The concept is unique, but when baseball is a part of your lineage, as it is with the Bote family, perhaps it is to be expected.
At
Faith Christian (Arvada) this spring, senior infielder
David Bote returns as the only reigning all-state player in Class 3A (the rest were seniors and graduated). This season, impressing the rest of the state might be the easy part. The difficult part might be earning the praise of his coach - who happens to double as his brother, Danny.
Danny Bote, 29, has taken over the reins for a talented Eagles squad that went 21-4 last season and is among the favorites in the classification. But even if he guides Faith Christian to the state title - the Eagles are off to a 2-0 start - it won't mark the first time Bote family members have teamed up for a championship. It'd be the fourth, actually.
The brothers' father is Bob Bote, a former longtime coach at Niwot. During the Cougars' Class 4A title run from 1998-2000, Danny Bote was an infielder on all three teams. While the father-son arrangement is fairly prevalent, the brother tandem is less common than a left-handed shortstop.
"It's a very unique situation," said Danny Bote, 29. "The biggest problem is figuring out what he's going to call me. I think we've settled on ‘Coach.'"
David Bote undoubtedly has the mindset to handle the arrangement, even if things get rough, which seems doubtful. A .578 hitter with six home runs and 34 RBIs last season, the senior is patient, good-natured and even sings in the school choir. And even though the Eagles were a powerhouse under former coach Gino Carbajal (now an assistant at Regis University), the younger Bote has no problems with the change.
"It's been great; I love it," David Bote said. "He's a great guy and a great coach. Some of the guys brought it up a little at first, but now that the season is starting they've seemed to forget about it."
Teammates echo those sentiments, professing an immediate connection with their new skipper.
"I know he's a great Godly man and I know he was an exceptional baseball player in high school and college," Eagles infielder
Alex Buchmann said. "As far as Dave goes, he's an all-state player coming back, and I don't know if they're going to clash heads or what, but he's got an exceptional glove and an even better bat. Plus, he's a great leader."
So, no one has sniveled to the slightest degree?
"They all love it so far," Buchmann said. "You'd think with the shift that there'd be some separation, but it's been amazing how close the team is after such a short time."
While there have been whispers that Carbajal's strict ways and hard-line stance with his players might have hastened his exit, the Eagles have the opposite in Danny Bote. A youth pastor in nearby Thornton, Bote also demands excellence but is more reserved in his methods.
He had been an assistant under his father at Erie and at Manatee High in Florida, so he had served the necessary apprenticeship. Then, late last spring after a family vacation to Arkansas, Bote got the call from Faith Christian requesting an interview.
"It was kind of out of the blue, but they knew I'd be interested," he said. "I'd watched David play all of last year."
Now, the Bote family has a chance to add further pedigree to its baseball bloodlines.
Paul Willis is a regular sports freelancer for The Denver Post and covered high school, college and pro sports for the Rocky Mountain News from 2000-09. You can reach him at gdpdub@aol.com.
