University of Massachusets Athletics
Like Father, Like Son
June 25, 2003 | Baseball
June 25, 2003
UMass senior catcher Tom Ellerbrook followed in his father's footsteps and had an outstanding baseball career in Amherst. Ray, who graduated in 1970, excelled in both baseball and basketball and is in the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame. Tom was named the baseball team's most valuable player this season for the second time in his UMass career.
Ray and Tom are also one of just two sets of fathers and sons that have served as team captains at UMass. Tom captained the baseball team, while Ray captained the basketball team. The other father-son duo to serve as captains are Tom's teammate, John Seed, and his father, John, Sr., both of whom led the baseball squad.
Former UMass baseball coach Dick Bergquist, who coached Ray and has watched Tom play throughout his career, compares both Ellerbrooks.
"Both were good athletes," said Bergquist. "Ray was more of an all-around athlete. He was an excellent fielding first baseman. He was a fast runner and a good hitter. Tom is an excellent college catcher. He certainly ranks among the better catchers that we've had here."
"I can't conceive of a college baseball player being a better receiver and thrower than Tom," said Ray's basketball coach Jack Leaman, himself a UMass Hall of Famer. "Nobody ran on him. He always had the knock of not being a great hitter, but he got big hits. I always used to measure people in basketball who got the points in the big games, not the lousy games."
Current baseball coach Mike Stone has seen Tom play since he attended one of his summer camps as a youngster. "I remember him," said Stone. "He was fired up to be there every day. He came to our pitching and catching camp and did a really nice job. He loved the game and wanted to be a good player."
Ray Ellerbrook credits former UMass catcher Andy Pelis with helping develop Tom's catching abilities. Pelis, from Northampton, worked with Tom at the baseball camps and Tom wanted to be like Andy.
"He has improved tremendously defensively," continued Stone. "His catching ability, handling pitchers, blocking pitches and throwing people out really improved from his freshman year to his senior year."
Any one who knew his father wouldn't be surprised.
"Growing up, he taught me the basics of the game," said Tom. "But more than that, he taught me how to carry myself on the field and off. I believe he played the game hard and respected both games he played and drilled that into me. You play hard. You listen to the coach and you get the job done. That's the way I try to play."
"Having a father who played college baseball helps," said Bergquist. "They have the baseball knowledge to pass on to their kids. They like the game. They know it and understand how to play it."
"I think his throwing has improved," said Ray. "I played catch with him once recently and he threw the ball with unbelievable velocity. I was just hoping I wasn't going to miss it, because I knew it would hurt if it hit me.
Then, Ellerbrook, the father, told a story about his son when he was four years old. He and his wife went out for dinner and left young Tom with his older brother. When they returned later in the evening, the older brother was in his room asleep, while Tom was on the couch intently watching a Mets/Dodgers game from the west coast.
Ray came to UMass from Hawthorne, N.J. He was recruited by Leaman to play basketball, but Jack actually only saw the senior Ellerbrook play baseball before signing him.
"I never saw him (Ray) as a basketball player in high school," said Leaman. "But I remember how quick he was to first base. With Pete Broaca, my assistant, telling me how good he could shoot, with that quickness, I knew he would be an outstanding basketball player."
UMass beat out Bridgeport College for the senior Ellerbrook's services, mainly because Leaman and Bergquist were willing to share him. Bridgeport wanted him to play baseball only. Ray started for three years at UMass (freshmen were inelligible then) in both basketball and baseball. In basketball, he averaged 16 points over his career on 45% shooting and was named All-Yankee Conference three times. In baseball, he was a .300 hitter, who swiped 17 out of 21 bases in one season and was named All Yankee Conference twice.
"Ray was a great competitor," continued Leaman. "I don't think physically, he was the greatest athlete, but he got the most of what he had. He was a hard worker and it didn't surprise me that Tom was, too. Ray can be very proud of Tom. He's a winner and an outstanding young man."
"If he got anything from me," said Ray, "it's the ethic of being an athlete. You've got to come to play and you've got to go to practice. I'm very proud of Tom."
"It is a natural thing with a family," said Bergquist. "Ray had a great experience coming here and stayed all his life. He has a great job in Northampton. I think it's natural for a father to pass on to his son his thoughts about the school."
"He paved the way for me to come to UMass," said Tom. "It was definitely important that he went there and I followed in his footsteps."
His mother may have had an influence, too. Wendy Young, class of 1970, was a swimmer at UMass, before marrying Ray.
Tom was all set to come to UMass prior to the start of his senior year at Northampton High School. That season he played only a few games before breaking his hand. He was sliding into to second base to break up a double play, when Holyoke High's Mike Athas threw the ball to first. It hit Tom in the hand, curtailing most of the rest of the season for him. Athas is now a teammate of Ellerbrook's after starting his collegiate career at UConn.
