Tom Hoynes, 72, was born on May 13, 1949 and passed away on July 9, 2021.
His arrangements are under the care of Neptune Society.
Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation.
"Page Pioneers" Tom Hoynes, his parents, Lovell Exley, Sr. & Leona Hoynes, and brothers, Exley, Jr. '60 and Pete Hoynes '64, arrived in Page the Summer of 1958. They lived on E Street next to the water tower in the MCS Trailer Park that summer then moved to an MCS home at 42 S Navajo Drive in Page about the time school started the 1958-1959 school year. [NOTE: Most of the first houses in Page were USBR houses, but the seven houses on South Navajo Drive and the MCS Guest House at 125 S Navajo Dr. were MCS-owned houses.]
Before arriving in Page, Tom's family lived at the Perry Lodge in Kanab, Utah, for a month or so. While there, the movie star, Clint Walker "a great guy", lived in the Perry Lodge room next to them while they were filming "Fort Dobbs". During that time, Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, ran around with the young actor, Richard Eyer, who played "Chad Gray" in the movie. Pete had a good time there.
After that, they moved to nearby Fredonia, AZ for the 1957-1958 school year, where Exley '60 was a Sophomore at FHS, Pete '64 was in Grade 6, and Tom '67 was in Grade 3. Tom attended Grades 4-10 in "America's Last Frontier"--Page, Arizona after they moved to Page the Summer of 1958.
Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, went to school in the third of the three Butler Buildings for 7th and 8th grades. His teachers were Steve O'Brien and Bruce Hart. Tom's brother, Exley Hoynes, Jr. '60 attended and graduated from St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, NM, after Fredonia HS. St. Michael's HS had dormitories, so was also a boarding school for students like Exley and his friend, Gary Latham '60. They met in 1957, when Gary lived in Orderville, Utah, and Exley lived in Fredonia, Arizona, and they remained close friends until Gary's death from ALS.
Tom transferred as a HS Junior to Lakewood HS, Lakewood, OH, and graduated there in 1967. He graduated from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus, in 1971. Tom was Captain of the LHS Varsity Swim Team as a Senior; he finished 8th in the State in the 400-yard freestyle, setting a new varsity record. Tom was Treasurer of the LHS Lettermen's Club as a Senior. At U of I, he was on the Swimming Team and a member of Alpha Deta Phi.
Tom was the namesake of his paternal grandfather, Thomas Maxwell Hoynes I (1870-1954). Thomas Maxwell Hoynes, Sr. was Mayor of Savannah from 1927-1927 (Appointed) and 1931-1933 (Elected). He was District Manager with Standard Oil Company at the time and went on a leave of absence. The story is that Standard Oil said, "politics or oil" and he went back to Standard Oil.
TOM HOYNES worked for the San Francisco Health Department --
Minutes of the Health Commission Meeting - Tuesday, November 5, 2002:
Response to Syphilis
San Francisco, as is true of other American cities with a large population of gay and bisexual men, continues to experience an increase in the number of syphilis cases. During the month of October, 56 early syphilis cases were reported. This is the largest number of cases reported for any one month this year. As of October 31st, a total of 429 early syphilis cases have been reported in the City. As has been the case all year, nearly all of the cases are among gay and bisexual men. Over 60% of the cases continue to be HIV positive and nearly 30% report using amphetamines during sex.
DPH is continuing to intensify our effort to reduce the number of new syphilis cases. In particular, three units within the Health Department have volunteered to temporarily detail staff to the STD Program to assist their staff with syphilis case management and follow-up of high-risk individuals. The three staff members who have been reassigned, Giuliano Nieri from the AIDS Office, THOMAS HOYNES from the TB CONTROL PROGRAM, and Uzziel Prado from Environmental Health, have all accepted the reassignment with enthusiasm and with a statement of their commitment to assist in helping to reduce the spread of STDs to the residents of San Francisco. This is an example of teamwork and collaboration among the various units in the Health Department and exemplifies everyone's commitment to public health.
