Bretts bloom into Ivy League

Prior to his death at age 55 in 2003 from complications caused by a brain tumor, former major league pitcher Ken Brett impressed upon his children the importance of education.

His emphasis came even as athletics had been the vehicle of his success and opened up new worlds, in particular a fondness for the East Coast while with the Boston Red Sox.

Academics, sports and East Coast culture have conjoined for his children, Ferris High twins Casey and Sheridan Brett. Next year they will continue their athletic careers while attaining an Ivy League education.

“Education was something we instilled in our kids early on,” said Teresa Brett, their mother. “Unfortunately neither my husband nor I graduated from college. But Ken had a wonderful experience in Boston, thought the East Coast experience would be good, and if they had that opportunity, should go in that direction.”

Casey, a third-year varsity third baseman for the Saxons’ district playoff baseball team, will play at Cornell in Ithica, N.Y. Sheridan, a three-year varsity volleyball player, will play at Brown in Providence, R.I.

The twins, born 4 minutes apart, will be separated geographically by approximately 250 miles.

“Sheridan and I will be playing in the same league and will be visiting,” Casey said. “We’ll be able to see each other on and off the field a little bit.”

In a separate interview Sheridan said, “We’re close enough where we’ll have places to meet.”

Fate brought the Brett family to Spokane from California, where Ken had been raised. He was drafted into professional baseball as a left-handed and good-hitting pitcher and played for a then-record 10 major league teams during his 14-year career.

He had been retired as a player from baseball when he and Teresa married and it would be another four years before their children were born.

“I didn’t find out until later in the pregnancy,” said Teresa of the fact she was having twins. “Sheridan was hidden in there, biding her time.”

For about an hour of “total panic,” she said, doctors thought it might be triplets. Sheridan, the oldest, said she thinks they may have just said that to ease the shock a bit.

The twins were raised near California beaches, swimming and playing soccer and baseball together.

“I can’t remember a day I wasn’t playing baseball,” said Casey. “Dad started playing catch with me as soon as I could walk. I still have my first mitt.”

They were sixth graders when Ken was diagnosed with cancer and the family moved here to make it easier for the family to withstand their six-year ordeal.

“The main reason we came here was because of that,” said Teresa. “Bobby wanted us to be closer.”

Bobby Brett was already here running Brett Sports, the four-brother conglomerate – an idea born when Ken was managing in Utica, N.Y. – that includes Spokane Indians minor league baseball, Chiefs hockey and Shadow soccer franchises.

“With our extended family, their support and what-not, we were able to get through it,” said Casey.

The youngsters were young enough, in seventh grade at Chase Middle School, to adapt to their new surroundings, primarily the weather. Casey continued playing his favorite sport.

He played third base on Ferris’ regional qualifying team as a sophomore, and has improved each year, putting up all-league offensive numbers this year. His .438 batting average was third in the league. He becomes Ferris’s second Ivy League baseball player, following Josh Rataezyk, who played at Yale.

“It’s a result of all the hard work and dedication,” said Saxons coach John Thacker. “Each year his skill level has improved dramatically. He’s just got that drive to succeed. And I think by playing some catcher this year, it has opened up his chance to play right away.”

It was tougher for Sheridan in sports when they moved here because she had always played on boys’ teams.

“At Chase they told me they wouldn’t put me on varsity baseball if I made the team,” Sheridan recalled.

Soccer and softball weren’t options, she said. But having met volleyball coach Stacey Ward through baseball, the seed to play volleyball was planted.

Stories conflict about how it transpired, but both Casey and Ward have entertaining recollections.

“This is a funny story,” said Casey doing his best to imitate raconteur uncle and Hall of Fame baseball player, George Brett. “The day we got up here I enrolled in a baseball camp. My sister wanted to enroll in the same camp.”

She was told she couldn’t, that it was for boys only, but softball was down the street. She refused. Ward intervened.

“She said, ‘If you don’t want to play softball and can’t play baseball, why not go to volleyball camp?’ ” Casey recalled. “She goes, has a great time, keeps on playing and now has a great career.”

Ward remembered it a little differently, saying she told Teresa about her volleyball camp and encouraged Sheridan to attend if only to meet people.

“She hated it when she first went,” said Ward. “She grew up playing baseball and wasn’t sold on volleyball until after camp.”

The baseball camp, run by her husband Keith, was still going on.

“She asked Keith, ‘Can I play?’ He said, ‘Yeah,’ and she goes up to bat and rips a triple,” said Ward.

Volleyball grew on Sheridan, a left-hander like her dad. Athletic and a fierce competitor, she plays almost year-round and went on to become second- and first-team All-GSL.

Sheridan, at 5-foot-7, said she will probably be a libero or defensive specialist at Brown and doesn’t expect to play right away. Ward doesn’t count out her playing front row and making an instant impression.

Her toughest year was as a junior. Her dad died that November and she missed the regional tourney to be near him.

“It wasn’t like it was a surprise. We were prepared for it mentally, or thought we were,” she said. “But it was harder to focus on everything. I do think volleyball actually helped take my mind off everything else.”

Though twins, the two lead somewhat independent lives.

“I’m glad they’re not the same gender,” said their mother.

Casey said they have “separate spheres we operate in.”

“We’re really opposite in the way we think,” said Sheridan. “Casey’s really analytical, organized and diligent. I think I’m a little more unfocused about doing things.”

Ward calls Sheridan eclectic and perhaps more academically gifted, while Casey is a harder worker. During the family’s ordeal, said Ward, “he really escaped into the world of books and studies, where she found comfort in sports.”

The Brett family has gone through one transition born of tragedy. They are about to face another based on the promise of an Ivy League education and future in sport.

Ken Brett was at the heart of it.

“Dad was one of those guys who made sure everything would be OK before he would go anywhere,” Casey Brett said. “He’s really missed, but left us in a good position, I think. That kind of speaks for itself.”