorable - a decisive
pinch-hit, three-run shot against another one of his father's old teams, the St.
Louis Cardinals.
Perseverance alone might not have gotten Van
Slyke - who was optioned to Albuquerque earlier this month - to the majors, but
it has at least taught him a lesson.
"It's definitely your own experience," he
said. "Coming here, being yourself is different. You know that you've worked
hard, put in your years in the system."
Matt Wallach
Invited to spring camp as a non-roster
player, Wallach was able to hang out with his dad in a major league clubhouse.
Tim Wallach, a third baseman for three teams over 17 seasons, is now the
Dodgers' third-base coach.
Matt Wallach was on the field for father-son
games in Montreal at an early age, but it took a while for him to grasp their
significance.
"Definitely when he was in L.A. (from
1993-96) when I was 8, 9, 10, you go and see you're around guys that you watch
on TV," said Wallach, a catcher who is on the Dodgers' Double-A team in
Chattanooga.
"Just being able to
meet them and hang out with them was pretty awesome."
jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com
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