A happy return

Dave Schneck, playing with his son on the ICC Pirates in the Tri-County League, hits a home run in his very first at-bat.


By Ted Meixell
Of The Morning Call

 

Dave Schneck took big rips at the first two pitches from Limeport Bulls' reliever Marc Wojciechowski. Missed them badly.

Ball one. Ball two.

The next pitch was a fastball, down and in. Schneck, who will turn 50 June 18, went down and got it. He drove it on a low line far over the fence in right-center for a solo home run.

Pandemonium broke out among Schneck's ICC Pirates teammates. When he crossed the plate at Bethlehem Township's Municipal Park, they engulfed him.

One, Schneck's 20-year-old son, Cory, the Pirates' first baseman, waited patiently at the end of the line. Tears in his eyes, Dave Schneck, a 1967 Whitehall High grad who played parts of the 1972, 1973 and 1974 seasons with the New York Mets, hugged his son fiercely and whispered, "I love you."

"Oh, man!" Cory Schneck yelled. "That was awesome, Dad!"

"You won't believe this," the elder Schneck said a few days later. "That was my first at-bat of the season. My first at-bat, in a game situation, in 22 years."

When he saw his father's shot leave the park, Cory Schneck said: "At first, I don't think I said anything. I couldn't get the big smile off my face. I was just so proud. I wish I could have been around to see him play in the big leagues.

"As a kid, I was jealous of (older brother Brandon, 23); he had a chance to see Dad play, even though I know now he was too young to really understand. I wish I had the chance to go back in time, though. This was really exciting. The whole team cheering for Dad made me feel so good.

"At the plate, he gave me a bear hug. No tears, no. I was just really happy."

Schneck said he wasn't surprised that in his first at-bat in 22 years, at almost 50, he hit a home run.

"When I played, I hit lots of home runs," Schneck said. "I made the big leagues because I hit home runs, no other reason.

"But I really didn't envision hitting one right away. My one goal was just to make solid contact. With all those kids, including my son, watching, I said I wasn't going to make a fool of myself.

"When I got back to home plate, I just wanted to hug Cory, tell him I love him.

"I could go the rest of the year without getting a hit, and it wouldn't matter. That one swing made my year."

Schneck totaled eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 143 games as a Met, but he spent his last three pro seasons in Triple-A. He remembered his last at-bat vividly -- even if it was 22 years ago: a line drive single to right field at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

"My last pro year was 1977," he said. "I was at Triple-A Wichita, in the Cubs' chain. Denver was the Expos' Triple-A team. I went 3- for-5 my last game. The hit in my last at-bat was off a lefty named Terry Enyard.

"When the game was over, I went back to my locker stall and cried my eyes out for a half hour. Not one guy left; every guy on the team waited to shake hands and say goodbye. It was my choice to retire. I was 27. I'd been in the majors, but had been kicking around in the minors the last three seasons. I knew that was it."

By then, Schneck and his wife, the former Sue Sell, a high school classmate, had adopted their first son, Brandon. So Dave went to work, first with Prudential, then, since 1980, in the basement waterproofing business.

Today, Brandon and a second adopted son, Richie, 25, pretty much handle that business --"The Waterproofer." Dave spends most of his time operating "The Hitter's Edge," a baseball batting cage business he opened on MacArthur Road in 1991 -- at the behest of his two natural sons, Cory and Brock.

Cory, a 1997 Northampton grad, will be a junior at Allentown College. He's a first baseman/designated hitter for the Centaurs. Brock, also a DH, will be a senior at Northampton.

"I built The Hitter's Edge for the kids," Dave said. "At the time, Cory was in seventh grade, Brock in fourth. I told them if I built it, they had to learn to switch hit. They were all pumped up when I built the place, and the first thing I taught both of them was to switch hit."

Unlike most 27-year-olds who left pro ball in the late 1970s, Dave Schneck never played in semipro or adult amateur leagues. No Blue Mountain. No Tri-County League.

Until this year.

"I began thinking last September about coming back to play with my son one summer as teammates," Dave said. "I started working out, losing weight. I wanted to lose 50 pounds, but I'm only about halfway."

Said Cory: "When Dad came and asked me what I thought about it, the first thing I said was, `Be careful.' But I was all for it. I said, `Give it a shot, I'd love to play a year with you.' I thought it'd be neat, and so far it has been."

"Cory's line to me was, `Who's gonna run for you when you do hit the ball, Dad?' I said, `Where I hit the ball, you don't have to run.'-"

In his first at-bat, Dave Schneck made good on that boast. But a few days later, pinch hitting against the Allentown Senators, he had to eat his words. He blistered a shot to second, which was knocked down. He legged it out -- but came up lame on his last step.

Still, after only two at-bats, Cory, who usually bats at least three times every game, already owes his dad five bucks.

"About a month and a half ago," Dave said, "we decided to put some money on the line. I told Cory, "I'll give you $10 for every homer you hit; you give me $5 every time I hit one. I hope I owe you a lot of money at the end of the year.'-"

After a brief pause, those competitive instincts took over.

"But that's not gonna happen."



ted.meixell@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- June 7, 1999

Copyright © 1999, The Morning Call