Former Wareham Gatemen player Max Muncy returns to the World Series
Max Muncy stepped up to the plate for the Wareham Gatemen 14 years ago.
Now he wears a Dodgers uniform and soon will be taking swings in his third World Series appearance.
Muncy, 34, arrived in Wareham from Baylor University in 2010 following his freshman year. Like all Gatemen players, he lived with a Wareham family during his summer with the team.
Former Gatemen team president Tom Gay said Muncy fit in well in Wareham.
“He was very polite, very hard-working, just a good kid,” Gay said. Gay remembered that Muncy “liked to eat” and that the team would go to restaurants weekly.
“A lot of times they’d end up at Kool Kone for ice cream afterwards,” Gay said.
Keith Bilodeau grew up in Wareham and played with Muncy on the Gatemen. Bilodeau said the two became friends during the 2010 season.
“In our off time we’d hang out at our host families’ houses,” Bilodeau said. “We went to Old Silver Beach a few times. We were really tight together. We were all brothers that summer.”
Bilodeau said the closeness of the team contributed to their success on the field.
During his first season in the Cape Cod Baseball League Muncy, an infielder, joined a star-studded team. His teammates, Matt Barnes and George Springer both went on to play in the major leagues.
Muncy returned for a second year which Gay said players rarely do now.
“Back in 2010-11, most of the good players knew they would stay because it was going to make a big difference for them when they looked at going on to the next level,” Gay said.
In 2012 the Oakland Athletics drafted Muncy in the fifth round. He made his Major League Baseball debut in 2015 with the Houston Astros before eventually signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.
Muncy won the 2020 World Series with the Dodgers and will face the New York Yankees for another attempt at a championship beginning Oct. 25.
Gay said Wareham residents should take some ownership of former Gatemen players who go on to play professional baseball.
“The team’s run by volunteers, they deserve it.”