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The Incredible Stories of Gorm Heimueller

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There may only be one man alive who, in the span of four minutes, can weave a story that includes the best basketball player of all time, a sure-fire hall-of-fame Major League manager, the legendary captain of the Yankees, two all-star catchers, and an accused killer.

Yes, a tale capped with an alleged murderer.
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Gorm Heimueller, now the pitching coach of the Nanaimo NightOwls of the West Coast League, is that guy. (Writer’s recommendation — buy Gorm dinner any chance you have, and sit back and listen to the stories. Worth every penny from a guy whose first spring training managers were Frank Robinson and Billy Martin.)
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This story — well, it’s worth the read for sure.
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Heimueller, a former MLB pitcher with nearly 50 years in the game (should it be mentioned that his college shortstop at Cal Poly was Ozzie Smith?), has World Series rings from developing pitchers for the Twins and Phillies, but his true wealth is the stories he can tell about the people he’s met. (His true wealth aside from his lovely wife LeeAnn, of course. You can’t forget LeeAnn, the Finnish Canadian.)

Gorm (it should be mentioned he once struck out Reggie Jackson, twice, and Rod Carew in a game in the Bigs) heard the news of the recent arrest of ex-Twins lefty Dan Serafini (more on that later) and was left recalling his fall in the fairly-new Arizona Fall League in 1994, sent by the Twins to help the Chandler Diamondbacks, playing games at the archaic former Brewers spring stadium.

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Ah, yes, 1994 — no October MLB playoffs due to the August walkout and players strike that surely kept the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays from their collision course in an all-Canadian World Series. (We all know the Expos would have needed six games to halt the Blue Jays’ run of World Series titles at two, right? Right.)

“We were the only baseball around, there was a lot of attention on us and that was fun,” said Gorm.

Gorm’s team’s catchers were Charles Johnson and Jason Kendall, who would go on to all-star status at the MLB level. A player in the league that fall was none other than Michael Jordan, who for still mysterious reasons abruptly left the Chicago Bulls in the midst of their dynasty to strike out a lot with the Birmingham Barons, AA affiliate of the White Sox. Ex-Expo Terry Francona, surely headed to the Hall of Fame as a manager, had Jordan on his teams both in Arizona and Birmingham — where Jordan famously bought a tricked-out bus for the team’s travel comfort.

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Gorm’s fall league shortstop? Gangly, barely 20 years old, defensively inconsistent at the time but taken sixth overall in 1992 by the Yankees — Derek Jeter.

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“Jeter and Serafini attended my son’s fifth birthday party that fall. I saw Jeter a few years later and, I hated doing this, but I wanted to get something signed so I went up to him — he said ‘Hey, Gorm! How are you’,” said Heimueller. “I was shocked he remembered me. And he was glad to sign some things for me.”

Actually a Jeter connection is why Heimueller is coaching for the NightOwls in the first place. His good friend in the game, legendary scout Marti Wolever, who was scouting supervisor for the Yankees when Jeter was drafted, worked with Gorm in the Phillies organization and they are close friends to this day.

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The classy Wolever, a member of the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame and a former minor league outfielder, was a top scout with the Detroit Tigers in 2016 when Jim Swanson, now GM of the NightOwls, was added as an Associate Scout by the Tigers. Wolever connected Swanson and Heimueller for the pitching coach opening in Nanaimo, putting NightOwls history in motion.

This whole story germinated from news that Serafini, who pitched for four MLB teams over an 11-year span, was arrested for murder and attempted murder tied to an attack in 2021 in the Lake Tahoe area.
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“I remember him well — he gave me a gift at the end of that fall season to thank me for putting up with him being such a pain in the ass,” said Gorm, laughing.
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“I liked him, and he went on to pitch for us with the Twins. But I guess with all those names it just shows you never know what’s going to become of people, right?” he added.

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Summer Collegiate

First 2025 NightOwls announced by new Head Coach

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Petrey’s numbers make you stop and re-read them — a combined 40 home runs in two seasons for NAIA powerhouse Cumberlands in Kentucky, with 135 runs driven in and a 1.160 OPS. He had a pair of three-homer games in the spring of 2024, finishing with 25 total after a freshman campaign with 15 bombs.

 

Lee, who will start for Pomona-Pitzer this spring, hit .355 in the New York Collegiate league last summer, with nine extra base hits and just 14 strikeouts in 28 games, and was named to the all-star team.

 

Watson is a transfer from Arizona Western who was previously at Western Kentucky. At Arizona Western, the lefty hitter batted .319 with 14 doubles and 12 stolen bases as his team went 37-17, adding to Watson’s winning pedigree from his youth and high school levels, where he was on a number of title-winning teams.

