SMSBL Hall of Fame

Dave was born into a military family on September 27th, 1966 in Zweibrucken Germany. His love for the game of baseball began at an early age as he shadowed his father from field to field on a regular basis. His first taste of organized baseball began at the age of six on the Fort Lee Virginia Army Base. His family moved back to Zweibrucken, Germany in 1974. He recounts the difficulty of playing overseas on a smaller army base. Because there were not enough kids, the age groups were unusually broad: 6 to 8-year-olds played t-ball, 9 to 13-year-olds played the next level, and finally 14 to 18-year-olds played together. Going from an 8-year-old playing t-ball to a 9-year-old facing 13-year-old pitching was quite a jump. Dave's family would eventually and permanently land in Sacramento, California. In May of 1977, his father was stationed on the Sacramento Army Depot. Dave continued his love for the game playing in both organized baseball at Parkway Little League in South Sacramento and countless pick-up baseball games throughout the summer months. When in High School, he opted out of playing the sport that was so dear to his heart so that he could work and earn money. He would later say "the decision to work over baseball was probably the single worst decision that I have made in my lifetime." After High School he started playing organized baseball in the local Land Park Sunday leagues in the late 1980's. His first taste in the MSBL league was in 1995 with the Sacramento Cubs. In the early 2000's he played in the open division with the Sacramento A's. From there he played with countless teams and is currently playing for the Royals, Giants and Bulldogs. Dave has won a Arizona MSBL World Series Championship ring with the Giants in 2011 and a Florida MSBL Fall Classic Championship ring with the Royals in 2017. He has coached High School Baseball for Cosumnes Oaks High School from 2014 to 2021. He is married to his wife Denise of 32 years and has two children, son Jacob and daughter Jennifer. His love of baseball was passed down to Jacob who played throughout his childhood, into High School, and best-of-all, in father-son tournaments. Passing down the love of the game to the next generation is something that Dave values as player and father because in the words of Pat Gillick, "Baseball is about talent, hard work, and strategy. But at the deepest level, it's about love, integrity, and respect".