TOM HOYNES' FAME AS "Mayor of McCovey Cove" - (some of the news articles):
CATCHER IN THE BAY / Fan prowls waters for homers splashing into McCovey Cove
By Carl Nolte - May 30, 2000 - Updated: Aug. 6, 2012 2:41 p.m.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda, CA shows up in his boat at every Giants home game to try to fish balls from San Francisco Bay.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda patrols the water in McCovey Cove hoping to catch home run balls hit over the right-field wall into the water. His is one of several boats that have taken to jockeying for position during Giants home games.
TOM HOYNES is 51, old for an athlete, but he plays the best position in baseball, patrolling the salt water outfield in a little cove in San Francisco Bay.
He is waiting for only one thing: a huge home run that must clear the right field wall at Pacific Bell Park and plop into the water at McCovey Cove just beyond.
If that happens, Hoynes powers his 10-foot inflatable Zodiac boat to the exact spot and tries to fish the ball out of the water.
It is a thing of timing and skill combined -- Hoynes must get there before any other boats and must get the ball in his net before it sinks.
Balls hit so hard and so far are rare: They are called "Splash Hits" and in the few weeks that Pac Bell Park has been open only four of them have been hit by the Giants, all by Barry Bonds. Hoynes has gotten three of the four.
Fishing these mighty trophies out of the bay is his avocation, the acme of life just now: like catching the perfect wave, like standing on the summit of Everest.
Such feats have rendered Hoynes nearly inarticulate. He is there, he said, simply, "to chase baseballs." He does it because he has a lot of vacation time from his job with the San Francisco Health Department just now.
He wears a black and orange Giants cap, carries a net long enough to land a wild salmon, shows up at every Giants home game, driving his tiny boat from the Fortman Marina in Alameda, eight miles in only 20 minutes. "Faster than you can drive," he says.
Pac Bell Park is the toast of the town, but he has never been inside.
There are are more than 40,000 fans in the new ballpark on a quiet weekday game afternoon, and the color of the people walking, sitting, watching, standing in the ballpark is a palpable presence on the water.
One can hear the game, but not see it: The announcements drift out over the water a word at a time, like a conversation that has been broken into little pieces and carried on the wind. Every so often, the crowd roars suddenly for some notable event.
Hoynes is listening to the game on the radio in his boat, circling slowly like a gull waiting for lunch to show up. When the ball rockets off the end of a bat -- "Back! Back! Back!" the announcer says, his voice rising, the crowd standing and yelling, the little boats roar into position, like sharks on the surface, waiting for that one moment.
Usually, the ball drops in for a hit or is caught, or bounces off the wall, or maybe goes into the stands. In the cove, they wait only for the monster hit by the great Bonds. Everything else is merely interesting.
Hoynes has the cove nearly to himself sometimes, but on weekends when the weather is nice and on special days, there is an armada.
The Giant Of McCovey Cove - Jul 31, 2000 - By Rick Reilly - Sports Illustrated
TOM HOYNES may be the only fisherman in the world who puts his catch in a safe-deposit box. That's because Hoynes, in his 10-foot dinghy, catches home runs. In fact, the 51-year-oldHoynes has four of the six splashdown homers clubbed into McCovey
Cove--the inlet behind the San Francisco Giants' new Pac Bell Park. He also has the first ball ever hit out of the stadium. He's landed about 200 batting-practice bay bombs, all of which he's thrown to kids on the pier. The game balls he Glad-bags and takes to the bank. He has to. He's been offered $10,000 for that first one, even though it was hit during an exhibition game.
"I'm doing this for one year," says Hoynes, who let me troll for horsehide with him during a recent game between the Giants and the Houston Astros. "Then I'm retiring. This job is too hard on the body."
You have no idea. First Hoynes, in a Zodiac inflatable with an outboard motor, has to beat his way across the waves of San Francisco Bay between his Alameda home and the ballpark, a trip that takes about 30 minutes. Once he gets to McCovey Cove, he's got to go up against kayaks, sailboats, charter boats, powerboats, swimmers and Portuguese water dogs, while girls on the pier flash their breasts at him and wise guys in the stands
throw fake home run balls trying to make him look stupid. All in the name of souvenirs.