 

Morse is a two-way player but is focusing more on being on the mound, where he started two games for Bellarmine in the spring of 2023. Morse can also hit for power from the right side as a corner infielder.

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Victoria HarbourCats – HarbourCats Ink First Players for 2025

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Four returnees (above L to R: Wyatt MacDonald Jake Finkelstein, Jacob Thompson Kyle Hepburn) and two Fresno State infielders first to become 2025 HarbourCats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2024

VICTORIA, BC — With the 2025 West Coast League (WCL) schedule close to being announced, Victoria HarbourCats Head Coach Todd Haney has been busy behind the scenes, assembling a 2025 roster that will look to bring home it’s first ever WCL championship.

Looking to build on the playoff success of 2024 and previous seasons, four familiar faces will make their return to the HarbourCats, including pitchers Jake Finkelstein (Georgia Gwinnett), Jacob Thompson (Minot State) and Wyatt MacDonald (Lower Columbia) — the last two are Victoria natives — and catcher Kyle Hepburn (Southern Illinois), who hails from the Lower Mainland.

Also joining the 2025 roster are first baseman Cayden Munster and middle infielder Jett Ruby, both at Fresno State, continuing a run of solid players from that school that last year brought us WCL All Star Sky Collins and Cam Schneider, in 2023, Team MVP Tyler Davis and Marco Pirruccello and in 2022, WCL All Star Grady Morgan.

Finkelstein was with the HarbourCats in 2022 and 2023 and brings veteran leadership to the pitching corps. In his two years to date, Finkelstein has appeared in 26 games, starting two, and earning a 4-3 record with a 3.16 ERA over 48.1 innings of work. He struck out 50 batters, while walking 18.

Thompson was solid for the HarbourCats out of the bullpen in 2024, appearing in 12 games (20.2 innings pitched) and amassing a 4-1 record and an ERA of 3.48. He struck out 13 batters and walked only four holding opponents to a .211 batting average.

MacDonald was with the HarbourCats late in 2023 as a call up from the Victoria Eagles and saw limited action on the mound appearing in just one game. He is just beginning his freshman season at Lower Columbia under in part the tutelage of Assistant Coach Mike Callia, a former HarbourCat.

Hepburn was an early season call-up for the HarbourCats in 2022, appearing in just five games and then returned for the 2023 season where he appeared in 12 games, hitting .286 with one home run and 11 RBI. He is transferring to Southern Illinois from Johnson Community College where in his freshman year in 2023 he batted .308 (28-for-91) with nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 20 runs scored and 26 RBI.

Munster (6-3/235) and Ruby (6-0/185) will look to provide some pop at the plate from the left side and see key playing time in the infield. Munster was the winner of the Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award in 2024, one of the highest academic honors bestowed by the conference. Ruby played summer baseball in the PEL for the Humboldt Crabs hitting .345 in 27 games while being named the Team MVP.

“We have a great relationship with Ryan Overland, Head Coach at Fresno State, who consistently sends us quality players and quality individuals,” said HarbourCats Head Coach Todd Haney. “I am confident that Munster and Ruby will be key offensive players for us in 2025, the same way Schneider and Collins were last year, and the players before them” added Haney. “Finkelstein, Thompson, Hepburn and MacDonald, as returning players, know the championship expectations of playing in Victoria and will be able to pass that along to new players on the 2025 team.”

The HarbourCats, who joined the WCL in 2013, will enter into their 11th season of play at Wilson’s Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park in 2025 (with the 2020 and 2021 seasons cancelled due to COVID) and have made the playoffs in six of those 10 previous seasons including the last four in a row (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) with trips to the WCL Championship game(s) in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

The 2025 schedule, which will feature 27 home league games and (where possible) 2-5 non-league games, should be released in the next week. Season Tickets and 10-game Flex Packs are now on sale, with Season Tickets on at Early Bird Pricing until October 31st. Stop in to the HarbourCats office at 101-1814 Vancouver Street to order, or call 778-265-0327. Flex packs may also be ordered on-line in the Cat Shop HERE.

For more updates, be sure to follow the Harbourcats here on our web and on all social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

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NightOwls complete coaching staff for 2025 season, Heimueller returns

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Anthony Houk, 24, is the new Assistant Coach. The former college infielder, from Mount Vernon, Kentucky, is on the University of Pikeville staff with Andreychuk, the local product who is returning home to lead the NightOwls after last week’s announcements.

 

Hailing from Mount Vernon, KY by way of Rockcastle County High School, Houk was a four-year member of UPIKE baseball starting as a freshman in the 2019 season. In his freshman season, Houk played in 42 games, clubbing 42 hits and 41 RBIs. His opening season performance earned him Mid-South Conference Freshman of the Year. In his senior campaign, Houk hit 14 RBIs and scored eight runs in 56 at-bats. He notched 70 hits overall in his career

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