Waldron keeps Lynn connection strong as Navs manager

LYNN – Jeff Waldron has trod the path that many of his North Shore Navigator players are preparing to travel.He played baseball at Boston College, and spent time in the Cape Cod League. He rode the buses in the minor leagues, playing for three different organizations – the Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.It was a good life, and it gave him a good start, and a good foundation. What it didn’t do was land him on a Major League roster. You could say that in many ways, he is the reality that goes along with the dream that so many young players still have. He is “Crash Davis” to a whole roster full of “Nuke LaLooshes.” He was even a catcher.It’s a nice visual ? except that Waldron doesn’t necessarily see it that way.”The subject generally doesn’t come up,” he says, when asked whether he’s been able to offer advice to any of his New England Collegiate Baseball League players about how to handle the frustrations of waiting for their dreams to come true.”They don’t talk about it,” he says. “They’re good that way. They’re focused on now ? on getting better, so that they can start for their college teams next year.”Waldron took over as manager for the Navigators at the beginning of the year, and in many ways, the job is a natural fit for him. He grew up in Lynn; played for St. Mary’s and Lynn Classical; was The Item’s player of the year in 1995 when he led the Rams to a dramatic turnaround season after years of sub-.500 records; and excelled at BC.And while he, too, had the dream, he never lost his connection to Lynn. These days, he’s a school psychologist at Masconomet Regional High School, and an assistant baseball coach at his alma mater.”And I really enjoy what I have,” he says. “I’m not looking to be anything more at the moment. I always say I’m a teacher and an assistant baseball coach.”It was at Masconomet where he teamed up with assistant principal Peter Delani, who is also the Navigators’ general manager. Delani – for years the baseball coach at Masco – was looking for a head coach for the Navs, and he didn’t have to leave the building to find one.”He asked if I was interested,” Waldron said, “and I was.””(Waldron was) the right man for the Navigators, for Lynn and our entire organization moving forward,” Delani said when he hired him. “He will play a critical role in the development of our players and the opportunity presented to them.”Waldron is part of a contingent of several players with Lynn-area roots associated with the Navigators this season, including pitchers Bryant Gauthier (Classical) and Hunter Gordon (Swampscott), and outfielders Jason Banos (Lynnfield) and Dario Pizzano (Saugus, Malden Catholic).Things got off to a rocky start for the Navs this summer. Minus some key players who were still involved in the NCAA playoffs (four of them went all the way to the College World Series), the Navigators got off to an 0-6 start.”We have may lost our first six,” Waldron said, “but none of those games were blowouts. Baseball’s not designed for blowouts.”We had to learn how to win those games,” he said, “but it was also a case of people being a little uncomfortable, maybe ? a little unsettled at being up here, settling in with their host families.”Once we settled in,” he said, “we were fine.”Since that 0-6 start, the Navs have gone 20-6, and they sit on top of the NECBL’s Eastern Division standings, one game ahead of the Newport Gulls. Waldron managed the all-star game this past Sunday in Newport, and several of his players starred in the game.As far as he’s concerned, this has been a win-win situation.”It’s great,” he says. “I’m coaching baseball in the summertime. What could be better?”