Sometimes as many as 20 boats are out there, not including the booze cruises, the bachelor-party boats and the guy who paddled out on a palette tied to two surfboards. None of the other mariners are as prepared as our intrepid Homer of the Seas. On this night, for instance, the dinger dinghy is loaded with two oars, two big flares, two life jackets, two burritos, two bottles of water, a two-way radio, a transistor radio and a scouting report that tells him which pitchers tend to throw too many gopher balls to lefthanded hitters, who might just smash them out to "Wave Ave." Compared with Hoynes, these other ball hawks are kids playing in a bathtub.
"We see these guys come out on their first night, and first thing they do is drink a quart of apple juice," says Hoynes. "We know they'll be gone in a half hour trying to find a head somewhere." As for the six water dogs invited by the Giants to dunk for dongs, they get all the press, but they only come out on Saturdays and holidays and have yet to fetch even a batting practice ball. In fact, on July 4 the handlers couldn't get them
off the boat and into the water.
Just as well. It's dog-eat-dog out there already. Whenever a batter sends a ball the minimum 420 feet--over the right field wall, over the two rows of bleachers and over the public pier--into saltwater glory (says Barry Bonds, the only Giant to do it so far, "It ain't no joke hitting one into the water"), then a battle scene from Waterworld breaks out.
"It can get a little dangerous," says Hoynes. It's like a chunk of bread thrown in front of 50 starving ducks. Retrieving the first regular-season home run splashdown, Joseph Figone, a former Candlestick Park groundskeeper, nearly got his motorboat broken
in two when another one rammed him. "If he'd have hit me two feet back, he'd have sunk me," says Figone, who still has the ball. It'd be a lousy thing to have on your tombstone, wouldn't it?
WENT DOWN WITH SHIP
AND $9 BASEBALL
That's why Hoynes takes his role as senior fly-fisherman seriously. He is constantly retrieving fans' tickets, glass cases, little kids' caps and, occasionally, windswept money. He's got a mock trading card of himself. (Nets: Right. Steers: Right.) Oh, and he hopes to give Willie McCovey himself a night on the dinghy if he'd be willing. "Can't do it," says the 59-year-old McCovey, who sits in a luxury box instead. "Can't swim."
Just as well. On this night only two BP taters for our waiters, and none in the first four innings. But in the fifth, Bonds, the Sultan of Splash, comes up. Six boats do the position dance.
Figone is especially edgy. Hoynes has beaten him to three bay bombs in a row.
There is a mash to deep right center. Is it long enough? Confusion. Did it clear? Suddenly, Figone sees the ball! Coming down not 25 feet from him! In a flash, Figone drops his wallet and beeper into the boat--"No, don't do it! It's a dork ball!" yelps Hoynes--and dives in!
Figone's got his hands on it! Then the Diamond Vision scoreboard in center shows a fan in the bleachers holding up a ball. Now a dread reality sets in Figone's eyes. He looks at his ball. In Magic Marker is scrawled one sickening word: SUCKER.
Giants Fans Come by Raft, Kayak, October 22, 2002, By Rob Gloster
ON MCCOVEY COVE, Calif. (AP) _ These Giants fans wear life preservers.
They come by schooner, kayak and raft. Some come to party, others hoping to catch a ball. And though they won't see a single pitch, they're a big part of the World Series scene at Pacific Bell Park.
They are the boaters and floaters who spend cold, damp nights in the murky gray-green water of McCovey Cove, where Barry Bonds homers occasionally go splash.
McCovey Cove has its own website, honoring guys such as TOM HOYNES, whose dinghy did not miss a game throughout the entire 2000 season--the team's first at Pac Bell Park.
There are few rules in the cove, except that no motors are allowed within 75 feet of shore. The San Francisco Port Commission imposed such restrictions after a motorized inflatable boat nearly collided with a surfer going after Ball No. 500.