"Mike called me that night, because he's a great kid," said Tom. "It was basically my only real athletic injury and I couldn't finish my senior year."
Ray played in the era, where athletes played more than one sport. Tom is playing in the era of specialization and felt concentrating on baseball alone allowed him to excel.
"I love baseball so much I think I would have cheated myself on the baseball field if I would have played something else," said Tom. "I wouldn't have been as devoted and wouldn't have been as good, so I would have held myself back."
"He knows the game," said Ray. "He has been in to baseball his entire life. He has a real mind for the game and understands people real well and that's why he was a good captain."
As a senior, Tom had a lot to do with the improvement of a young pitching staff. Junior Eric Chown went 7-4 with a 4.25 ERA. He struckout 49, while walking just 21 and was taken in the 38th round by the Atlanta Braves in the baseball draft this month. Freshman Matt Torra came on as a starter, going 5-4 with a 4.61 ERA. He also had a great strikeout to walk ratio, fanning 49, while walking 20.
"Tommy made people pitch better," said Stone. "You've got to make each pitcher, pitch his best. He knew what to do. He gave our pitching staff a lot of confidence."
Tom realized that in order to get the most out of each individual pitcher you had treat them differently.
"There are some guys you have to get in their face and pump them up and others you have to calm down," said Tom. "I enjoy dealing with the pitchers and the psychology aspect of the sport."
Stone says that Tom can do a lot of little things to help his pitchers, "He has a good way of receiving the ball to make it sound good. He blocks balls well, so pitchers have confidence to throw a breaking ball in the dirt. Plus, he has a strong arm and can throw would-be basestealers out, when his pitchers give him a chance."
"When I catch the game now it is so slow for me," explained Tom. "I see what's happening that the normal person doesn't see. I understand the game real well, because Coach Stone has taught me a lot."
Tom is so enthusiastic about the game of baseball it rubs off on the whole team. He took his role as team captain very seriously.
"I wanted to make sure I was focused on baseball at all times," said Tom. "To me, if people see me focused, then they have to be focused. I wanted to lead by example and verbally get guys going. I'm always talking on the bench...always getting into people's faces...always waking people up. That's the way I like to play baseball. I'm hoping people could feed off of that."
"The leadership part of it was such a key factor in our success this year," said Stone. "It takes a lot of commitment and sacrifice and just doing things the right way, and not just on the field. That leadership, direction, and commitment he provided keyed our success.
"I saw a lot of games," said Ray. "I used my vacation time to watch Tom and had a ball. Watching him play and knowing how hard he worked at it was the pleasure."
This season the baseball team won the Atlantic 10's Eastern Division, UMass' second regular season title in Tom's four years with the Minutemen. A player who is more interested in team than personal goals, Tom was disappointed UMass never won an A-10 tournament title, because then he could have shared the experience of playing in the NCAA Tournament with his dad.
In Ray's junior year in 1969, UMass went to the College World Series in Omaha. Seeded eighth out of eight, UMass beat number one seed Southern Illinois, 2-0, before losing the next two, including a 4-2 setback to eventual national champion Arizona State, a team with many future major leaguers on it.
Ray is a member of even a more exclusive club, playing in both a national baseball and basketball tournament. In 1970, the basketball team played at Madison Square Garden in the National Invitation Tournament.
Tom would love to continue his baseball playing career, but wasn't drafted and now must wait for a call to sign as a free agent. A player with tremendous defensive skills, he's hoping to get a chance in the minor leagues to develop his hitting. Currently, he is playing in the Tri-County League in Western Mass for a team based in Northampton.
"I can't leave baseball," said Tom. "It means too much to me. Put me on a field any where."
With Tom's knowledge of and passion for the game of baseball, he said he would be interested in getting into coaching when his playing days are through. Over the years, more successful major league managers have been former catchers, but breaking into that field can be almost as difficult as it is to play at the professional level.
"I would love to coach," said Tom. "I know the game and love working with the guys. (As a catcher) You deal with all aspects - pitchers, you hit, and you see the whole field."
As his college coach, Stone believes that the younger Ellerbrook has what it takes to be successful.
"I do think he could make a good coach," said Stone. "We were always on the same wave length. After every inning, we would talk about certain pitches. He was always aware of what was going on on the field. He had that very early...positional play, pitches in certain situations, and how people should act and behave."
In addition to excelling on the playing field, Tom was an outstanding student at UMass, graduating with a 3.4 grade point average in Management.
"When I came to UMass," Tom said, "all I wanted to do was play baseball. Things change. I was niave thinking I could step in and play, but looking back, I wasn't ready. Then as the years went on I focused more on academics. This time without my parents pushing me.
It appears that Tom is leaving UMass with a rewarding experience, just like his father Ray.
