Five phone calls.
Four were answered.
One was missed, and I’ll always wonder what he had to say, because I’ll never again talk to Gary Bruington.
Bruington, forever entrenched in Galesburg sports history as the head coach of the 1988 Galesburg Silver Streaks state champion baseball team, died Tuesday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 79.
Obituary: Gary James “Bru” Bruington: April 10, 1943 ~ October 4, 2022
Gary Bruington made five phone calls to me over the past six months. What’s the big deal about five phones calls — all of which lasted less than five minutes — when I have known Bru for 44 years? Each call in its own way provided a snapshot of Gary Bruington the man.
April 23, 2022
Bru: “Jay, Bru. How are you?”
Right off the bat, something was off. His voice noticeably weak, Bru rarely called me Jay. Ever since I can remember, I was always “Fredbird” when Bru called, or he saw me in public.
“Hey Fredbird, how ya doing?” he would usually say, a friendly jab from a Cubs fans at my allegiance to the St. Louis Cardinals.
This day, he was a little more subdued.
Bru: “I just wanted to call and see how you were doing? Angie (his daughter) drove me out here to the high school, and boy, all these new facilities sure are nice!”
Me: “They sure are, Bru. It’s a lot different than when I was your scorekeeper in 1979 and the tall pines were barely out of the ground.”
Bru: “Well, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing, Jay.”
Me: “I’m really glad you called, Bru. You take care.”
Bru: “I will. Bye bye.”
Lesson learned: Call someone you care about, just because. I had a book signing engagement to go to later that Saturday afternoon for another coaching legend, Silver Streaks basketball coach Barry Swanson. Before Bru called, I was thinking, do I really need to go, since I’m going to see Coach Swanson later in the week?
Well, I ended up going to that book signing. Thanks, Bru, for inspiring me to visit an important life event for Coach Swanson. What Bru taught me that day, was: if you are on the fence of doing something nice, just do it. You won’t ever regret a nice gesture.
Listen: Former players share memories of Coach Bru
July 20, 2022
Bru: “Hey Jay, Bru. Did you see that Hank Sprinkle’s son (Jordan) was drafted by the White Sox? Fourth round — he’s going to get some nice money.”
Lesson learned: For those who don’t remember Hank, he was a really good pitcher for the Streaks in the 1980s.
Bru never forgot about his former players, and he was so proud to share this news.
Aug. 19, 2022
Bru: “Jay, Bru. Angie told me she saw you lost your job at the paper? Is that true? I can’t believe it. What happened?”
Me: “Well, Bru … ”
Lesson learned: Call people you care about when you think they need some emotional support. Facebook messages and texts are surely appreciated, but a phone call is next-level caring.
Sept. 8, 2022
Bru: “Jay, this is Bru. Angie told me about your new job at the radio station. I’m really happy for you. What will you be doing?”
Lesson learned: Another gesture of caring, from a man with such a big heart.
Sept. 27, 2022
My caller ID says “Gary Bruington.” I wanted to answer, but I was in a meeting. Bru didn’t leave a message. Sadly, I didn’t get him called back. And now, I’ll never hear from him again.
Was Bru calling to say goodbye? I’m pretty sure he was, and for that, I’ll always feel a little anguish.
Gary Bruington will be forever remembered as a coach. But I’ll always treasure him as a teacher, and for the lessons he continued to impress on me until nearly the day he died.
Bru was a lifelong respected educator and my friend. I know many of his hundreds of former players and thousands of former students feel the same way.
It’s not an exaggeration to say I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without Gary Bruington and Barry Swanson — the two men I credit with indirectly getting me into the newspaper business in the first place. It was those two who recruited me as a high school sophomore to keep statistics for their respective teams. Stat-keeping led to part-time and eventually full-time sports reporting for The Register-Mail, so I’ll forever be indebted to those two. They were great coaches, and are even better human beings.
I feel fortunate to have had so many influential teachers during my time in District 205. Gary Bruington sits right at the top of the list.
Rest easy now, Bru. Thanks for everything. Thank you for being you. — Fredbird
Jay Redfern is content director at WGIL Radio.
