It’s been an interesting stretch in the world of Major League Baseball, and no one may be better positioned to comment on the October twists and turns than Gorm Heimueller.
The three-year pitching coach of the Nanaimo NightOwls, who has spent an astounding 48 years in the game, has crossed paths with nearly everyone in baseball — dating back to attending his first MLB training camp, when Billy Martin was the manager.
Topics of the day for “Stories with Gorm” — the A’s leaving Oakland, the passing of Pete Rose, and Gorm’s internal pride at watching so many players shining on baseball’s best stage, the MLB playoffs.
First, of course, the Oakland A’s leaving the Bay Area after more than 50 years of residency, and so much success. Legendary players, teams, an owner with a donkey — and the only team Gorm played for in his two years of big-league time, when he was teammates with baseball icons like Rickey Henderson, Carney Lansford, Davey Lopes and Joe Morgan.
The A’s will be in Sacramento for a few years, then appear headed to Las Vegas and a new stadium on the south end of The Strip where the Tropicana Resort (imploded days ago) once stood.
“It’s definitely sad to see it end in Oakland, it has a history for me back to my senior year in high school when they started their run of three championships,” Gorm said, from his home in Mesquite, Nevada.
“I was a big Dodgers fan growing up, a huge rivalry with the A’s, and that whole Charlie Finley era, and all the antics, trying to get Vida Blue to change his name to True Blue, the donkey, all of that — he was a character.
“I was fortunate to get the opportunity to sign with Oakland, and I look back at it and for me, the timing was unbelievable. I never felt comfortable enough to go get my own place and I stayed at the Oakland Hyatt Hotel right across the street. There was my career game, played in Oakland, when I struck out Rod Carew to start the game and then got Reggie Jackson on strikeouts twice in that game.”
To think that only Boston’s fabled Fenway Park and Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City remain of the fields Gorm pitched at, is a sign of time marching on — new parks host baseball now in Baltimore, where he made his MLB debut, and other American League (no interleague game at that time, folks) stops he made in places like Minnesota, Toronto, Detroit, and even a new Yankee Stadium.
Gorm threw his final MLB pitch at Fenway — quite a tale on its own, a grand slam given up to Hall of Fame outfielder Jim Rice after an error by Morgan helped load the bases.
“I was 27 years old when I got to the big leagues and in Kangaroo Court in the locker room there I was fined by the team for taking too long to get to the majors,” Gorm said, laughing.
“For me, it was a dream come true and I was blessed and lucky to realize my dream, and then to get into coaching like I have — I never thought of it.”
Then, there’s Charlie Hustle. The recent passing of Pete Rose took the baseball world by surprise.
“I never met Pete but I got to know his son (Pete Jr.) in the Phillies organization,” said Gorm, of the younger Rose who played in just 11 MLB games and collected two hits for the Cincinnati Reds — 4,254 fewer than his father did in setting the all-time MLB record.
“I saw Pete play in person many times at Dodger Stadium, he came up in 1963, and the first thing that comes to mind with Pete Rose was him running hard, sprinting, to first base on a walk. The head first slide — we all did that because of him. He played it hard, with such passion,” said Gorm, clearly showing admiration for players who give that all-out effort.
Pete Rose Jr. was with Gorm in Double-A with the Reading Phillies in 2001 — the manager was Gary Varsho, and his son Daulton Varsho was the team’s batboy. Of course, the younger Varsho is now a Blue Jays star outfielder.
Heimueller spent time coaching or coordinating in the Twins, Dodgers, Phillies and Padres organizations, earning World Series rings with the Twins and Phillies. He spent the most years with the Phillies.
“My time with Philadelphia, the closest thing to Pete Rose was Chase Utley, he also played the game hard. Pete wasn’t the most talented player, and they made a big deal about him being the first singles hitter to make $100,000. I never played against Pete, he was in the National League when I was in the American League with Oakland.
“Pete Jr. was in AA, and that was my first or second year coordinating back then, got to know him a little bit and obviously you knew who he was. He got a bit of time in the majors (11 games in 1997). I know Pete (Sr.) would sign every autograph ever asked of him and one time I got to sit with Larry Bowa and Pete Vukovich and most of what they talked about, I was in earshot, was about horse racing,” he laughed.
Now, it’s about watching the players who made it to The Show and smile when he hears a name or sees a player he may have spent even a moment or two working with during their ascension through the minors. Gorm’s last pro job before joining the NightOwls was as co-minor league pitching coordinator with the Padres organization.
