Dad’s a manager. Son’s a jack of all trades. Their careers converge with the Marlins

The back fields of Jupiter’s Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex, the spring training home of the Miami Marlins, hold a little extra meaning for Luis Dorante Sr. and Luis Dorante Jr.

Dorante Sr., 52, is back at his old stomping grounds as he serves as manager for the Marlins’ rookie-level Gulf Coast League team whose season is set to begin on June 28 and plays its home games on those Jupiter back fields. It’s his first time back working in the Marlins’ organization since he spent six years with the club from 2002 to 2007, which included a year as the Marlins’ bullpen coach in 2005 and four seasons managing the Jupiter Hammerheads (2002-2004, 2007), which was the Marlins’ Class A Advanced affiliate at the time. He also managed the Hammerheads in 1999 and 2000 when they were affiliated with the Montreal Expos.

It’s also the first time he and his son are working for the Marlins organization in an official capacity at the same time. Dorante Jr., 30, is in his third season as the Marlins’ Spanish media liaison after spending the 2018 season based in Jupiter as a player development intern in the baseball operations department and four years prior to that as a guest services supervisor.

“He’s a big-leaguer. I’m not,” Dorante Sr. said with a laugh. “He’s the big-leaguer now.”

Dad played a pretty significant role in that, though, even if Dorante Jr. took a circuitous path to becoming a “big leaguer.”

Dorante Jr.’s playing career never took off beyond the prep level. Dorante Sr., who played six seasons in the minors and reached as high as Double A, remembers taking Dorante Jr. to a baseball tryout while he was attending Weston’s Cypress Bay High that “didn’t go too well.”

“He had trouble with bat speed and pretty much being a first baseman, you want to have a little bit of power,” Dorante Sr. recollected on a FaceTime call, his son shaking his head as the story is told. “He developed that later in softball. He was hitting bombs in softball. I wish he could have done that in high school. At least he showed me a little bit of tools there, but it was nothing there [at first].”

Dorante Jr.’s dreams of playing in the big leagues were dashed early, but his drive to stay around the sport wasn’t. He played softball to stay involved. He tagged along with dad as well when he was managing and coaching at various levels for the Expos, Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

During Dorante Sr.’s one year as the Marlins’ bullpen coach, Dorante Jr. spent a considerable amount of time around the clubhouse and with the players. Antonio Alfonseca taught him how to throw a circle changeup. Mike Lowell and Jeff Conine joked around with him because he “was eating a lot of food from the kitchen.” He met and spent time with Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, too.

“I always saw his job, what he was doing, the way he connected with the players and always felt that he was something beautiful,” Dorante Jr. said. “Throughout the years, with all the knowledge I was able to get just being in the clubhouse around with my dad, I said, ‘You know I think I can do it. I think I can transmit that knowledge to the young guys and make their route a little easier.’ That was the primary dream, and that’s why I got the chance with the Marlins in player development. This role [as Spanish media liaison] came out after, but I fell in love with that part. Being able to help the young guys pursue a dream I wasn’t able to reach is just beautiful.”

Dorante Sr. noticed the first signs of his son’s potential for the behind-the-scenes baseball work during his second stint managing the Hammerheads. A pre-teen Dorante Jr. would regularly tag along to the field. One day, Dorante Jr. asked for a pitching chart. He kept track of all the day’s activity.

“At a young age like that, it’s special to have that passion for the game, I would say,” said Dorante Sr., who has also served as the manager of two Venezuelan Professional Baseball teams: the Bravos de Margarita in 2009-2010 and the Aguilas del Zulia in 2012-2013. “Even if he didn’t qualify to be on the field, he paid attention to all the little details.”

Another way Dorante Jr. stayed involved in the game: He started umpiring youth travel ball games in Weston while finishing high school as an easy way to make money.

It turns out he’s pretty good at it and still gets the chance to call balls and strikes in limited settings. He was on site at Marlins Park (now loanDepot park) in October 2018 when Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. held their showcase that included simulated innings with Marlins minor-league pitchers. Dorante Jr. was also behind home plate during a few of the Marlins’ intrasquad games and backfield games during spring training the last two years.

Dorante Sr. remembers Gary Denbo approaching him in the batting cages after one of the Marlins’ backfield games against the Houston Astros. Denbo, the Marlins’ vice president of player development and scouting and Dorante Jr.’s boss when he was a player development intern in 2018, was behind home plate following the Trackman data that showed the location of every pitch thrown.

“I don’t know how he does it,” Dorante Sr. remembers Denbo telling him.

For Dorante Jr., though, those rare umpiring opportunities were just one of the ways he bonds with the players he interacts with on a daily basis. After his short stint in player development, he moved over to the communications side of the organization where he’s a regular fixture around the team. He organizes interviews, serves as the team’s translator for Spanish-speaking players and assists with the club’s social-media presence along with other unofficial roles.

Anything to stay around the game he loves, a love forged by being around his dad.

“Any time I really need good advice, I truly go to him,” Dorante Jr. said. “He has more years in the business. He’s going to give me good advice and great communication. I’m very lucky to have him here.”