Kayakers left empty-handed as few home runs leave the park
By Bay Area News Group |
PUBLISHED: July 9, 2007 at 9:05 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:03 a.m.
The regulars sported flags stating they were part of "Bonds Navy" and were led by TOM HOYNES, dubbed the Mayor of McCovey Cove.
The 58-year-old Hoynes holds the unofficial record of snaring nine splash hits, including eight from Bonds. He said the Bonds balls fetch anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 each, though he doesn't think the Home Run Derby balls will be worth much. "They aren't game balls," Hoynes said before the competition began. "They're not worth that much, if anything."
"He knows everything about the cove," said another longtime regular Dave Edlund. "He's been out here for seven years and through two wives."
Kayak Ball Catcher - September 19, 2003 - Robin Young, Co-Host, "Here & Now"
Forget Barry Bonds, kayaker TOM HOYNES is considered the Home Run King at the stadium where the San Francisco Giants play. During home games Tom can be seen in his kayak, behind right field, catching home run balls.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL, THE BARRY BONDS BASEBALL CASE - 2004
The McCovey Cove attracts a "flotilla" of treasure hunters. Mr. TOM HOYNES, a skilled and organized member of the "splash-hit brigade," retrieved eight of Bonds' home run balls from 2001 and 2002. As the 2001 season came to a close, bleacher bums had taken to writing the word "sucker" on real baseballs, and when Mr. Bonds hit a home run, they have been known to throw ten or fifteen sucker balls into McCovey Cove, delighting in watching the boaters paddling about after them.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - September 17, 2003
When Bonds Sends One Out, HOYNES Often Reels It In
A Kayaker Plies the Waters Outside PacBell Park; Tracking Hits by Radio
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106375133819632700
MEMORIES / CONDOLENCES:
Wow, thanks for the info Donna....although I hate to hear it. Tom was 4 months older than myself but was a wonderful boyhood friend. We used to have some great times on the mesa cliffs behind his house....I remember when his father helped us build a fort on one of the points out there and then put a plank bridge over to it. Good memories. Prayers for comfort to family & friends.
PHS Classmate Richard Leightner '67 (1958-1963 in Page, AZ)
His arrangements are under the care of Neptune Society.
Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation.
"Page Pioneers" Tom Hoynes, his parents, Lovell Exley, Sr. & Leona Hoynes, and brothers, Exley, Jr. '60 and Pete Hoynes '64, arrived in Page the Summer of 1958. They lived on E Street next to the water tower in the MCS Trailer Park that summer then moved to an MCS home at 42 S Navajo Drive in Page about the time school started the 1958-1959 school year. [NOTE: Most of the first houses in Page were USBR houses, but the seven houses on South Navajo Drive and the MCS Guest House at 125 S Navajo Dr. were MCS-owned houses.]
Before arriving in Page, Tom's family lived at the Perry Lodge in Kanab, Utah, for a month or so. While there, the movie star, Clint Walker "a great guy", lived in the Perry Lodge room next to them while they were filming "Fort Dobbs". During that time, Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, ran around with the young actor, Richard Eyer, who played "Chad Gray" in the movie. Pete had a good time there.
After that, they moved to nearby Fredonia, AZ for the 1957-1958 school year, where Exley '60 was a Sophomore at FHS, Pete '64 was in Grade 6, and Tom '67 was in Grade 3. Tom attended Grades 4-10 in "America's Last Frontier"--Page, Arizona after they moved to Page the Summer of 1958.
Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, went to school in the third of the three Butler Buildings for 7th and 8th grades. His teachers were Steve O'Brien and Bruce Hart. Tom's brother, Exley Hoynes, Jr. '60 attended and graduated from St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, NM, after Fredonia HS. St. Michael's HS had dormitories, so was also a boarding school for students like Exley and his friend, Gary Latham '60. They met in 1957, when Gary lived in Orderville, Utah, and Exley lived in Fredonia, Arizona, and they remained close friends until Gary's death from ALS.
