Big league ballplayers come from everywhere

Every guy you see in a Major League uniform was a superstar at his high school or local Babe Ruth or American Legion program on their way to the bigs.

I tend to forget those humble beginnings and it’s fun to trace the footsteps to where it all began. Take a look at the Spokane Indians, the Single-A affiliate for the Texas Rangers. Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers star Maury Wills scored the first run in Avista Stadium in 1958. Steve Garvey, arguably one of the greatest players of all-time, came through the organization, along with Ian Kinsler (Tigers), Carlos Beltran (Rangers), Sandy Alomar Jr. (Indians), Joey Cora, Brad Gulden (Yankees) and a slew of others.

The Indians have had their share of superstar managers, guys like Dodgers great Tommy Lasorda managed in Spokane. San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy was the manager for Spokane in 1989.

So it shouldn’t be all that amazing that Big Bend Community College has its guys that made a splash in the show. Moses Lake product Dave Heaverlo (1968 graduate) spent some time coaching the Vikings’ pitching staff. Heaverlo, a Central Washington State College Hall of Famer, had a Major League career with San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle.

Dave made his major-league debut on April 14, 1975 and pitched his last game on Sept. 27, 1981. He made 356 major league appearances, all as a relief pitcher, pitched 537 career innings and earned 26 saves. His ERA was a respectable 3.41. Dave’s son Jeff was part of that great Columbia Basin Major League Draft of 1999. He came back to share the wealth with the Big Bend staff.

Vikings skipper Pete Doumit added another former big leaguer to the staff in his son Ryan, who was one of three Moses Lake High School players chosen in the top 63 picks in the 1999 Major League Draft.

Yep, that bearded guy standing on the rail in the Big Bend dugout played his first seven years of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a couple more in Minnesota and finished up his big league career in Atlanta.

That’s gotta be a gas for catcher Nathan Ball of Moses Lake, working with a guy who came through the Chiefs program all the way to the bigs. Not too many guys get that level of expertise. Warden right-hander Tyson Yamane also gets his signals from the former switch-hitting catcher from Moses Lake. Picking out the local guys isn’t quite fair, the entire Vikings program has a great asset in its dugout.

On a Northwest Athletic Conference side note, current Colorado Rockies skipper Bud Black played two years for Lower Columbia College in Longview. Black pitched 15 seasons in the majors, most notably for the Kansas City Royals, winning 121 games in his career. He was part of the starting rotation for the Royals team that won the 1985 World Series.

So the next time you’re sitting in the bleachers watching some kid spitting sunflower seeds out on the runway … maybe, just maybe he’s the next big thing with big dreams.

And by the way, Big Bend hosts Columbia Basin College on Wednesday, get out there and root, root, root for the home team.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com