Miami Mourns Loss Of David Jay Westberry: 7/7/1953 – 6/6/2016

For the past 30 years everyone in the Miami-Dade baseball community has enjoyed the game with Dave Westberry. So many guys played for him and also coached with him, and his reach extended to every small and large member of the baseball community. Most call him Wes or Coach West, while others know him as Poppa Bear.

Monday, June 6th, Westberry passed away peacefully in his sleep at his Miami home.

“At least he went peacefully. People who go in their sleep are blessed,” said longtime friend, Ed Doskow. “It’s a devastating loss to everybody that knows him. Every high school baseball coach in Miami knows him or has something with him. I don’t think you could find a person that could say one bad thing about the guy.”

Westberry coached and worked with many of the coaches currently running programs across Miami-Dade, such as Phil Wisser, Armando Peleaz, Fred Burnside, Joe Weber and Doskow, as well as other accomplished coaches such as Steve Rogers, Josy Torres, Dennis Pujols, John Barbato and Hernan Adames. Most people he worked with were also guys he coached in baseball and football, and a lot of big-name guys played for him over the years back in the day.

Poppa Bear became family to those closest in his life, which came primarily through a life devoted to baseball. Thanks to countless efforts over the years, thousands upon thousands of baseball players enjoyed the game and improved their own skills. Westberry started the travel team, Team Florida, in 1985 and he was the Director of South Florida Baseball Productions, Inc. for nearly twenty years, leading summer and fall teams and leagues and giving kids great opportunities.

Westberry also volunteered every Tuesday to run Bingo at the American Legion Post 43 in Homestead. He did this to raise baseball funds for kids that couldn’t afford them on their own. Part of that funding went towards taking his team each year to compete in the Continental Amateur Baseball Association World Series in Euclid, Ohio.

“He’s a special man that loved baseball, and he spent the majority of his life doing it. He loved being around it,” Fred Burnside said. “He is CABA Baseball and has been for many years. The thing that impressed me most about Dave is that all these people charging these outrageous prices for kids, he would finance out of his own pocket going to some of these tournaments. The kids that couldn’t afford it, he always took care of them. Not that he had a lot of money, by no means, but he was in it for the right reasons.”

One of his closest friends and also his partner in attending the CABA series every year is South Dade Principal Javi Perez, who was recently involved in a tragic accident when a runaway car crashed onto the baseball field and struck Perez. The heroic principal was hit after pushing someone else to safety, and is currently recovering in a Miami area hospital. This past weekend the baseball community rallied for a 5K marathon race that helped raise funds for Perez’s recovery, and Westberry helped raise another $4,000 dollars with a Saturday Bingo charity.

“That was the way he was; a big man with a big heart,” Burnside said.

Burnside assisted Westberry in the Bingo fundraiser. He has known him since Westberry’s high school pitching days in the early 1970’s at Southwest Miami, back when Burnside was just getting started in coaching at Southridge.

Being as very close as Westberry is with Javi Perez, it meant a lot to him to be able to raise funds for Perez’s recovery. It is a lasting impression on Burnside how excited Wes was to take the money to his friend.

“I think it was one of the happiest times that I’ve ever seen him,” Ed Doskow agreed. “He wanted to go see Javi Monday night and take the check to his wife and he was really, really happy. There is no doubt that he went to bed feeling great. It’s just poor that he did not get out of bed.”

It is only fitting that his final act was one of charity and support for a friend.

“He has one of the biggest hearts you’ll ever know,” Phil Wisser said. “He is really going to be missed.”

Less than a month ago, Westberry’s 91-year old mother, Frances, passed away, and his father previously passed away. Now his two surviving brothers are making arrangements to bring him home to Valdosta, Georgia, to be buried alongside his parents.

The CABA World Series was Westberry’s favorite thing, and he proudly brought a team for 28 straight years. Despite several close chances with great teams, it was not until recently, in 2014, that Westberry finally won the championship. The 2014 Florida Legions defeated the Lake Erie Bulldogs 14-2 to claim the long-awaited championship.

Westberry had injured his back at a prior Perfect Game event, and he mostly sat on a stool during the championship game. The team was so happy for him after they won that they dumped the cold water from the igloo on West to celebrate. Unable to run away to avoid it, Coach West took it like a champion.

“I’ll never forget the phone call after they won it,” Wisser said. “He loved that tournament and that drove him to compete in it each year.”

Wes also had a canny ability to drive others to succeed. Years ago coaching with Little League football, he was part of an undefeated team heading into a big game against a tough and athletic Richmond Heights squad. The team was all huddled off to the side by woods before getting started, when suddenly there was a roar and big old Poppa Bear came rumbling out of the treeline wearing two armpads and a helmet.

Westberry dropped down into a three-point stance and challenged his guys. He let all the players know that they got one lick each on him. One by one the guys took their turns and got themselves fired up for action, and the team went out and earned a 21-0 win.

He truly cared for the kids he coached. As they grew up and became adults and coaches themselves those relationships only grew stronger.

“Wes was my legion ball coach 25 years ago and eventually over the years working together we developed a good friendship,” former Southwest Miami manager Josey Torres said. “To say that he will be missed tremendously by this entire community would be an understatement. Wes was truly an incredible person with a great heart. His lifetime dedication to the game was instrumental in helping countless high school athletes reach their goals on and off the field. South Florida has lost a legend, but he will live on forever in our hearts.”

Across South Florida everyone has come together to give thanks and pay respects for Coach West, sharing stories and reminiscing the memories. It is a difficult and emotional time to lose such an important figure in the baseball community, but the strongest emotion felt is one of gratitude for all that Poppa Bear did for all those around him.

“I am so thankful for the impact he had in my life as a person and baseball player,” Michael Jose Arostegui said, on a Facebook post.

Players, coaches, friends and family all took the time to share their memories. Even those with limited time spent with Wes were left with positive impressions and lasting, impacting memories.

“He had tremendous dedication to youth baseball and was a wonderful champion and athlete in his own time,” Southwest Miami alum Clinton Onyx Owens said in a video tribute on his Facebook page. “Dave, you’ve been in South Florida since Southwest was a swamp and you stayed and you gave so much.”

A few years ago a player at Southwest Miami broke his neck diving back into third base on a pickoff play during a game, and Westberry helped organize a fundraiser and an All Star game at Florida International University to raise funds to support the player’s recovery. He also ran a golf tournament that helped raise money for area athletes, and he was a fixture for Tuesday Night Bingo.

“He’s a special guy and he’s going to be sorely missed,” Burnside said. “Not only for his contributions, but as a guy who supported kids, he’ll be sorely missed.”

West’s Florida family all plans to meet at his favorite spot at the Kendall Sports Grille Thursday night to pay tribute and share memories of their departed friend. For the first time someone else will have to pay the bill, because Wes always picked up the tab.

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