Yankees baseball a family matter to the Liveseys By GREGG DOYEL Tribune Staff Writer SPRING HILL - One of the most powerful men in one of major league baseball's most powerful organizations throws batting practice at Springstead High. Bet the farm Bill Livesey doesn't like it, but he has been spotted at SpringSports in stead people the by sun, more tireless, serving than up a an sweating few assortment of meatballs for People ing hours sons. on end to his bat-wav- A profile of the names in the game Don't tell anyone, but Livesey is vice president for player development and scouting for the New York Yankees. In the Yankees baseball-man hierarchy, there is George Steinbrenner, Gene Michael and then Bill Livesey. Livesey has lived in Spring Hill since December 1985. He is the head of Hernando County's undisputed first family of baseball. One son, Jeff, is a longtime catcher in the Yankees organization. Another, Steve, is a former minor-league infielder and now a Yankees coach at the Class-A level. In the off-season, Spring Hill is teeming with career Yankees. Who knew? "I don't think too many people know much about my dad or the family," said Steve Livesey, firs coach of the Class A San Bernardino (Calif.) Spirit. "I think he likes staying out of the spotlight. But really, I don't like speaking for him." Jeff Livesey, a professional catcher since 1988, is the most loquacious of the three Liveseys in pin stripes. And even he prefers using a sentence when a paragraph would do. "Don't be fooled by the Liveseys," Springstead baseball coach Chuck Moehle said. "They might not talk too much about themselves, but they're a great, great family. We're lucky to have them in Spring Hill." How the Liveseys ended up in Spring Hill is a story in itself. First, understand one thing: There is more foolishness in the Queen of England than in Bill Livesey. This is a man who, years ago as manager of the Yankees' Class A team in Oneonta, N.Y., was quoted as saying he would like to take his players on a vacation to Niagara Falls - and see how many could survive the plunge. In late 1985, when Steve was a high school senior, Bill Livesey left his family in New Jersey and began touring the Tampa Bay area. The Yankees had reassigned him to their complex in Tampa, and he was given instructions to live within an hour of the Tampa airport. Livesey arrived one day in Spring Hill, armed with a camera and a host of questions. He snapped off shots of Springstead and its baseball field and eventually cornered Moehle at Springstead High and conducted something of an interview. The family moved to Spring Hill that December and hasn't left. Steve Livesey, who hit about .315 with a handful of home runs his senior year, said he wasn't sure what drew his father to Spring Hill. Jeff Livesey was a junior at Auburn in 1985, and like his brother, confesses to not knowing why his father selected Spring Hill. Bill Livesey knows, but he's not telling. Not these days, anyway. He didn't return more than a week of daily telephone calls to his office, where his receptionist said he was immersed in meetings. The strike, you understand. "You have to understand that about him," Jeff Livesey said. "He'd rather not be the center of attention." Both brothers agree that, at one time or another, having a big shot Yankee for a dad made their professional careers somewhat difficult. For Jeff, it came after the Yankees drafted him the 13th round of the 1988 June draft. Was he picked because of his father? Jeff certainly didn't feel that way. He was a three-time all-state catcher in New Jersey and had his choice of scholarship offers, choosing Auburn where he started at Special to the Tribune Jeff Livesey, a catcher with the New York Yankees' Double-A Albany (N.Y.) team, was hitting .302 in a backup role before sustaining a season-ending torn ligament. 66 I don't want to be finished playing. Either way, I can see my future in this organization. I can't see myself leaving the game after I stop playing. 99 JEFF LIVESEY catcher for three years. "I really thought the [Baltimore] Orioles were going to take me," Jeff said. "They even told me they would. But the Yankees got me first. In the beginning, I'm sure some people thought I was drafted because of who my father was. But I think I've proved myself." Jeff has spent the bulk of his career in Double-A and Triple-A, enjoying his best season last year as a platoon starter at Triple-A Columbus (N.Y.), where he hit .247. This season, he was hitting .302 in a backup role for Double-A Albany (N.Y.) before sustaining a season-ending torn ligament in his right knee June 17. Doctors have set his comeback for the middle of the 1995 season; Jeff is thinking something a little sooner. "I don't want to be finished playing," he said. "Either way, I can see my future in this organization. I can't see myself leaving the game after I stop playing." After graduating from Springstead in 1986, Steve Livesey played four years at Davidson and was a late-round pick of the Yankees in 1991. After two years as a Class reserve, he was released last year but invited to coach at San Bernardino, an independent team in the California League with a handful of prospects from various major-league organizations. Steve understands if it weren't for his father, he might never have received his chance with the Yankees, first as a player, then coach. But he also said. he deserved the chance. "Would I be here if it weren't for my dad? Maybe not," Steve said. "But I am here, and I do know the game, and I plan on doing the best I can." And then there is Bill Livesey. After years of coaching the Eckerd College baseball team, he joined the Yankees as a scout in the late 1970s at the behest of Jack Butterfield, his college coach at Maine who later became a part of the New York organization. In the meantime, Livesey has risen to near the top of the Yankees baseball operations. Asked last month about the playing future of Jeff, Bill Livesey refused to comment, on or off the record. "I think having all three of us in the same organization is harder on him than me or Jeff," Steve Livesey said. "If you're going to talk to him, I'd stick to stuff about Spring Hill. He doesn't like talking about all the other stuff."