Homer Bush Jr. pursues pro career with help from dad

Homer Bush Jr., whose father played for the Toronto Blue Jays, showed off his speed at this year’s Tournament 12. Photo Credit: Warren Kosoy

By Warren Kosoy

Canadian Baseball Network

TORONTO — Homer Bush spent three of his eight major league seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, while compiling a career batting average of .285 and displaying solid defensive ability.

Six days after the 2001 season ended, Homer Bush Jr. was born. However, after a slow start to his next year, dad was traded to Florida, and he eventually retired in 2005 at the age of 33.

The 1998 World Series champion as a New York Yankee believes that his career could have been longer if he focused more on certain aspects of his game that he has emphasized to his son. Aspects he believes sabermetrics are dictating in the modern day player, like Homer Bush Jr., to succeed.

Sitting 10 rows back from the third base bag with a phone recording his son’s throws at scout day, Bush touched on these intangibles.

“We’ve been focused on making sure he can elevate the ball with line drive action to get in the gaps and increase his extra base hits,” Bush said. “There is also nothing more important than having the ability to walk. That was kind of the casualty of my career. My on-base percentage struggled.”

The 6-foot-2, 16-year-old outfielder failed to record a hit, but he has used his father’s advice and drew four walks in three starts during the T12 Tournament in Toronto.

The author of “Hitting Low in The Zone” continued this emphasis on walks when mentioning that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also stated that he wasn’t going to be a free swinger like his Hall of Fame father.

Homer Bush Jr. did not record a hit during this year’s T12 but he had four walks. Photo Credit: Warren Kosoy

Despite referring to his son as bigger, faster and stronger than himself, the former second baseman is not pressuring his son to follow his footsteps to the highest level of baseball with his potential.

“He has no pressure. Anything he chooses to do in his life, he can do,” Bush said. “He doesn’t have to go to college if he doesn’t want to if he comes up with a business model or something else he wants to do.”

However, Bush Jr. has one goal firmly in mind.

“My goal is definitely to get drafted. We’ve all had these goals since first and second grade and it’s still obviously the goal right now.”

One of the steps towards this goal has been at this tournament at the Rogers Centre -- a stadium where his father was an every day second baseman, batting at the top of the lineup.

This stadium therefore has a lot of meaning to the speedy outfielder.

“This is the type of place where I’ve dreamt of playing for a long time. Especially coming up and trying to find my dad’s footsteps. Being able to look out here and think that this is where he played every day. It’s really cool to think about and hope that you can be out there one day.”