Legendary WSU baseball coach Charles ‘Bobo’ Brayton impacted many
I’ve only met Charles “Bobo” Brayton, a handful of times, but it feels like I’ve known him my whole life.
Korbin McDonald
The legendary Washington State baseball coach passed away over the weekend at the age of 89.
Brayton spent 33 seasons at WSU (1962-94), and in his time he won 1,162 games — which was nearly 70 percent of his games. His teams captured 21 conference titles, made 10 NCAA postseason appearances and had two trips to the College World Series (1965 and 1976).
As soon as I heard the news, I reached out to my dad. Baseball was a huge part of my life growing up and my dad was the reason for this. Up until high school, my father was the coach of all the baseball teams I played on — and every year he would tell his “famous” Brayton story.
My dad was a pretty good ball player back in his glory days. He played at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School and earned a spot to play summer ball on Brayton’s team. The two built a strong relationship that summer and when my dad played in the High School Metro District All-Star Game the next year, Brayton was there to watch him play.
As the story goes, my dad had a pretty good game. He had a couple of hits, including a screamer up the middle for a single. After the game, he talked with Brayton about his performance.
Thinking he had impressed Brayton, my dad was caught off guard when the WSU coach asked him why he didn’t run hard to first base. My dad, taken aback, asked what he meant. Brayton went on to give him a lesson he would never forget. He said if the center fielder took time to get to the ball, bobbled the ball or the ball took a bad hop, he might have been able to take second base.
A simple coaching lesson turned into a valuable life lesson for my dad — go hard, give it your all and take advantage of every opportunity given to you. My dad took this lesson to heart and gave it to every player he coached since.
Years later, at a WSU baseball game, my dad took me to meet Brayton. After a firm handshake, Brayton looked at my dad and said “But Mac, you still haven’t told me why you didn’t run hard to first base?”
He remembered.
And this is how I will remember Bobo. He had an impact on me without even knowing it. He had an impact on thousands of players he never even coached. It’s just who he was.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]