Tom transferred as a HS Junior to Lakewood HS, Lakewood, OH, and graduated there in 1967. He graduated from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus, in 1971. Tom was Captain of the LHS Varsity Swim Team as a Senior; he finished 8th in the State in the 400-yard freestyle, setting a new varsity record. Tom was Treasurer of the LHS Lettermen's Club as a Senior. At U of I, he was on the Swimming Team and a member of Alpha Deta Phi.
Tom was the namesake of his paternal grandfather, Thomas Maxwell Hoynes I (1870-1954). Thomas Maxwell Hoynes, Sr. was Mayor of Savannah from 1927-1927 (Appointed) and 1931-1933 (Elected). He was District Manager with Standard Oil Company at the time and went on a leave of absence. The story is that Standard Oil said, "politics or oil" and he went back to Standard Oil.
TOM HOYNES worked for the San Francisco Health Department --
Minutes of the Health Commission Meeting - Tuesday, November 5, 2002:
Response to Syphilis
San Francisco, as is true of other American cities with a large population of gay and bisexual men, continues to experience an increase in the number of syphilis cases. During the month of October, 56 early syphilis cases were reported. This is the largest number of cases reported for any one month this year. As of October 31st, a total of 429 early syphilis cases have been reported in the City. As has been the case all year, nearly all of the cases are among gay and bisexual men. Over 60% of the cases continue to be HIV positive and nearly 30% report using amphetamines during sex.
DPH is continuing to intensify our effort to reduce the number of new syphilis cases. In particular, three units within the Health Department have volunteered to temporarily detail staff to the STD Program to assist their staff with syphilis case management and follow-up of high-risk individuals. The three staff members who have been reassigned, Giuliano Nieri from the AIDS Office, THOMAS HOYNES from the TB CONTROL PROGRAM, and Uzziel Prado from Environmental Health, have all accepted the reassignment with enthusiasm and with a statement of their commitment to assist in helping to reduce the spread of STDs to the residents of San Francisco. This is an example of teamwork and collaboration among the various units in the Health Department and exemplifies everyone's commitment to public health.
TOM HOYNES' FAME AS "Mayor of McCovey Cove" - (some of the news articles):
CATCHER IN THE BAY / Fan prowls waters for homers splashing into McCovey Cove
By Carl Nolte - May 30, 2000 - Updated: Aug. 6, 2012 2:41 p.m.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda, CA shows up in his boat at every Giants home game to try to fish balls from San Francisco Bay.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda patrols the water in McCovey Cove hoping to catch home run balls hit over the right-field wall into the water. His is one of several boats that have taken to jockeying for position during Giants home games.
TOM HOYNES is 51, old for an athlete, but he plays the best position in baseball, patrolling the salt water outfield in a little cove in San Francisco Bay.
He is waiting for only one thing: a huge home run that must clear the right field wall at Pacific Bell Park and plop into the water at McCovey Cove just beyond.
If that happens, Hoynes powers his 10-foot inflatable Zodiac boat to the exact spot and tries to fish the ball out of the water.
It is a thing of timing and skill combined -- Hoynes must get there before any other boats and must get the ball in his net before it sinks.
Balls hit so hard and so far are rare: They are called "Splash Hits" and in the few weeks that Pac Bell Park has been open only four of them have been hit by the Giants, all by Barry Bonds. Hoynes has gotten three of the four.
Fishing these mighty trophies out of the bay is his avocation, the acme of life just now: like catching the perfect wave, like standing on the summit of Everest.
Such feats have rendered Hoynes nearly inarticulate. He is there, he said, simply, "to chase baseballs." He does it because he has a lot of vacation time from his job with the San Francisco Health Department just now.
He wears a black and orange Giants cap, carries a net long enough to land a wild salmon, shows up at every Giants home game, driving his tiny boat from the Fortman Marina in Alameda, eight miles in only 20 minutes. "Faster than you can drive," he says.
Pac Bell Park is the toast of the town, but he has never been inside.
There are are more than 40,000 fans in the new ballpark on a quiet weekday game afternoon, and the color of the people walking, sitting, watching, standing in the ballpark is a palpable presence on the water.
