Dye Hard: White Sox Outfielder Jermaine Dye
posted 2009-02-26
By Angie Wiatrowski
A former basketball player, football player, leisure golfer and now major league baseball player, Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye is an athlete in every sense of the word.
Dye grew up in Vacaville, CA and said that baseball was just his sport. He said it helped growing up in California because the weather made it possible for baseball to be played all year round.
Dye started playing baseball at a young age, and didn’t play football or basketball until he started high school. He graduated in 1992 from Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, and then went to Cosumnes River College in Sacramento.
If baseball weren’t an option, Dye would have gone into criminal justice. He wanted to be an undercover cop.
“One of my favorite movies is "Beverly Hills Cop," and I guess I kind of like people not knowing that I was a cop. I thought it (would be) less dangerous,” he says.
However, Dye did have the Major Leagues on his mind while in college. He knew he had the talent but he also knew the odds.
“You never know if you’re going to make it, but you definitely shoot to go to the majors,” he said. “You know you work hard, the percentages aren’t good and you have to take advantage of every break you get and I did.”
Dye's parents have been his inspiration throughout his success.
“My mom got me to all the practices so I could play and made sure that we did our homework,” he adds. “My dad worked pretty much for the family and came straight to practice after work.”
Dye is quite the family man himself. During his free time he enjoys hanging out with his kids and playing some golf. Dye has a wife, Tricia, and three children, Jalen, Devin, and Tiarra.
“I just go hang out with my golf club, hang with my boys and play golf and then I go home and wait for the kids to get of school and mess around with them.”
While Dye didn’t have “any player to base [his] talent around,” he knows that many kids out there look up to him.
“At first it’s weird but it’s kind of cool especially when someone thinks of you as their favorite player. I’m a pretty lucky guy.”
