FSL1 Clearwater Threshers

In Honor of Role Models: Threshers Players Reflect on Fathers' Wisdom

June 16, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release


This Fathers Day, the Clearwater Threshers reflect on life lessons from the men who inspired their young careers and - more importantly - set a positive example, and continue to serve as role models in their lives.

Derek Campbell comes from a talented line of hockey players. His father, Don, played professionally in Europe for several seasons. His grandfather "Blackie" played for the Chicago Black Hawks.

"I played probably every sport growing up," Campbell says. "I think that was the best part about it, he allowed me to choose - of course I chose baseball - but he had a big influence on my development growing up both as a baseball player and as a man."

Outside of his encouragement in athletics, Derek learned from his father's example in how to conduct oneself off the playing field.

"I just think the way he carried himself really played a part in how I go about my business both on and off the field. I think that's the biggest thing I took away from him, is how he'd treat other people, how hard he worked in his job now, which is a financial adviser, as well as how he treats my mother, how he treats others, and all that together really shaped who I am today.

"I don't think it was one thing that he said, I just think it was how he conducted himself all around."

Likewise, Thomas Eshelman has a role model in his father Dave.

"Growing up watching him interact in different situations has helped me a lot," Eshelman says. "He's just given me a lot of knowledge through the years about not only baseball, but about life, and I know he has a lot more for me so I'm looking forward to it."

The younger Eshleman shares that perhaps the biggest lesson he has absorbed from his father is to take everything in stride.

"Don't be too angry in a situation, don't be too sad in a situation, just try to stay even keeled and casual with everything and understand what you're trying to do."

"I think that's what he does, and I think that's what I try to emulate in my game. Not let the highs get to me, and not let the lows get to me, but just stay the same person throughout the whole year."

It's important to remember to stay calm on the mound, but it's a lesson that translates to life in general.

"You're still alive, you're still living. You're still playing the game of life. So take each day with a grain of salt, and move on."

"He just instilled confidence in me," Zach Green says of his father, Jesse. "He just taught me always have confidence in yourself and your work ethic, so that's probably the biggest thing I took from him."

Green, who hails from Carmichael, California, adds that his father is still a huge San Francisco Giants fan, even with his son in the Philadelphia Phillies system. "He still wears San Francisco Giants stuff all around," Green says, "A lot of family friends give him a hard time."

Fellow Giants supporter Mike Imhof instilled a strong work ethic in his son, Matt, and a no-regrets mindset.

"It's like, 'If you're gonna fail at something, you're gonna fail at it because you weren't good enough,'" the younger Imhof shares, "'Not because you didn't do everything you could to succeed.'"

"He was always the one that pushed me to go to the field and practice and get better," Joe DeNato says of his father, Steve.

"He kind of set that goal or that standard of what I had to do to have success, so that once I got to high school, once I had to be more independent, then I knew what I had to do on my own to try to get better."

Chuck Sandberg understands the ups and downs of playing professional sports, having played three years in the Boston Red Sox system after being a ninth round draft pick out of the University of Florida in 1979.

"He was huge in myself and my brother's athletic careers," Cord Sandberg says, "So many things he was able just to talk to us about, but I think the biggest thing was just on our attitude towards everything going on.

"We're pretty big into our faith, my family is, and so applying that to sports as far as not being able to control everything, just being able to control our attitude and effort on the field. And then everything else is just kind of up to Him."

Now a weightlifting teacher at Manatee High School in Bradenton, as well as a baseball coach at Inspiration Academy in Bradenton, Chuck instructed Cord and his brother Chase in Little League and organized AAU travel ball teams for his sons to play on.

"All the work that he put in, especially with the whole AAU thing, because putting the funds together to do tournaments and everything like that, I know that took a lot of work. Going to different places, trying to get advertising and different things to fund all the tournaments.

"Definitely appreciative for all he did," Cord says. "To put a team on the field and do all the tournaments and drive all over the state of Florida playing games - it just shows I guess the devotion and how much he really wanted us to be able to play, and he did a lot for us to be able to do that."

Scott Kingery will forever have a personal coach back home in his father, Tom.

"He'll never stop being a coach to me," Kingery says. "He will be watching every game, listening to every game, and he'll pick out things that he thinks I can work on."

Now a business manager for American Express, Tom Kingery hails from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When Scott and his twin brother, Sam, didn't take to hockey, Tom threw his full support behind his sons' budding baseball careers.

Tom served as a coach for the Kingery brothers through Little League and travel ball. While no longer on the field, he follows Scott's career closely from back home in Arizona.

"Still to this day he'll give me his insight after every game," Scott says. "He does more research than I do I think."

"Every day he's still encouraging me and helping me out, even to this day."

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