One can hear the game, but not see it: The announcements drift out over the water a word at a time, like a conversation that has been broken into little pieces and carried on the wind. Every so often, the crowd roars suddenly for some notable event.
Hoynes is listening to the game on the radio in his boat, circling slowly like a gull waiting for lunch to show up. When the ball rockets off the end of a bat -- "Back! Back! Back!" the announcer says, his voice rising, the crowd standing and yelling, the little boats roar into position, like sharks on the surface, waiting for that one moment.
Usually, the ball drops in for a hit or is caught, or bounces off the wall, or maybe goes into the stands. In the cove, they wait only for the monster hit by the great Bonds. Everything else is merely interesting.
Hoynes has the cove nearly to himself sometimes, but on weekends when the weather is nice and on special days, there is an armada.
The Giant Of McCovey Cove - Jul 31, 2000 - By Rick Reilly - Sports Illustrated
TOM HOYNES may be the only fisherman in the world who puts his catch in a safe-deposit box. That's because Hoynes, in his 10-foot dinghy, catches home runs. In fact, the 51-year-oldHoynes has four of the six splashdown homers clubbed into McCovey
Cove--the inlet behind the San Francisco Giants' new Pac Bell Park. He also has the first ball ever hit out of the stadium. He's landed about 200 batting-practice bay bombs, all of which he's thrown to kids on the pier. The game balls he Glad-bags and takes to the bank. He has to. He's been offered $10,000 for that first one, even though it was hit during an exhibition game.
"I'm doing this for one year," says Hoynes, who let me troll for horsehide with him during a recent game between the Giants and the Houston Astros. "Then I'm retiring. This job is too hard on the body."
You have no idea. First Hoynes, in a Zodiac inflatable with an outboard motor, has to beat his way across the waves of San Francisco Bay between his Alameda home and the ballpark, a trip that takes about 30 minutes. Once he gets to McCovey Cove, he's got to go up against kayaks, sailboats, charter boats, powerboats, swimmers and Portuguese water dogs, while girls on the pier flash their breasts at him and wise guys in the stands
throw fake home run balls trying to make him look stupid. All in the name of souvenirs.
Sometimes as many as 20 boats are out there, not including the booze cruises, the bachelor-party boats and the guy who paddled out on a palette tied to two surfboards. None of the other mariners are as prepared as our intrepid Homer of the Seas. On this night, for instance, the dinger dinghy is loaded with two oars, two big flares, two life jackets, two burritos, two bottles of water, a two-way radio, a transistor radio and a scouting report that tells him which pitchers tend to throw too many gopher balls to lefthanded hitters, who might just smash them out to "Wave Ave." Compared with Hoynes, these other ball hawks are kids playing in a bathtub.
"We see these guys come out on their first night, and first thing they do is drink a quart of apple juice," says Hoynes. "We know they'll be gone in a half hour trying to find a head somewhere." As for the six water dogs invited by the Giants to dunk for dongs, they get all the press, but they only come out on Saturdays and holidays and have yet to fetch even a batting practice ball. In fact, on July 4 the handlers couldn't get them
off the boat and into the water.
Just as well. It's dog-eat-dog out there already. Whenever a batter sends a ball the minimum 420 feet--over the right field wall, over the two rows of bleachers and over the public pier--into saltwater glory (says Barry Bonds, the only Giant to do it so far, "It ain't no joke hitting one into the water"), then a battle scene from Waterworld breaks out.
"It can get a little dangerous," says Hoynes. It's like a chunk of bread thrown in front of 50 starving ducks. Retrieving the first regular-season home run splashdown, Joseph Figone, a former Candlestick Park groundskeeper, nearly got his motorboat broken
in two when another one rammed him. "If he'd have hit me two feet back, he'd have sunk me," says Figone, who still has the ball. It'd be a lousy thing to have on your tombstone, wouldn't it?
