Dave Hall, owner of Willie's Sport Shop, walks past the front counter of the store on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Centralia.
Dave Hall, owner of Willie's Sport Shop, nervously watches on as his daughter, and store manager, Anna "Hopper" Martin, searches for one of his minor league baseball cards while her brother, Gabe Hall, looks on while at the sports equipment shop in downtown Centralia on Wednesday afternoon.
Willie's Sport Shop offers equipment for all sports, but the shop specializes in an assortment of baseball and softball gear.
Anna "Hopper" Martin, Dave Hall's, Willie's Sport Shop store manager, shows some of her dad's minor league baseball cards she found hidden in a drawer in the shop on Wednesday afternoon in Centralia.
It’s no mystery how Dave Hall got into the sports retail business. All you have to do is ask him.
“I figured I spent a lot of time in a jockstrap so I might as well start selling them,” said Hall, the owner of Willie’s Sports Shop in Centralia.
When Hall says he spent a lot of time in a jockstrap, he is referring to an accomplished career on the diamond. After graduating from Onalaska High School, Hall went on to play two years for the Red Devils at Lower Columbia College. He then played one year between the chalked lines at Gonzaga University.
After that, baseball became not just a way of life, but a way to make a living.
An outfielder and third baseman by trade, Hall made professional stops in Eugene, Oregon, and Italy as well as a tour of the Sunshine State while playing for the Cincinnati Reds organization out of Cedar Rapids and Tampa. In his final year with the Reds, Hall made it to the AA level of spring training before becoming one of the final players cut at camp.
“That was kind of the writing on the wall,” said Hall. “If I could hit like Lyle Overbay, I’d have made it.”
During his time with the Reds, Hall made a few memorable friends, including former Yankee and five-time World Series champion Paul O’Neill. Over the years O’Neill and Hall became good friends and they still keep in touch. Another player that jumped to the forefront of Hall’s entertaining mind was Brad “The Animal” Lesley, a pitcher who later played the memorable character of John “Blackout” Gatling in the 1994 film, “Little Big League.” Lesley also played a role in the 1992 film, “Mr. Baseball,” starring Tom Selleck.
About two years ago, Hall says that an old Reds fan sent him a letter with two of his baseball cards inside, asking for an autograph.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Hall, who was amazed that anybody remembered him after so many years.
It was a quarter century ago that Hall bought into Willie’s Sports Shop.
“Twenty-one of those years were with a great partner,” said Hall of Bill Luond, who retired from the business four years ago. “You couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
Although Hall has his personal favorite, Willie’s Sports Shop specializes in equipment for all sports for all age groups.
“We’re probably known as a baseball store, but that’s because baseball has so much stuff,” explained Hall.
Over the years, the operation has taken on a decidedly family oriented feel. The store employs six people, if you include the free-swinging owner, and only two of those minions aren’t related to him. Hall’s wife does the embroidery on custom items while his son and daughter help out at the front desk. Hall even sometimes brings his beloved dogs to work.
“Life’s good here. We’ve been blessed,” said Hall.
The landscape of selling sporting goods has changed considerably.
“The challenge is keeping up with the consumers’ expectations,” explained Hall, who added that online shopping is the biggest competitor of Willie’s Sports Shop.
In order to combat the ubiquitous and faceless practice of Internet shopping, Willie’s has adapted by focusing on special orders.
“That’s kind of our niche, the custom stuff,” noted Hall.
Another way that Willie’s tries to better serve its customers is by having a handle on the ever-evolving world of sports regulations, such as the ones that pertain to aluminum baseball bats. Those regulations often change from year to year on bats that cost many hundreds of dollars. Neither young ballplayers or parents like to pay for them twice.
“There’s a lot of people who ask about the regulations of Babe Ruth (League) bats. I don’t think some of the other stores know the rules,” said Hall.
Custom glove lacing on mits both young and old is another endangered pastime that still has a home at Willie’s Sports Shop.
After 25 years of selling gloves and bats and shoes and hats, Hall says he still finds his work interesting because of “all the variety of things that I do here. And there is quite a variety,” said Hall. “The old saying, ‘If you enjoy what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.’ That’s true. Everyday’s a holiday at Willie’s Sports Shop.”
In true holiday form, Hall likes to celebrate the good times that arise from athletic competition, especially for his youngest patrons. Willie’s Sports Shop Home Run Club is dedicated to young baseball and softball players who hit a true to the blue over the fence home run. Members of the exclusive club gets a commemorative T-shirt and a photo posing in the shop next to a giant wooden statue of the Sultan of Swat, the King of Crash, the Colossus of Clout — the one and only Babe Ruth.
“We believe in a full cut here at Willie’s Sports Shop, and we like to honor the kids who hit the ball out of the yard,” said Hall. He added that one of the best parts of his job is that it keeps him around the game that he loves and around kids of all levels and abilities.
Like a Little Leaguer parading around the house in his uniform the night before the big game, Hall wears actual baseball pants to work almost every day.
“They’re the most comfortable pant in the world!” said Hall, showing off the red piping on his Lincoln Creek slow pitch softball pants. “You can’t beat ’em for being at home, working around the house and bending over.”
Asked if he’d still wear the baseball pants everyday if he wasn’t a former ballplayer, he said, “I’d like to think so.”
