The Deeble family is synonymous with baseball in Melbourne’s west and across the world. Tara Murray chats with Jon Deeble, who has just returned to Australia after winning his sixth Major Baseball League World Series championship.
Jon Deeble is living the dream as he spends his year chasing the baseball seasons.
Deeble, who grew up in Melbourne’s west, was raised around baseball and has continued his father’s legacy.
He is currently the coach of the Melbourne Aces in the Australian Baseball League, while also a director with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I’m sort of on the road for half the year around the world,” he said. “I’m in Melbourne for a couple of months, coaching the Melbourne Aces.
“I’ve been doing it for eight years. I come home and do the Melbourne Aces in the off season, and then get back on the road.”
Deeble said it can get busy going from one to the other but it’s something he loves.
It’s been a long journey for Deeble since his first visit to America in 1993.
Coaching in Melbourne at the time, Deeble initially said no to moving to the states when he was first asked.
“I was playing with the Melbourne Monarchs down at Altona, then their licence was taken away,” he said.
“I played for the Waverley Reds for a couple of years, then the Monarchs were coming back into existence and they were owned by the Western Bulldogs and they were going to be affiliated with the Florida Marlins.
“They asked me to coach the Melbourne Monarchs. From there, John Boles and Rick Freeman, who were both with the Marlins, offered me a job in the states.
“The first year I didn’t accept it, as I was working with the Bulldogs, but ended up going over there the next year.
“I got to LA and thought, ‘what am I doing as an Australian guy teaching Americans how to play baseball?’
“So that is why it started.”
Deeble was with the Marlins when he won the world championship in 1997 before he moved to the Boston Red Sox when the Marlins owner bought the Sox.
He was there for 16 years and won three more championship rings, before he was head hunted by the Dodgers.
“I coached Major League in 2005. I’ve spent a lot of time coaching in the minor leagues and at the same time scouting Asia.
“I’ve sort of had multiple jobs.”
The Dodgers recently won the World Series Championships to give Deeble his sixth championship ring and second at the Dodgers.
Deeble said every ring was different.
“At the start it was really exciting and it’s still really exciting, because you want to win,” he said. “My part of it is the Asian department, director of the Asia Pacific.
“We had Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch the second game of the World Series and he dominated, he’s one of the guys that I’ve signed.
“Shohei Ohtani is another. We’ve been very active in the Asian region, not just with major league guys, but minor league guys as well.
“That part of it is really interesting and exciting.”
Deeble said he could have never imagined where his career would take him when he first started out.
He said how it has ended up as a dream come true.
“It’s all I’ve known for work for the past 33 years,” he said.
“Tommy Lasorda, who is a legend of the Los Angeles Dodgers, passed away a couple of years ago. He is the original Mr Dodger and he signed a photo of himself and gave it to me in 1978 and it said ‘Jon, a future Dodger’.
“I’ve still got the photo which is really unreal that I would end up working there as an Australian guy.
“It’s been a great ride and I’ve met a lot of people and I have a lot of friends in the states. It’s been a hell of a ride, the Dodgers have been an unbelievable organisation.”
It’s no surprise that Deeble entered into baseball when he was young.
His father Don Deeble played for Australia and was among the first inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame.
Star Weekly is a sponsor of the Sunshine and Western Region Sports Club’s Don Deeble award which recognises him.
Jon Deeble is also a member of the hall of fame, while his brother Michael Deeble also played for Australia.
“I’m sure he would be pretty proud,” Jon said of his father. “He was also one that was very quiet, never one to pat you on the back.
“He was very quiet or never gave any advice, he just stayed out of it to be honest.”
Deeble said he is happy with where his career is and doesn’t want to climb any higher up the ladder in the states.
Among his achievements is coaching the Australian Olympic baseball team for 19 years.
For now, Deeble is focused on the Aces’ season.
It hasn’t been the ideal start with rain affecting several of their games, but the Aces were still sitting in second spot heading into the weekend’s matches which were after deadline.
“Expectations were to win everything, win the final and that has not changed,” he said.
“The first week we lost our Australian players, they were away on the Australian team that is six players.
“That was a little tough, now home for two weeks it will start to tell the tale, we need to get better.”
