During his four years in the minor leagues, Weber bounced around to five different cities within the Tigers’ farm system, with two years of Venezuelan winter ball mixed in.
“You have to have the belief that you’re going to play in the major leagues, whether it’s a 1% chance or a 75% chance,” he said.
His big league debut in 2012 did not go as planned. Weber came in as a relief pitcher in an extra-inning game against the Texas Rangers,gave up the go-ahead run and got tagged with the loss. The Tigers ended up releasing him, and he bounced from San Diego to Toronto, where his big league career came to an end. His career record in the majors: 0-2.
Megan Weber, now a paraprofessional at the Exeter-Milligan-Friend elementary school, got a crash course on the circuitous life in baseball with a growing family.
“I always look back and think, ‘All these things prepared me for where we are now. He’s still traveling. I’m just so used to it I don’t think twice,” she said. “My kids are so used to it. It’s all they’ve ever known.”
But she did make one request when Thad’s playing career ended: She wanted to live in their hometown. It didn’t take much convincing.
“If the job was right, and we had to go, we would go,” Megan Weber said. “Would it be hard to leave? Yes, that would be absolutely hard. It’s just worked out in such a way that we’ve always been able to stay here, which has been great for our family.”
People skills
While growing up, Thad Weber’s family owned a 2,500-acre farm less than a mile from town until his grandfather retired in 1996. But Thad was a town kid. His father, Les Weber, made the transition from working the farm to becoming a loan officer at the local bank in Friend.
From working at the bank, Les Weber recalled, “Everybody talks to you all the time. Everywhere.”
The elder Weber believes that his people skills rubbed off on Thad — and enhanced his acumen for interaction with people of all cultures.