But some way there was going to be a place for Bobby. "But I thought he needed more experience. "I would have taken Bobby as a coach here with the Cubs," said Elia. They say the kid had a future in the game. Next spring, DeMeo was penciled to start the year in Oklahoma City, then in June go back to Helena or Bend, Oregon, where he would manage again. Then he would stand out there in the sun and throw hours, if necessary, of batting practice. If someone looked around and the batting practice balls had been left in the clubhouse, DeMeo would hustle for them. Most days DeMeo was first man at the park, arriving by 1:30 p.m. He learned well while at the same time becoming a teacher. He hung on every word from Elia and Cot Deal, the venerable pitching coach with the patience of Job. It was a season for learning for the young coach. Acting on Bedell's winter meetings advice, DeMeo was made a coach. 200, or below, hitting averages and Elia and DeMeo were finally reunited in Oklahoma City in '79. When he went on the field, he was a scrapper." "But I have often said we would never have won the championship without Bobby. "We had a fine club," said Elia, the new manager of the Chicago Cubs. It was a club loaded with young prospects and DeMeo, as the regular catcher, batted just. The Phils' Class A team won both halves of the Western Carolina League that summer. His second season was played at Spartanburg, where Lee Elia was a rookie manager. "He was a pretty good looking catcher and I thought he deserved a chance to play ball. "I watched Bobby play several games," said Reilly. 400, collecting 64 base hits.īut the best thing he did in 1974 was meet Claire. He had just graduated from Northern Colorado College, where he was an All-America. The Phils' scout found DeMeo in a semi-pro league, playing for for the love of the game. Joe Reilly first discovered Bobby DeMeo back in Trenton, N.J., his hometown. He didn't have a lot of years in baseball, but he knew the game." "He was the kind of man you want managing young ballplayers. "Bobby had a great ability to get ideas across," said Howie Bedell, Philadelphia's former assistant farm director who first recommended in club meetings that DeMeo become a coach. He was nothing-for-79, but in many ways had his finest season ever. DeMeo became a player-coach, but less player than coach. Those people have never tried to hit a curve, slider or screwball. Some say curves, sliders and screw balls are optical illusions. Hitting the baseball, espcially ones that arrived bending and twisting, were unsolvable for DeMeo's bat. His arm was adequate, at least marginal major league level, but offense was another story. The "book" on him said he was a good catcher, a heady receiver who knew pitchers and how to call pitches. DeMeo had lasted just seven seasons, rising to Triple-A although his batting average had failed to keep pace, never rising above. The man who was laughing the loudest was Bobby DeMeo.īaseball doesn't offer many chances when a man's playing days are over, especially marginal players. The faster the jokes came, the larger the crowd became. This day the target was Bobby DeMeo, who was headed for Helena, a dot on the minor league baseball map. Give ballplayers a target and they can pick a man apart with words. The days of great baseball bench jockeys are gone forever, a victim of free agency and no-cut clauses, but many ballplayers still develop a vicious streak from all the hours of sitting on buses watching the miles creep past. Half a dozen players were standing around the batting cage that day, laughing about playing "snowball" in Montana. In Helena, Montana, it would be as cold as a well digger's behind. It was June, yet in Oklahoma the weather was just beginning to feel like baseball.
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