How I Met Leroy VanCleave (and a bit about his fly fishing flies)

Fair disclaimer to the reader: This story has more to do with Baseball, community, and a book than it does fly fishing)

One to two times per year, I sort through our living room bookshelf. Such was the case last month. Our family enjoys books, and I tend to add to the collection faster than I can subtract. As a result, tough decisions need to be made about some of our stock. Book exchange boxes, donations, and handoffs to friends are typical destinations. I find the best way to evaluate requires touching and seeing the books, organizing them by genre, and the selection process is underway.

Often seeing and feeling a book gets my memory muscle working. I begin to recall main points of the story. Sometimes I’m picturing where I was reading it, and other details that don’t directly relate to the book. Such was the case when I pulled Tommy Lasorda’s “The Artful Dodger” off the shelf. I see the roughed-up cover with Tommy’s smiling face on it, and I go back to the summer I first read this book. It always goes hand in hand with the first time I met Leroy VanCleave.

Allow me to paint the picture

My childhood comprised over a hundred drives up and down the Columbia River Gorge. I spent most of my time in Salem with mom and made several trips per year to Pendleton to visit dad and family. My father was an avid Baseball man. A standout player in his time, who also coached through most of my childhood. From a distance, I grew up in admiration with the goal of being one of the greats as well. I played on the Dodgers in Little League and had a great team in West Salem. As a ballplayer and aspiring Dodger fan, I was gifted a copy of “The Artful Dodger” by my grandmother’s husband at the time.

“The Artful Dodger” is an autobiography of the legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. Two World Series Championships and two National League Manager of the Year awards are credited to his time with the organization. He’s been described as “a man who can tell someone to go to hell and make him feel as if he’s sending him on a two-week cruise.” I recall Tommy having a player-friendly coaching style, socializing with players, and making a point of being familiar with their spouses and children. Tommy was a Dodger die hard, often quoted as being a man that “bleeds Dodger blue.” He managed the team until 1996 and could often be found in the stands as a spectator, until his passing in 2021.

So, what about Leroy? We’re getting there

It's summertime, I’m 13, and I’m mid-way through reading the book. This trip from Salem to visit dad was different. We met at Biggs Junction in the Columbia River Gorge, and instead of going to Pendleton, we’re off to Bend, Oregon. Leroy VanCleave is the head coach for Pendleton’s 10-year-old All Star team, and he’s enlisted my dad as an assistant coach. My little brother Brady and I are along for the ride.
As I’m transferring my bags from mom’s car to dad’s truck, my book is resting in plain sight atop my travel bag.
“A Dodger fan, and a book about Tommy, that’s good luck.” The first words I hear from Leroy’s mouth. I’d never met the guy, but that felt like a good start.I quickly learned that Leroy was (and still is) the biggest Dodger fan I’d ever met, a true die hard.In short order we were loaded up and heading South on Highway 97 towards Bend.
*Side note, Brady got a hot dog from the convenience store at this time. The five seconds it took for him to set it on a post and open the truck door was enough for a seagull to fly off with the entire hot dog. We were equal parts angry and impressed.

I’m not saying my book was lucky, but I’m not saying it wasn’t either

Over the next few days, Brady and I watched Leroy and my dad lead Pendleton’s 10-year-old All Stars to a state championship. I remember their smiling faces and the Oakley shaped sunburns that made them resemble something like a racoon. I recall the feeling of having witnessed something special. Many years later, I enjoy seeing the men those players have become, and the tremendous impacts they are making on their communities today. Many names come to mind from that team, some of who I see on a regular basis.

What’s more than winning?

It takes many people to lead a successful All-Star campaign, and Leroy led the way. Something I’ve come to understand and appreciate more in the later years: Leroy and my dad did this without having a horse in the race. Leroy’s sons were older and well past Little League, my dad didn’t currently have any kids in the league either. They sacrificed their time, energy, and finances to connect with their community through a sport they loved. Baseball is one option, may we all “pay it forward” with our areas of expertise.

What about fly fishing and Pendleton Outfitters? Fast forward a bit

Over the following years, I had off and on contact with Leroy and his family. I moved to Pendleton midway through High School, and got to play for the Buckaroos, and eventually the BMCC Timberwolves. Leroy’s son Drew VanCleave was a role model for me, an alumni and fellow Catcher who had success at the college level.

Years later, I would join McLaughlin Landscaping as an accountant who got to work in the field and get dirty hands. What’s more, Leroy had been working for the company for the past 15 years or so. We occasionally worked on the same job and saw each other regularly around the shop.

I came to learn that Leroy and family’s passion for baseball was equally matched by their passion for the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, and riding horses is a modest description of the VanCleave’s time spent in the backcountry. Eventually our conversations led to Leroy’s appreciation for fly fishing, and the flies he ties at home. As an aspiring fly fisherman, I was very intrigued. My friend Dillon was the only person I’d seen tie flies in person before, and he seemed eager to work at the tying bench for hours at a time.

*Side note, keep your eyes out for Dillon’s hand tied flies as well!

The time eventually came for me to depart from McLaughlin Landscaping in pursuit of my dream, Pendleton Outfitters.

Leroy’s flies were on my mind, and I recalled an offer he made to tie me some if I was ever interested. Well Leroy, how many are you interested in tying? I’m pleased to say that these flies are the first ones available for sale from Pendleton Outfitters.

A little about the flies

At the time of this writing, we’re choosing to offer the flies in-store only. Made IN Pendleton, FOR Pendleton. We will move to offering flies online as our quantities increase enough to meet the need. For now, come see them for yourself. They look better in person.

It stands out in my mind that Leroy and I were discussing the logistics of his flies in between his 2022 elk hunting trips. While we were surveying his flies at the shop, he was tagging out with a 6x6 bull elk, his two sons Jake and Drew at his side.

Dillon was tasked with choosing the opening day lineup of Leroy’s flies. The two hadn’t met previously, so Dillon was intrigued by meeting a fellow fly tyer. What’s more, an experienced tyer with so many different patterns and styles, who was doing it in the same town. We gave Leroy a list of patterns to tie for the shop. Nymphs, egg sucking leeches, and muddler minnows, oh my!

I recall one last question Leroy had before heading to the fly-tying bench:

“Do you want these to be barbless?”
I replied: “How do you fish with them?
Leroy: “Barbless”
Me: “Then that’s how we’ll sell them.”

For context, the barbless hook discussion is common in fly-fishing. Most hooks are manufactured with barbs, the tyer or fisherman can decide to flatten the barb into the hook with a pair of pliers. Typically, fish ethics are the reason behind barbless. Easier hook removal and safer release for any fish that aren’t going home with the angler. 

What became of the book?

Returning to the book sorting at home, tough decisions were made. Many titles were donated, quite a few got to stay in the bookshelf at home. On this occasion, I discovered an option that wasn’t previously available...
A new bookshelf rests in the backroom of Pendleton Outfitters. So far, only a dozen titles inhabit the shelves. Most are reference material for business, fly fishing, and nature. Included in the stack: “The Artful Dodger” by Tommy Lasorda.
Thanks Leroy.