By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
Finance may be his game now, but there’s no doubt former Major League ballplayer Mike Trombley still has a passion for baseball.
From coaching his son’s little league team to playing an integral part in the creation of the now-annual Western Mass Baseball Hall of Fame Dinner Trombley – who spent 11 pro ball seasons as a relief pitcher, most with the Minnesota Twins – has kept his hand in the sport however he could.
This summer, he’ll be bringing some of his “show” experience and expertise to the Valley Blue Sox as he steps up to the plate in the role of special advisor to the team and mentor to the young ballplayers.
“I’m looking forward to it, I really am,“ Trombley told Prime in a pre-season interview, joking that he’s not sure the young players will “want to listen to an old man talk.
“If they say, ‘Old man, leave me alone, I will leave them alone,” the 52-year-old Trombley readily admitted. “That’s my deal with the Blue Sox. I said, ‘I will give [the players] as much or as little as they want’.”
A natural fit
This season’s special advisor position with the team isn’t the first time the Blue Sox have come calling, Trombley shared. He’s been involved with the team since 2012, when former Blue Sox owner Clark Eckoff reached out to Trombley to be part of the founding of the Western Mass. Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the
first inductees, Trombley’s been on the Hall’s nominating committee ever since.
“When we made the decision to move back here and run my dad’s business I just wanted to give back, not just in Wilbraham, but in Western Mass.,” Trombley, now owner of Wilbraham’s Trombley Associates, said.
With the last of his three children nearing the end of her high school career and preparing for college, Trombley said the invitation to expand his work with the Blue Sox team as a special advisor this season seemed a natural next step.
“I’ve seen the top level… the good stuff, the bad stuff, I can help smooth things out [for the players],” Trombley said.
He’s walked their walk
With 509 major league games to his credit, a 4.48 earned run average in 795.2 innings and 44 career saves, the right handed pitcher certainly has plenty of experience to share with the young hopefuls on this year’s Blue Sox team. But Trombley said he’ll be there to talk about more than baseball with players, including “financial stuff [and] college stuff.” Though at this point in their lives he knows many are hoping for a major league tap – like he received in the 14th round of the 1989 June Amateur Draft – Trombley said he’s aiming to also help players see it’s important to think about the big picture – and their lives after baseball.
Despite a successful baseball career, he was retired from the sport he loved by age 36, and is now a small business owner and respected financial planner.
“My father said it best,” Trombley shared “If I say goodbye to you [at college drop-off] and you break your arm and can’t play baseball ever again, you are at the right college [for your future].”
In fact, Trombley readily admits playing major league ball wasn’t even on his mind when he left Wilbraham to attend North Carolina’s Duke University in 1986.
“I didn’t go on a [baseball] scholarship,” Trombley said, adding he joined the college team that ultimately lead to a Major League career as nothing more than a walk-on player. “I didn’t get the golden road, there was no 95 mph fastball [in my repertoire], I had to do some extra stuff to get there.
“I was what I would call a ‘blue collar’ baseball player,” he added. “It just happened, and the way it happened allowed me to play [in the majors].”
And when he did get the nod in 1989, he said his mother was adamant that he consider his whole future, saying he could only “play in the Majors if I finished my degree.
“I missed the spring semester of my senior year but finished next fall, “ Trombley said. “I promised I would.”
That kind of perspective is another bit of wisdom he’s hoping to share not just with players, but also with their parents.
When it comes to career wisdom, Trombley said his experience of being called up to the Twins during the 1992 pennant race [and winning that season’s Rookie of the Year Award], being sent back to the minors briefly to hone his skills, then finding his niche as a relief pitcher for the Twins, the Orioles and ultimately, the Dodgers isn’t that unusual. That roller coaster path is an important part of the Major League experience that he wants to share with the young players in the Blue Sox lineup this summer.
“Many of the Major League players aren’t naturally talented,” Trombley said, adding the issue then becomes how do you help yourself get the skills you need to get and stay there.
Like this season’s players, Trombley said he, too, spent a summer playing in a collegiate baseball league like the Blue Sox, taking the field for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League in the 1980s.
“It was the next step in playing collegiate baseball, “ Trombley said. It was a great league, he shared, and an experience that he hopes will help him find common ground with this season’s mentees.
“I’ve been through a lot of the stuff these guys are going through [as young ballplayers],” Trombley said.
“It’s important for these kids to know that they’re playing at the highest level – they were probably the best on their [college] team – but there will always be someone who is better,” Trombley noted. “You have to learn to handle that.”
He shared that some of the best career advice he ever got came from a Minnesota Twins teammate shortly after he’d been called up from the minors.
“I was doing pretty well, and got full of myself,” Trombley said. Then a batter hit a grand slam off one of his pitches, and he was devastated.
That teammate told him, “You’re probably not as good as you think you are, and you’re not as bad as you thought. Don’t take it too seriously.” That’s the kind of wisdom Trombley’s planning to share with the Blue Sox players.
Overall, he’s hoping to help these young hopefuls learn “to be the best teammate you can” and get the most out of their Blue Sox experience. His goal is to help players “Enjoy your time [playing baseball] while you can. Enjoy the summer in Western Mass. [and] enjoy the League,” he shared.
Beyond the diamond
But working with the players isn’t the only role Trombley will be filling as a special advisor to the Blue Sox this summer. He said General Manager Chris Weyant and team President
Fred Ciaglo have plans to tap his other skills to help the team during its
10-week season. That, Trombley said, may range from helping to secure host families for players to dreaming up promotion ideas to fundraising and soliciting donations.
“This isn’t a huge moneymaker,” Trombley said of the Blue Sox and the NECBL organizations. “They are just trying to make it work to give these kids a place to play.” The games also provide an affordable form of family entertainment for the Valley, he added.
Chris Weyant, Blue Sox general manager said this season is a “big transitional year” for the team. It’s the first full year under the new owner and President Fred Ciaglo as well as Weyant’s as general manager.
“Mike is obviously well-respected and he understands a lot about baseball, “Weyant said of the team’s new Special Advisor. “He’s the kind of person who will be invaluable to the organization.”
As for Trombley, he said he just wants “to get back to being involved with baseball in Western Mass.”
The Blue Sox first home game in MacKenzie Field is June 8.
“I think people would be shocked [at the caliber of play] if they haven’t gone to a game,” Trombley said. “It’s like a Minor League game … some of these guys will be playing professionally in a few years.”
For a full season schedule, game times and more information, visit the team website at http://valleybluesox.pointstreaksites.com. To purchase tickets prior to game time visit https://valley-blue-sox.ticketleap.com.
