House That Gates Built? Jeron Could Make It So

DuSean Gates, a cement finisher working on the new Mariner ballpark, likes to joke that he is building a place for his younger brother to play baseball.

His brother is Jeron Gates, a senior at Garfield High School and one of the city's best all-around athletes.

"Wouldn't that just be a great story?" DuSean Gates, 25, asked with a smile.

According to Jeron Gates' coaches and former major-leaguers, the story could come true.

"He has great natural ability," said Bill North, a former major-leaguer and commissioner of RBI baseball, a major league-sponsored organization that invited Jeron to its annual All-Star game this June in Chicago. "He's got the talent and intelligence to play professional ball if he continues to get good coaching."

Garfield baseball coach Joe Staton, a former Detroit Tiger, agreed.

"He will be a great attribute to any team - college or professional," Staton said. "He has the skills you just can't teach."

And Gates, nicknamed "Boo-key" as an infant by a relative who liked the sound of it, has many skills.

He was Garfield's starting quarterback the last two years. He passed for 1,517 yards his senior year, second in the KingCo Conference to Roosevelt's Chad Kodoma.

Gates, a three-year varsity basketball letterman, played an "instrumental role" this year in the Bulldogs' run to their first basketball championship in seven years, according to Coach Wayne Floyd.

"He did everything he was asked to do," Floyd said. "If he just concentrated on basketball he could play at the college level, no doubt in my mind."

Gates, who has a 3.6 grade-point average, said the Garfield band's fight songs before football games at Memorial Stadium still ring his head and the excitement from the basketball championship will never be forgotten.

But his true love is baseball.

"I grew up around baseball," Gates said as he sat in his mother's Leschi duplex with a bat in his hand. "Both my brothers played, so I really had no choice. And it is the sport I excel most at."

When he was 3, Gates umpired his brothers' street baseball games, "because he was too small to play," according to his mother, Gertrud Hauser. Two years later, he was whacking balls off tees in the front yard. By age 7, he was playing Little League, already showing signs of becoming a star.

"Everyone knew he was going to be something special," Hauser said.

Washington State University thinks so. He accepted the Cougars' baseball scholarship offer.

Jim Stewart, Gates' summer-league baseball coach and a scout for the Mariners, said Gates will be a "great Division I player." But Stewart quickly added he has a lot to learn and Gates, who possesses a humble confidence, realizes this.

"I know I have a lot of work ahead of me," said Gates, who plans to coach Little League during the summers. "I still have a lot to learn. I understand that I won't be the best. I can handle criticism well and that will help me down the road."

One of Gates' strongest values is his unselfishness, coaches and peers say. No matter how hard he was hit by a blitzing defensive back, he never complained, Garfield Coach Ben Wright said.

"Jeron is the kind of kid you want all kids to be like," Wright said.

Gates, who averaged nearly seven points his senior basketball season, was the only Garfield player who didn't start a game. He never complained, Floyd said.

"If anyone deserves to be successful, it is Jeron," Floyd said.

Gates, who batted .345 and led the Bulldogs in runs batted in as a junior, is coping with a winless senior baseball season.

Gates, batting approximately .300, got off to a slow start after the long basketball season. The team has been plagued with injuries and is adjusting to the more competitive Class 4A KingCo Conference.

But according to Staton, Gates has been the bright spot in a dim season.

"He is a quiet leader - the type of player that leads by example," Staton said. "I think many of the younger players look up to him. He is a great role model."

According to Hauser, Gates had great role models - his brothers DuSean and Ronnie, 27.

"My brothers have never been easy on me," Gates said. "They have always pushed me to work harder and that has made me a better athlete and person."

As Hauser pointed out, DuSean and Ronnie, who is interning at Harborview Medical Center, have helped lay the foundation for Jeron's bright future.

"I've had a great time here at Garfield," Gates said of the school his brothers attended.

He said he appreciates the people who have helped mold him into the person he is.

"But there is still more to come for Jeron Gates," he said in his self-confident way.