Many know him as Senator. A few as professor. William T. Doyle has many titles. But one of them could be Vermont’s
biggest baseball fan.
You
might recognize Sen Doyle’s name for being Johnson State College’s most senior
faculty, or maybe for being Vermont’s longest serving state senator. You also can’t attend a chicken pie
supper in Washington County without seeing Sen. Doyle’s face. But another place where you can always
count on seeing Sen. Doyle is in the front row at Recreation Field sitting just
a few seats to his left of home plate at almost every Vermont Mountaineers home
game.
Sen. Doyle has been a member of the
board of the Vermont Mountaineers since the beginning in 2003. But Doyle’s baseball interests started
long before the Mountaineers.
“I
grew up in a baseball family,” Doyle told me. His brother once started an essay by saying, “I love baseball
and I love seeing it played.”
Though the little town on the Jersey Shore was too small for a school,
Doyle found himself playing outfield and batting fourth for the Lawrenceville
School. It was a long time ago,
but Doyle can still share his fond memories of playing that team. He can recall the exciting memory of
meeting 10-time all star and Dodger captain Pee Wee Reese and eight-time all
star Gil Hodges after one of his games.
“I had never met a major leaguer in my life,” said Doyle. “For him to
say that we had a pretty good team made us all Dodger fans for life.”
“I
still remember all of the players that I played with,” Doyle says. But perhaps the person who he got along
with best was his coach. “I had great respect and admiration for our coach. Many times I’d sit with him [on the bus
rides].”
After
his time at the Lawrenceville School, Doyle went on to Princeton University
where he got his Bachelor’s degree and played JV baseball. “Most of the career took place before
Princeton. Lawrenceville School
was the highlight. I played JV at
Princeton, which just isn’t the same as being on varsity.” Doyle went on to get his Master’s and
Ph.D from Columbia University.
But
after his college career ended, Doyle didn’t give up baseball. He came here to Vermont and was elected
into the state senate for the first time in 1968. He was then an active member of the community, taking part
in local softball leagues, in which he got the opportunity for the first time
to play on historic Recreation Field, coaching Little League and Babe Ruth
baseball, and even becoming Central Vermont’s doubles champion alongside his
partner in the early 70s.
Playing
all of these sports helped Doyle do even more than just stay in shape. “I think
it’s a great advantage for people running for office to play sports,” said
Doyle. “I didn’t play in the
Montpelier league for political reasons but its certainly good for name
recognition.”
For
many, at the end of their playing time they give up on sports. But giving up doesn’t seem to be in
Sen. Doyle’s vocabulary. Doyle
turned his attention to the Mountaineers just before their first season in
2003. He stayed involved by
becoming a member of the original board of the Mountaineers. “All the major cities in our nation
want a baseball team. For a
relatively small group of people to put it together I think is rather
amazing. Lots of credit goes to
Brian [Gallagher] and many others.
I can say personally that it’s probably the best thing that ever
happened to Central Vermont.”
“Bill
has featured us on his TV program many times. He also donated money out of his own pocket to buy the team
the bats that they wanted for that year.”
Said Mountaineers GM Brian Gallagher who Doyle says “is the cattle of
the organization.”
In
his time with the Mountaineers, Doyle became close to seven time all star and
hall of famer Robin Roberts. “He
was a story teller.” Said Doyle.
“I remember one night at the [Capitol] Plaza he talked for half and hour
then he took questions. He was a
total winner. Most people don’t realize how articulate he is. I’ve interviewed him on public TV and
written columns about him.” Doyle
has also given Roberts the behind the scenes tour of the state house taking him
into the governors office and letting him bang the gavel on the senate floor.
To
this day, Doyle continues to be a member of the Mountaineer board, and will air
his 1,000th TV show on public access TV this year. “I am definitely looking forward to
another great season with the Mountaineers.” Said Doyle. Much like his brother, Sen. Doyle told
me that he “loves baseball and loves seeing it played.”
Follow Jasper Goodman on twitter: @Jasper_Goodman
Check out Jasper’s blog:
www.goodmansports.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment