They have faith of their fathers
Fathers Day carries special meaning for IronPigs, Fightins
A bit of irritation remained as Mickey Moniak recounted a story from a dozen years ago when he was a 12-year-old baseball player traveling an hour up the California coast from his suburban San Diego home for games.
Moniak was late almost all the time.
“My dad [Matt] would send our coach a picture of traffic,” Moniak recalled. “By about the seventh time he sent the same picture, I said, ‘Dude, that’s the same exact picture you sent the last time.’ ”
That perhaps is the only annoying moment of Moniak’s relationship with his father.
“I was the one dragging him to tournaments,” Moniak said. “Waking him up. I used to get so pissed off. I had to talk to the coach and tell him it wasn’t my fault.
“He went to San Diego State, played in college. My grandpa played in the big leagues. I grew up around baseball. But the best part of my dad is [why] I had success growing up and developed a passion for baseball. He never pushed me to do anything.”
Moniak, like many others in professional baseball, often is separated by multiple time zones from his dad.
But he doesn’t need Father’s Day to recognize how fortunate he is to have a dad who provided so much guidance and direction.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Reading Fightins players, coaches and managers miss out on a lot of time with their fathers and children.
It is the nature of being part of professional sports.
All of them believe their fathers’ influence, their stability and reason, were significant reasons for their success.
They have countless stories they relish and memories they will share with their children that come from a place of love.
“My dad is my hero,” Moniak said.
Greg Brodzinski
Many of Greg Brodzinski’s childhood memories are from traveling with his dad to basketball camps.
Barry Brodzinski remains an active hoops clinician at age 67. His son, a budding catching prospect, often tagged along to be the designated rebounder. The younger Brodzinski logged thousands of miles mostly to have one-on-one time with his dad.
“We’ve traveled all over the country and to Canada,” the IronPigs bench coach said, “and on the baseball side he’s been my BP thrower my whole life.
“One of my favorite things in my whole life is going to the field to hit with him. We still get out from time to time. There’s nothing more fun than getting to the field and hitting and playing catch with your dad.”
Brodzinski needed his father’s ear at the end of spring training in 2016. The Phillies talked to him about making the transition from playing to coaching.
It was a potentially wonderful opportunity, but the 24-year-old’s major league dreams were crushed by that conversation.
He needed his father at that moment as much as any other.
“I’m standing outside the hotel in Clearwater,” Brodzinski said. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘What is he going to think when I tell him after I was having a great spring training, hitting the ball well?’
“I understood the business side of the game, but I’ve got to call my dad and tell him I might not be playing anymore. It was tough, but I knew that because of the love he had for me and that he’d always shown for me that everything would be all right.”
Logan O’Hoppe
Double-A Reading’s May 25 game was a special night for the O’Hoppe family. Michael ‘Pops’ O’Hoppe was on the field after the game with his family: wife Angela, daughter Melanie and son, Phillies catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe.
It was 10 months earlier when the elder O’Hoppe was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after he discovered a growth in his right groin.
Last month’s game at FirstEnergy Stadium was a celebration, not of O’Hoppe’s success in the Phillies system but rather of his father being cancerfree for six months.
Sunday also means a little more for 22-year-old O’Hoppe, who has flourished since his father’s diagnosis.
“Having Dad around makes me that much more grateful,” he said. “And he comes out here quite a bit, so that’s even better.”
O’Hoppe was on the travel ball circuit from a young age. He was thankful for his parents’ financial and emotional support.
It was during a recruiting event at a school O’Hoppe committed to before the Phillies drafted him in the 23rd round in 2018, when he came to understand the priorities his father was attempting to instill in him.
Michael O’Hoppe wanted his son to succeed playing the game he loved. But he wanted him to find joy in doing it the right way. And when the younger O’Hoppe did, the father could relax.
The elder O’Hoppe took it to a new level during a crucial point in one of the last games of the weekend when his son came to the plate.
“It’s crunch time,” Logan O’Hoppe recalled, “and I look up and my dad — everyone who knows my dad knows he’s pretty tan — and he’s out there with eyes closed looking up at the sun.
