Classic has big name attached
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1986 Hall of Fame inductee Doerr appreciates his fans and is always willing to sign a baseball or two. |
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JUNCTION CITY — A legend walks among us.
Bobby Doerr, who lent his name to the youth tournament that will be played on Laurel Fields in Junction City this weekend, earned a Hall of Fame spot in 1986 but prefers the joys of the outdoors to the glitz and glamour of big market baseball.
“Every day you fish, it adds a day to your life,” fellow Hall of Famer Ted Williams once told his long-time teammate. Doerr has done a lot of fishing, and he said it’s helped in his years since retirement. Fishing, especially on the Rogue River, has been a passion of his and helped lure the nine-time all star to Oregon. On that very same river, he met his future wife, Monica, a schoolteacher at the time. Doerr was here to stay at that point.
“I called up my realtor and told him to get me something near Cheshire or Junction City where her parents were,” Doerr said. “Not even three weeks later, he found an empty plot of land for me.”
This lot, which encompassed over 100 acres of land, became Doerr’s home, where he still lives to this day. Doerr helped build the house, which is now adorned with Native American artifacts, that he has called home since 1953.
Growing up, Doerr didn’t play in traditional tournaments. Born in 1918 in Los Angeles, Doerr said he used to bounce a rubber ball on his porch steps and wait for people to congregate at a local park to play ball.
Doerr hopes that this generation of kids can have a tournament to anticipate every year. That is why Doerr agreed to attach his name to the tournament, which will open Saturday, June 21.
“There hadn’t been anything here for awhile,” Doerr’s long time friend, Lynn Coon, said about a local tournament. “This month, they’ll look forward to coming here.”
Coon and his partners, Jon Edwards and Justin Carley, have already put the tournament on the radar. Two teams from Eugene and Springfield were scheduled to travel to California for a tournament, but when they found out about the first annual Bobby Doerr Classic, they pulled out so that they could play in the local event.
Junction City has a tradition of good baseball, but that has dissolved because of a lack of involvement from older members of the community, Doerr said. He is confident that Edwards and Carley can reinvigorate Junction City’s tradition of quality youth baseball.
“The older people have to be involved,” Doerr said. “We’ve got a great community here, and the parents won’t let this die.”
Doerr said that baseball in this town has evolved into a family activity. Parents here don’t just dump their kids at the field and leave; they stick around and participate, Doerr said.
Doerr played for the Boston Red Sox from 1937-51. He was the starting second baseman on the team that went to the World Series in 1946.
Since retiring from baseball and moving to Junction City, Doerr has dedicated his time to being an ambassador for the game. Stacked high on his dining room table are letters and baseball cards from people the world over who want an autograph from the Hall of Famer. Doerr is more than happy to oblige the people, and in this weekend’s tournament, some of the top finishers will receive memorabilia from Doerr.
Doerr has been honored in the past, most recently on August 2, 2007, for the 60th anniversary of the first Bobby Doerr Day at Fenway Park, but this tournament will preserve the legacy of Doerr while giving the baseball community in Junction City something to hang its hat on, Coon said.
“Baseball tournaments used to be a big thing here,” Coon said. “We want to bring that back on all levels and honor Bobby at the same time.”