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Baseball is a game that has been bringing families, friends, and fiends together for centuries.
And it is a game that has provided one proud Genoa family a medium to form an unbreakable, baseball-loving bond.
“We’re living a dream,” said Genoa Rampage assistant coach Dan McWatters. “This is about as close to heaven as I’m going to get and I’m not even in Iowa,” he chuckled, referring to the famous 1980s film Field of Dreams.
McWatters loves baseball about as much as bees like honey and even jokingly said he would sign his life away for the game he loves.
“If the devil came to me and said, ‘Look, I was going to let you to live to 70, but I’ll take you at 65 and you can play two more years of baseball,’ I’d say, ‘Where do I sign?’” McWatters said.
Dan McWatters has six children and he is enjoying every minute with three of them this summer. He is coaching his two youngest sons Bryce, 16, and Seth, 18, alongside his second oldest son Mickey, 26, for the Rampage — Mickey’s brainchild — of the Toledo Amateur Baseball Federation, a 22-and-under wood bat baseball league sponsored by the City of Toledo.
“I have six children, all of whom are athletes,” said McWatters, a 58-year-old steel worker. “I have five boys and I thank God that he gave me five talented baseball players. They’re not all-stars. They’re not studs. But all of the time my five sons have been on the baseball field, I have never been embarrassed by any of them.
McWatters said whether any of his boys make a dazzling defensive play or an error, they always play the game with passion, pride, and respect.
“They’ll strike out in key situations or walk somebody. They’ll make an error and then they will turn around and record a key base hit, make a good throw or a diving catch. I have never ever been embarrassed with any of my kids. I just love to watch them play,” McWatters said.
The veteran coach said he wouldn’t trade anything for the time spent with his sons on the baseball diamond and says they have brought him a wealth of knowledge — way more than he has ever taught them.
“I have probably gotten more from them than they have ever gotten from me. I played a lot of baseball in high school and I absolutely sucked,” he said seriously. “Anybody in the Oregon or Toledo area knows me from softball — I pitched forever. My biggest problem was my over-aggressive need to win.”
McWatters, who operates the scoreboard at Genoa High baseball games, said his sons are bred with the same aggressiveness he possesses but handle themselves with class — even when things aren’t going as well on the field as they would like.
“You hustle to your position. You don’t throw your helmet when you strike out or blame the umpire in a key situation. Watching the way my kids have handled themselves is really something,” McWatters said.
Bryce, who will be a senior at Genoa and plays second base for the Comets, said his dad “has taught him everything he knows about baseball.
“He’s a true inspiration. He has always been there for me and my brothers. I can’t thank him enough.”
Seth, a recent Genoa graduate, plans to attend the University of Toledo next fall as does Mickey, a 2003 Genoa graduate and baseball coach at Bowsher who is currently employed by UPS and is an aspiring history teacher.
“I am a World War II buff,” said Mickey. “I want to be a teacher and coach high school ball.”
No matter what their respective futures hold, one thing is certain: They will continue to lace up their spikes in the same dugout as a family during the summers for as long as they can.
“If I can get a few more years watching my kids play baseball, I am a happy camper,” said Dan, a Bronx, New York native. “The fact that they want to play ball with each other is great. Being on the field with Mickey, Seth, and Bryce is just the world to me. And I am sure it is the world to them.”
“I love it,” said Mickey. “I try the best I can to use my knowledge to help my little brothers get better each and every day. I have been coaching since I got out of high school and I love it. It is even more special coaching my brothers right alongside my dad.”
Even as well as these baseball-loving brothers get along, one can only assume with a dugout full of competitive brothers, there is an occasional scuffle or argument, or an occasional extra-curricular. Dan says there is no horseplay. When these fun-loving brothers step between the lines, they mean business.
“They get along great on and off the field. They want to play together for as long as they can. As long as they’re able to play and want to, I’m sure they will do it as a family and I will be right there with them,” echoed McWatters with a smile.
Dan said at this stage in his life he acts more as a chauffeur and an equipment manager than a coach.
“I don’t mind babysitting. At my age, I would much rather see them on the field together playing baseball with their buddies than chasing girls and racing cars. That’s for sure,” Dan said.
Team members officially listed on the Rampage eligibility roster include Seth, Bryce, Jarrod Adkins, Lucas Sutter, Jeremiah Adkins, Beau Lamb, Garrett Scott, Seth Dufendock, Michael Blazevich, Joel McGorty, Dominik Foust, Angelo Foust, Drew Gallagher, Jake Almanza, and Zach Stokes.
The Rampage has a record just over. 500 and is in position now to qualify for the National Amateur Baseball Federation Major Division (unlimited age) regional tournament in Fort Wayne or Youngstown. A regional championship would qualify the Rampage for the Major World Series in Louisville in mid-August.
The Rampage would have to move ahead of the Toledo Gold Hawks or Toledo Black Hawks to get a bid to the NABF College World Series in Toledo Aug. 4-7.
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