Subscribe Feed (RSS)I’ve always been so proud of my lifelong friend, Tom Trebelhorn, who I’ve known since I was 14 years old. He’s always been a paragon of integrity and hard work. Out of Cleveland High and Portland State, he managed in the big leagues with Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs and for many years has worked with minor-league players.
He’s in his second season in Salem, managing the Giants’ team there in the Northwest League. It’s pretty near the bottom rung of professional baseball.
Yesterday, during what proved to be a very memorable Hall of Fame induction speech, Rickey Henderson paid tribute to “Treb” — whom he has long credited with teaching him the fundamentals of base running:
In 1976, my first year in the minor league, my coach, Tom Trebelhorn, helped me develop my skill in base running and taught me to play the game hard. I had not perfected how to take a lead or how to slide. Tom asked me to come to practice early every day and work on my sliding and base running skill. I guess, Tom, that hard
work paid off for me, and I am very grateful.
Kudos to Rickey, who took classes at a junior college to help with the speech, for remembering a mentor from long ago. So many of these guys forget the people along the way who contributed to their success. I can’t imagine how much that must mean to Trebelhorn.
You work for decades with young kids and you’re lucky if many of them even get to the big leagues, let alone the Hall of Fame. Treb managed other Hall of Famers while in the big leagues, but when Rickey got to Trebelhorn way back in Modesto, Calif., in Class A ball, he was just another rough-around-the-edges kid who needed some instruction.
It’s kind of nice how it all worked out.
Tags: baseball Hall of Fame, Dwight Jaynes, Rickey Henderson, Tom Trebelhorn
That’s a cool story.
Awesome. Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter ever.
On another note Dwight, what do you think about another death outside of another MLB park, a man was beaten to death, outside Citizens Ballpark in Philly.
By my unofficial count that is 3 murders in 3 years. One in San Francisco, one in LA and now this one.
do you have a job yet?
You’re an idiot.
I absolutely love it. I didn’t amount to much as an athlete post high school, but I still enjoy playing any sport whenever and wherever I can. I credit my love for the sports to my little league coaches, instructors, and the others that helped me along the way. It’s fascinating to think of how many people are involved with molding and shaping just one individual throughout their lifetime. Volunteering is one of the most rewarding things one can do when they realize the effects they have on those they help.
Well, thanks for posting that Dwight, I missed it.
As a A’s fan in the 70s, I kept track of Ricky. He had a bit of a smart mouth, so was glad to hear he thanked Treb. Ricky went up a bit for me doing that
Joe Gordon? Another Oregonian in the Baseball HOF. Am glad he made it, when i was a kid Joe Gordon and Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky were Oregonians doing very well in the bigs. Doerr has been in HOF for several years now.
Personally not sure either really deserve it. And I am a guy the believes many more deserve to be in HOF. Are they going to wait around til Ron Santo is dead to finally bring him in? Santo deserves to know. That old timers committe for the more recent players has no sense, they can’t find a way to honor any. Gil Hodges should be there
I am thankful the silly voters finally figured Jim Rice deserved it.
do you have a job yet
I missed that too. It is great when people remember those that help them along the way. Especially the good guys. Trebelhorn has always seemed like one of the good guys who deserves to be honored in such a way.
I didn’t go much past high school with my baseball career but I had a coach in the Madison Babe Ruth program that took the time to teach me the game that provided me with some special memories. Murray Logan was a class act that took time to teach me, a kid with no family connections to the program and limited talent, to hit a baseball.