Dom Amore: Babych Brothers still a hit in Hartford after all these years
Wayne Babych, back home in Quebec City with his hand in a cast, got the call on the morning of Jan. 18, 1986.
“I thought my general manager was calling to ask how my hand was,” he said. “Instead he said, ‘I think you’re going to be happy. You’re going to be playing with your brother.’”
The next call was from Emile “The Cat” Francis, the Whalers’ GM. When Babych reminded his new boss he had a broken bone in his hand Francis told him not to worry. The Whalers would cut off his cast, tape it up and he could play that night.
Sure enough, both Dave Babych, acquired from Winnipeg earlier that season, and his older brother Wayne were in the lineup that night when the Whalers played the Nordiques. Wayne, traded from the first-place team to the last-place team in the Adams Division, assisted on a goal by Ron Francis, and both brothers assisted on a goal by Risto Siltanen in a 5-2 Whaler win, and soon things began to click.
“You had a lot of younger guys that were just good guys, good hard-working guys,” Dave Babych said. “A fast team. Even though their wasn’t a real superstar on the team at the time, everyone played well together.”
The Babych Brothers were back in Hartford for the Whalers’ reunion, staged every year by the Yard Goats. Typically, if you remember what the Whalers were all about here, they were part of a group that visited patients at St. Francis Hospital Friday.
“The Whalers, there’s a tremendous resiliency around that team and that name,” said Thomas Burke, St. Francis’ president. “As someone who’s not originally from Connecticut, seeing how it resonates still, so many years later, is amazing to see.”
They grew up in Edmonton, three years apart, and had not been on the same team since they were very young.
“I had always wondered what kind of teammate he would be,” Dave said. “How other players responded to him. But he fit right in, too. I’m glad I got a chance to do that before he finished.”
The logo, as Dave Babych pointed out, is still everywhere. If they throw on a Whalers cap it’s recognized immediately. And when they come back they’re sure to be reminded, as the sight of them reminds us, of that magical spring when the Whalers caught fire over the last 20 games to make the playoffs, then knocked off top-seeded Quebec and took Montreal to Game 7 where Claude (flippin’) Lemieux scored the goal to end it.
And yet the Whalers came home to a hero’s welcome, a parade downtown.
“When they told us they wanted to have a parade, we were looking at each other, ‘Are you kidding?’” Dave said. “But they were out there. It wasn’t fabricated, you couldn’t fabricate something like that. And it was terrific, much appreciated on our side. The response was terrific.”
Wayne Babych had 11 goals and 17 assists in 41 games before injuries forced him to retire in 1987. Dave played six seasons in Hartford, getting 240 points.
“The fans here, it’s a different kind of fan base,” Wayne Babych said. “Everybody knows you. To this day, you have a base of fans that are second to none. It opens your eyes to what kind of fans they had here. I’d never seen that anywhere before, I’ll never for get that, a parade after losing. It was great to be a part of it, that’s for sure.”
Charlie Eshbach: An appreciation
When they were graduating from UConn, Charlie Eshbach, his roommate Bob Klein and their friends were talking about the jobs they’d be starting. Eshbach said he’d be making $2 an hour.
“I said, ‘You can’t take that job,’” Klein remembered. “He said, ‘I want to be in baseball.’ And he took it.”
Eshbach worked in sports information at UConn, doing stats for Andy Baylock’s baseball team. By the age of 22, Eshbach was the GM of the Bristol Red Sox, and he spent the next 45 years in minor league baseball. Eshbach, 70, died this week.
“In 1975, when the Red Sox made it to the World Series, they brought him from Bristol to Fenway Park and he was distributing tickets to the dignitaries,” Klein said. “And he went to Russia twice to introduce baseball.”
Eshbach became Eastern League president at age 29 and helped stabilize the league. In 1992 he went to Portland, Maine, to launch the Sea Dogs’ franchise and turned into a lasting success.
“I was at a team picnic,” Klein said, “and president [George H.W.] Bush and his wife were there, and I remember Barbara Bush’s words about Charlie. She asked where he was, and she said, ‘He is a good man. A good man.’ They loved him. He was devoted.”
Deadline deals to come
With the Red Sox and Yankees playing this weekend, talk of trade deadline deals will be heating up. Same for the Mets. Look for all three to be making major moves before Aug. 2.
In 1998, with the Yankees steamrolling like they are, or at least were, this season, rookie GM Brian Cashman resisted intense pressure to trade for Randy Johnson. Before the first game of the World Series, he told me his best move that year was leaving that record-setting roster alone and, of course, it proved to be a great call. It’s still one of his best decisions, or non-decisions.
But though the records are similar, this Yankee team is not the ‘98 Yankees, and could use some adjustment, a lefty bat, outfield depth and defense, starting and relief pitching. The Red Sox, who will be in a tough wild card race, can use a first baseman, and pitching, pitching, pitching. The Mets need a big bat and are well positioned, with the DH spot available.
Buyers beware: if the playoffs go through Toronto, where vaccination is required, acquiring non-vaccinated players could be complicated.
Hartford Public HOF
Hartford Public’s Athletic Hall of Fame raises money for scholarships for students, and is looking to top the $8,000 it raised last year. The Hall is inducting a long list of alums this year, including the 1994 state championship football team.
There is a golf outing at Goodwin Park Sept 17. Induction is Oct. 9 at the Chowder Pot in Hartford. Visit www.hphsathletichof.com for more information, and how to donate.
Summer Reading
Add this to your list. David Maraniss, author of a number of brilliant sports and nonsports books, including landmark biographies of Vince Lombardi and Roberto Clemente, has a book on Jim Thorpe, “A Path Lit By Lightning” coming out next month. This figures to be a terrific match of author and a subject about which sports fans cannot learn enough.
Fun fact: Thorpe played for the Hartford Senators for a few weeks in 1922 and hit .354, hitting two homers in a game at Springfield, but was released after a confrontation with fans, who had been hurling racist taunts, in New Haven.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
