Baseball is a game of romance. To really understand and appreciate it, you have to love it.
But most still won’t love it as much as San Luis Obispo native and journeyman baseball coach, Dean Treanor, who’s been all over the globe and in every baseball league imaginable, chasing after his first true love.
“I guess it is an addiction," Treanor smiled and admitted.
“He was married to the game of baseball," his son, Bryan Treanor, added. "Nothing was going to get in between that.”
Baseball and Dean have been married for a long time. Once a promising player at Cal Poly, Treanor turned pro after being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1971 before eventually tearing his rotator cuff, having to accept that his playing career was over.
After seeing an ad in the newspaper, his next 13 years were served in the San Luis Obispo Police Department as a police officer. It turns out, that would run in the family with both his kids — Bryan and Kelly — taking an interest in law enforcement.
Bryan is now a police sergeant in the area while Kelly works for the secret service in the Los Angeles field office.
“He got into the profession to help people; to help this community be better and stronger and it's just something that I saw," Bryan said. "He has a passion for helping people.”
But he would get to help people in other ways.
In 1988, he became the manager of the Fresno Suns — launching him into a decorated 35-year coaching career.
"It was the last thing I thought would happen,” Treanor said.
Here's where he has been since:
- (1988) Fresno Suns
- (1989) Miami Miracle
- (1990) GCL Indians
- (1991) Reno Silver Sox
- (1992-1995) San Diego Padres organization
- (1996-1998) Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations
- (1992-1993) Waterloo Diamonds
- (1994) Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- (1995) Memphis Chicks
- (1996) Delmarva Shorebirds
- (1997) Harrisburg Senators
- (1998) Ottawa Lynx
- (1999) San Antonio Missions
- (2000) Albuquerque Dukes
- (2001) Las Vegas 51s
- (2002) Calgary Cannons
- (2003-2008) Albuquerque Isotopes
- (2009) Altoona Curve
- (2010-2016) Indianapolis Indians
- (2017-2019) Miami Marlins bullpen coach
It's an impressive list and at every stop, he seemed to find success. Even in the mid-2000s, Treanor coached winter ball in the Dominican Republic, briefly managing the Leones del Escogido to then taking the Toros del Este to the 2011 Caribbean World Series.
“There's so many memories but I think the thing that stands out more than anything is my son, my daughter, my mom were part of this journey," Treanor said. "I think that probably means more to me than anything.”
With every stop along the way — though he was ways away from his family — they'd manage to see him during the summertime which ended up being some of the best memories from Bryan's childhood.
But as Bryan grew up, playing baseball at Cuesta College and Centenary College of Louisiana, he, too, started to garner recognition as a pitcher.
Eventually, Treanor entered the Miami Marlins minor league system while Dean was coaching in it. Everpresent was the dream of one day reuniting with his dad in the bullpen.
“My dad had never coached me in really anything growing up, especially baseball, because he was gone from such an early age," Bryan said. "So, that was always a dream of mine and really something that we kind of even talked about of maybe him handing me the ball one day. “
It didn't happen, and, eventually, Dean was called up for the World Series when the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in 2003.
But after all the years and time away chasing the love of baseball, he eventually was rewarded for his faithfulness to the sport — combining his love of coaching and love of family into one.
Treanor returned home when the pandemic began and now coaches the SLO Blues with Bryan helping in the bullpen.
“You can't even put a price on it," Treanor said. "When you go through a career, baseball career or sports career or whatever, you lose a lot of time with the family and so that was always tough. But now that I'm home, my daughter's in L.A., my son's here, and I got four grandsons that play. It's very rewarding in the sense that I'm home.”
“To have him in the stands, something that we didn't have a whole lot of, it's truly amazing," Bryan added. "It's that kind of comfort that dad's home and grandpa's home and can really be there for our kids now.”
In March, Dean Treanor coached Team China in the World Baseball Classic where, in the final game of pool play in a packed Tokyo Dome, the team played the eventual champions: Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan. It was an unforgettable highlight and experience for the longtime coach.
“Ohtani, of course, was heading to the game now on the top step of the dugout," Treanor said. "I'm just looking out, it's the first inning, and I kind of look over to the on-deck circle and he's there and he's staring at me. He bowed to me out of respect and I just go, 'Wow.' It's pretty cool.“
With the career that Treanor has had, he’s definitely deserving of that kind of respect and recognition.
