Longtime owner, manager of Harrisonburg Turks looking for someone to take over the team

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - A decorated office with a career to match.

Valley Baseball League Coach of the Year, Rockingham County Baseball League Hall of Fame, and a ton of wins and championships are just some of the titles for the owner of the Harrisonburg Turks, Bob Wease.

Wease has coached the Turks for 31 years. His love for baseball started far before that with games of strikeout with his brother.

“We would have a can full of Coca-Cola caps and beer caps. We had a broom handle, we would play strikeout. That’s when it first started for me. He would always be Hank Aaron and I’d always be Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle was my hero back then,” Wease said.

For decades the Harrisonburg Turks opened the “gateway to the majors” for many players.

“We’re talking about big-time players David Eckstein, Juan Pierre, Mo Vaughn, Steve Finley, Chris Hoiles, Jon Zuber, Mike Hubbard, Jon Rauch, the tallest guy in baseball. It just goes on and on and on,”

Now at 77 and with his wife Teresa by his side, Wease is looking for someone to take over the team. A job that should not be taken lightly.

“Just an honor to be around these guys, to watch them when they’re young. Knowing their desires to want to go on and be somebody, to want to be a professional baseball player, it is just unbelievable how good it is,” Bob explained.

“It’s all about the relationships and the friendships that we have made. Yes, we are so proud of all the guys that further their career in baseball. Whether it is on the field, whether it is coaching or in the sports department,” Teresa added.

The games may go on during the summer but they say the job is year-round.

“He is going to have to work on it part-time, year-round. He is going to have to recruit players he is going to have to have places for the boys to stay. They are going to have to ride on a nice bus. It’s a full-time job but it is well worth it,” Bob said.

With the team being such an important part of his life, Coach Wease says he will stick around until the right person is found.

“I know as soon as I do this that I’m probably going to have second doubts. ‘What am I doing, this is my life.’ I have no desire to travel, to be honest, but it could change once I start doing it. I just pray to God that I am making the right decision,” Bob said.

Bob says he will coach the Turks for the 2022 season to make sure whoever steps up to the plate, is ready.

To learn more about the Harrisonburg Turks, click here.

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