Family Matters

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Year in and year out, the District 62 All-Star tournament brings

out the best in our local little leagues.

The 2000 season was no different, but featured among this grouping was

the lineage of some of the great names in the game of baseball.

Over at Huntington Valley Little League, Matt McGwire, the son of

Mark, the St. Louis Cardinal slugger who, in the 1998 season, etched is

name in the Major League record books as the league’s all-time single

season home run hitter, played on his league’s All-Star team.

At Robinwood Little League there were the Dedeaux Brothers, Anthony

and Adam, who played on that league’s Senior and Junior All-Star teams,

respectively.

The brothers are the grandsons of college baseball’s greatest coach,

Rod Dedeaux.

Dedeaux spent 44 years at USC and coached the Trojans to a record 11

NCAA titles, which included five in row from 1970-74, and his Trojan

teams won 28 conference titles and appeared in 27 NCAA tournaments. His

was a two-time US Olympic baseball coach (1964-1984) and his honors are

too numerous to mention, but can be summed up by his being named Favorite

Coach for All-Time College World Series Team in June, 1999.

He has also served as a technical advisor in the entertainment field,

including the motion pictures, “The Field of Dreams,” and “A League of

Their Own.”

Rod Dedeaux’s talent gene was passed to his son Terry, who played at

USC and was on two of the Trojan teams that won those five national

titles between the 1970-74 season.

Anthony and Adam Dedeaux also have inherited those genes.

Anthony Dedeaux, 15, is a sophomore-to-be at Mater Dei, where he plays

both baseball and soccer. He has played several positions for James

Valicenti’s Robinwood Senior All-Star team, and was a key contributor to

Robinwood’s winning the District 62 title last week.

Anthony Dedeaux, who captained the North Huntington Beach Premier

Under-16 soccer team, has made a baseball All-Star team for four

consecutive years.

“Anthony’s one of those kids who has a winning attitude. It runs deep

in his family. He’s good under pressure, a real rock. More importantly,

he’s a good kid who any coach would love to have on his team. He

certainly was part of the nucleus of our team.”

Adam Dedeaux, 14, also is an all-around athlete. An eighth-grader this

fall at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church in Huntington Beach, Adam Dedeaux

quarterbacked the St. Bonaventure football team to the 1999 Parochial

Athletic League championship. He came back in the winter to be part of

the St. Bonaventure basketball team that also came away with a PAL title.

Dave Brock, Manager of Robinwood’s Junior All-Star team that also won

a district crown, calls Adam Dedeaux, a pitcher, “The Giant Killer.”

“I ay that because he pitched two great games against Ocean View, the

team everyone considered the team to beat in the tournament,” Brock

explained. “They (Ocean View) had big, intimidating kids who could smash

the ball. But Adam threw everything at them and came out with two big

victories, allowing just six hits in two games.

“He’s also a real competitor. He has about six or seven different

pitches, which is rare for his age. He seems to have quite a future in

baseball, if he wants that.”

Both Anthony and Adam Dedeaux says they want to take baseball as far

as it will take them. And yes, their grandfather has influenced their

careers.

“We know what he says is right, and he gives up pointers as we go on

playing,” Adam Dedeaux said. “He has some great wisdom. One of my

favorite things he has told me is that when I’m batting, I need to see

the ball the entire way in order to hit it.”

Rod Dedeaux, 86, has been on hand for several of his grandsons’ games,

although he was out of town last weekend and missed a few in Sectional

Tournament action. He was in Cooperstown for Sparky Anderson’s induction

into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Anderson served as Dedeaux’s first ball boy at USC.

Yet before he departed for Cooperstown, Rod Dedeaux, a gracious man,

had this to say about his talented grandsons:

“First and foremost, they both love the game of baseball, as well as

their other sports. I am personally impressed with the quality of

coaching and the interest of the parents.

“Anthony has the quickness and agility to become a pretty good

infielder, and Adam has a big advantage of developing into a more than

one dimensional player. Left-handed pitchers are hard to come by. At USC,

I always found a spot on our roster for ANY left-handed pitcher. In

addition, he shows some agility as a first baseman and will develop as a

power hitter.

“However, my one tip to them would be to always listen to your

coaches.”

Yes, it all comes down to family for the Dedeaux’s. A record weekend

for Terry and Christine Dedeaux featured 19 games between children

Anthony and Adam, 17-year-old daughter, Galyn, a soccer player and senior

at Mater Dei, and 10-year-old Patrick, who also plays baseball and

soccer.

While Anthony and Adam Dedeaux cherish the wisdom of their famous

grandfather, they both recognize the time and effort given by their

parents.

“They are our biggest supporters,” Adam Dedeaux added. “We just want

to thank them for all they’ve done, for all their sacrifices, running all

of us from game to game, from field to field. We don’t know how they do

it, but we’re grateful.”