Dear Bauer Family:
We lost much more than the legend who was Ray Bauer, now didn’t we?
Many people saw him on the ballfield, as a manager for Foodland, as a driver for Pepsi, and as the president of the Teamsters for many, many years.
But not everyone saw how much he cared. Not many witnessed the father of a sick child; as the husband of a worried wife; and most did not realize how much his family meant to him. They weren’t there when one – or all – of his three boys wound up in trouble because of something in the neighborhood. During those days, a village did help raise those Woodsdale kids, and usually mothers and fathers knew of the transgressions well before the kids arrived home.
Perhaps they didn’t realize his cherry Chevelle may have been pristine on the inside but that the trunk was covered by dust with every ballfield in the Wheeling area. Or that his living room was Mountaineer Baseball Central for player drafts and uniform distribution. Or that his backyard was his home field when the local kids wanted to play whiffle ball or play catch.
Yes, he was a man’s man, but when Ray Bauer loved, he loved, and you felt it. He’d feed you, let you sleep on his couch, and his advice wasn’t sugar coated whether it concerned the ballfield, your studies, or your family.
He would say, “If you’re expected to do it, then you do it.”
And Ray did it.
Sincerely,
Those Who Called You Coach
