Baseball: From ballparks to the Bubble

According to a common perception, Princeton students were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Four members of the baseball team might know a somewhat similar feeling — they were born with baseball mitts on their hands.

Junior Matt Bowman, the Tigers’ shortstop and No. 1 starting pitcher; sophomore catcher and infielder Bobby Geren; his younger brother Brett, a freshman catcher; and freshman Tyler Servais, a catcher and first baseman, all have relatives who make their living in Major League Baseball, whether as a player, a coach or an executive. For all four players, it seems that a love of America’s pastime is hereditary.

“There’s been a lot of baseball in my life,” Bobby Geren said. He and his brother grew up going to the park with their dad, Bob Geren, who played for the Yankees and Padres before becoming a coach. He worked in the minors for the Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics before becoming the A’s manager in 2007, a position he held for four and a half years. He is now the bench coach for the New York Mets.

Bob Geren was quite busy throughout his sons’ childhoods, but he found lots of time to work with Bobby and Brett.

“Almost every day, we’d go to the park, and he’d throw us batting practice,” Brett said. “We’d work on ground balls and catching drills.”

For these fortunate children, “going to the park” did not mean heading out to the nearest sandlot or batting cage. For Servais and the Gerens, it meant practicing alongside professional athletes. Aside from the professional advice they got from their dad, they received pointers from major league coaches and took batting practice with big leaguers.

Through his father’s job, Servais has seen baseball from every angle. His father, Scott Servais, played for the Astros, Cubs, Giants and Rockies from 1991-2001. He also managed the Texas Rangers’ farm system before being named assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last November. Both jobs have given him lots of responsibility, including everything from getting cell phones for all the coaches to deciding who gets called up to the majors.

“He could be a player manager, or he could be a general manager,” Servais said. “I think my dad’s favorite part of it has always been on the field, working with the players.”

Being on the field was a highlight of Servais’ childhood as well. While living in Colorado, his family would venture to Chicago and stay in a house his dad kept there while playing with the Cubs. During spring training, Servais would fly to Arizona on weekends to visit his father and to get ready for his season with major leaguers who were doing the same.

“On Saturday and Sunday I would work out with some of the minor league players,” Servais said. “I’d be right there in the clubhouse.”

Aside from the obvious benefits of being around people with so much knowledge — and aside from the sheer coolness of casually interacting with major league baseball teams — their fathers’ positions gave these future Tigers the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with some of the best-qualified mentors in the sport. Brett Geren noted that he has become close with Kurt Suzuki, Oakland’s starting catcher. Suzuki was able to help Geren develop as a backstop and has also been there to give him encouragement when things weren’t going Brett’s way on the diamond.

Bowman did not quite have the same experience in terms of enjoying professional clubhouses, but he has also had a family involvement in baseball from a rather young age. In 2000, his uncle Bob Bowman became the president and CEO of MLB Advanced Media, which manages baseball’s Internet properties and other interactive features.

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Meanwhile, Servais and the Gerens don’t just play the same game as their fathers did, they also play the same position. So when it came to America’s favorite pastime, did they really have a choice? Absolutely, they said.

“Baseball’s always been my own decision to make,” Brett said. “I’ve always had my own love for the game.”

His sentiments were echoed-emphatically by his brother and by Servais, who said his father preferred football in high school and supported Tyler’s football career as well. All three said that they never felt any pressure to play baseball or to be a catcher, but they wanted to do both for as long as possible.

Servais was drafted out of high school, as were both Gerens, but each eschewed professional baseball in order to attend college. They all say that they would love to pursue a professional career after leaving the proverbial Orange Bubble.

“It’s living the dream,” Bobby said of a professional career. “You’re getting paid to play the sport you love.”

With a father like his, he ought to know.