Zeile Slides Home

There still are days when Dodger third baseman Todd Zeile wakes up, looks down at his bed, walks around his home, looks into his garage, peers out the front door, and wonders if this is really true. Wow, to be home again.

Zeile, born in Van Nuys, a graduate of Hart High School in Newhall, a student at UCLA, and now living in Newhall, finally has returned home to play baseball.

“It feels like I’ve spent 10 years in professional baseball trying to become a Dodger,” Zeile says. “I’ve been in transition in hopes of someday landing here. It’s the culmination of a lot of work,it’s the fulfillment of a dream for me.”

Zeile, born on the day of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game, never has had the luxury of being home during the baseball season. He was always the out-of-towner. In St. Louis. Or Chicago. Or Philadelphia. Or Baltimore.

Now, for the first time in his professional baseball career, he is home, living only 28 miles from Dodger Stadium.

He can have breakfast each day with his wife, Julianne. He can take his 3-year-old son, Garrett, to preschool. He can see his parents, who live in Palm Springs, on the weekend.

“To have him here is just unbelievable,” said his father, Todd Sr., who still has his ticket stubs from the Dodgers’ first game at Dodger Stadium in 1962. “I’ve been a Dodger fan since they played in the Coliseum. We always hoped for it.

“It’s a thrill for all of us.”

Says Todd Zeile, “This is something I can get used to.”

There were plenty of teams who sought Zeile’s services in the off season. The Angels called. So did the San Francisco Giants. And the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins and the Florida Marlins. He thanked them for the interest, but told them his heart was in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers, who have used 24 third basemen since the end of the 1986 season, including nine in the last two seasons, were glad to accommodate.

“Honestly, if you go back in the 100-year history of the Dodgers,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, “there was a revolving door at third base.

“Hopefully now we have the guy to stop that traffic.”

Zeile, 31, who immediately purchased 10 season tickets to donate to charities for underprivileged youth, is much more than a third baseman.

He sits and chats amicably with reporters, accommodates every autograph request, spends tireless hours with charities, and doesn’t seem to have an enemy in the world.

The man is Mother Teresa, Steve Garvey and Nelson Mandela all rolled into one.

Who would ever have thought that this hometown kid from Hart High would one day return home as a major league star and role model.

“In some ways,” Zeile said, “it seemed like it was just yesterday that I was playing there. And in other ways it seemed like a million years ago.

“I thought a lot about all that has happened to me since that time.

“And you know what?

“It’s felt like I’ve been gone from there forever.”