“I’m like, ‘Pops, you might need to lock it in here.’ But I’d much rather have that than someone who is right next to the on-deck circle. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”
Quotable Lehigh Valley and Reading players and coaches talk about the relationships with their children and fathers: Anthony Contreras (IronPigs first-year manager):
“My dad coached me all throughout Little League and even now still calls me three times a week. He keeps up with us, watches us every night. And now have a son who just concluded his 10-year-old all-star season. As a father, seeing your son play baseball and having him know what I do for a living means a lot.
“Every Father’s Day is on the road. Getting to talk to him, seeing his face, that’s enough for me.”
Jeff Singer (IronPigs pitcher and Philadelphia native):
“[My dad] is 6-5 and my brother and I are pushing 6-foot. We got his athletic ability, but not his height so we’re kind of mad about that. If we got his height, maybe we’d be playing basketball now instead of baseball. That was our first favorite sport growing up.
“My dad taught me the ways of baseball. He was my first coach. He was my pitching coach for awhile. After games, he still kind of critiques me. We have a good relationship. We talk after every outing.”
Dalton Guthrie (IronPigs utility player and son of former MLB pitcher Mark Guthrie):
“A lot of [memories] are hitting with him in the outfield at Wrigley Field. [Now] he gives me my space when I don’t feel like talking. I know that he’s not going to break down every swing with me, but he’s there when things aren’t going right and when they are. He keeps me level headed. I’m spoiled having him in my corner.”
Aaron Barrett (IronPigs pitcher, father of two, daughter Kollyns, 4 and son Paxtyn, 19 months):
“It’s kind of surreal to think about being able to play catch with my son, even with my daughter. It will be something I will cherish.
“My brothers played, my cousins all played. I grew up in a baseball family. I’m super blessed that my dad [Dave] introduced me to the sport, taught me how to play the game the right way and to never give up. That’s a quality I still have to this day.”
Zach Warren (IronPigs pitcher, father of a 7-month-old daughter) : “I was a little nervous when we found out we were going to have a baby,” he said. “I didn’t think I was exactly ready for it. But it is one the most surprising and amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my life. It’s awesome.
“Our baby is the happiest, sweetest, … I can’t even put it into words. In the hospital a couple days after she was born, she’s sleeping in this little bed and I’m lying on the [couch] next to her. And I remember waking up every 10 minutes thinking, ‘She’s not making a sound. Something’s got to be wrong.’ ”
Jake Newberry (IronPigs pitcher who will be a firsttime father next month to
daughter Remi): “Things are definitely going to change,” he said. “I’m excited for it. I can’t wait.
“My dad was my coach my whole life growing up, but with my life now I don’t get to see him much. But this spring training, he took the drive with me. Three or four days, just 1-on-1 was cool. Growing up, we also had a basketball hoop in the back, so there was a three-point contest every weekend against him. We weren’t inside [the house] much.
“When I was 10, we were in this tournament in Vegas and the championship was on Father’s Day. We won it, so I remember having this picture sitting on his knee next to this big trophy. It was hung up in our house my whole time growing up.”
Tyler Henson (former IronPigs player, current Reading hitting coach, father of
three): “Toward the end of my career, Lyla, Bryer and Rhett were little. Them experiencing the ballpark while I was still playing was cool. They’ve thrown out first pitches a couple times on Father’s Day in Lehigh.
“[Becoming a father while playing] was a little more challenging day to day. But you tend to forget the bad days quicker because you come home and they are there. They don’t care what happens in the game, so you can let it all go a little easier.”
Shawn Williams (Reading Fightins manager, father of three, son of former MLB manager and coach Jimy Williams): “Baseball is my life. Always has been. I was fortunate to grow up in the game. I was extremely hard on myself when I played. And, now, I think as a father, having children, it makes the game more fun. It’s not the end of the world. As soon as the game is over, you go home and it’s gone. When I was playing and wasn’t married, I took the game home every day. Now, [fatherhood] clears my mind, makes me better every day.”
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com