WENT DOWN WITH SHIP
AND $9 BASEBALL
That's why Hoynes takes his role as senior fly-fisherman seriously. He is constantly retrieving fans' tickets, glass cases, little kids' caps and, occasionally, windswept money. He's got a mock trading card of himself. (Nets: Right. Steers: Right.) Oh, and he hopes to give Willie McCovey himself a night on the dinghy if he'd be willing. "Can't do it," says the 59-year-old McCovey, who sits in a luxury box instead. "Can't swim."
Just as well. On this night only two BP taters for our waiters, and none in the first four innings. But in the fifth, Bonds, the Sultan of Splash, comes up. Six boats do the position dance.
Figone is especially edgy. Hoynes has beaten him to three bay bombs in a row.
There is a mash to deep right center. Is it long enough? Confusion. Did it clear? Suddenly, Figone sees the ball! Coming down not 25 feet from him! In a flash, Figone drops his wallet and beeper into the boat--"No, don't do it! It's a dork ball!" yelps Hoynes--and dives in!
Figone's got his hands on it! Then the Diamond Vision scoreboard in center shows a fan in the bleachers holding up a ball. Now a dread reality sets in Figone's eyes. He looks at his ball. In Magic Marker is scrawled one sickening word: SUCKER.
Giants Fans Come by Raft, Kayak, October 22, 2002, By Rob Gloster
ON MCCOVEY COVE, Calif. (AP) _ These Giants fans wear life preservers.
They come by schooner, kayak and raft. Some come to party, others hoping to catch a ball. And though they won't see a single pitch, they're a big part of the World Series scene at Pacific Bell Park.
They are the boaters and floaters who spend cold, damp nights in the murky gray-green water of McCovey Cove, where Barry Bonds homers occasionally go splash.
McCovey Cove has its own website, honoring guys such as TOM HOYNES, whose dinghy did not miss a game throughout the entire 2000 season--the team's first at Pac Bell Park.
There are few rules in the cove, except that no motors are allowed within 75 feet of shore. The San Francisco Port Commission imposed such restrictions after a motorized inflatable boat nearly collided with a surfer going after Ball No. 500.
Kayakers left empty-handed as few home runs leave the park
By Bay Area News Group |
PUBLISHED: July 9, 2007 at 9:05 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:03 a.m.
The regulars sported flags stating they were part of "Bonds Navy" and were led by TOM HOYNES, dubbed the Mayor of McCovey Cove.
The 58-year-old Hoynes holds the unofficial record of snaring nine splash hits, including eight from Bonds. He said the Bonds balls fetch anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 each, though he doesn't think the Home Run Derby balls will be worth much. "They aren't game balls," Hoynes said before the competition began. "They're not worth that much, if anything."
"He knows everything about the cove," said another longtime regular Dave Edlund. "He's been out here for seven years and through two wives."
Kayak Ball Catcher - September 19, 2003 - Robin Young, Co-Host, "Here & Now"
Forget Barry Bonds, kayaker TOM HOYNES is considered the Home Run King at the stadium where the San Francisco Giants play. During home games Tom can be seen in his kayak, behind right field, catching home run balls.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL, THE BARRY BONDS BASEBALL CASE - 2004
The McCovey Cove attracts a "flotilla" of treasure hunters. Mr. TOM HOYNES, a skilled and organized member of the "splash-hit brigade," retrieved eight of Bonds' home run balls from 2001 and 2002. As the 2001 season came to a close, bleacher bums had taken to writing the word "sucker" on real baseballs, and when Mr. Bonds hit a home run, they have been known to throw ten or fifteen sucker balls into McCovey Cove, delighting in watching the boaters paddling about after them.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - September 17, 2003
When Bonds Sends One Out, HOYNES Often Reels It In
A Kayaker Plies the Waters Outside PacBell Park; Tracking Hits by Radio
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106375133819632700
MEMORIES / CONDOLENCES:
Wow, thanks for the info Donna....although I hate to hear it. Tom was 4 months older than myself but was a wonderful boyhood friend. We used to have some great times on the mesa cliffs behind his house....I remember when his father helped us build a fort on one of the points out there and then put a plank bridge over to it. Good memories. Prayers for comfort to family & friends.
PHS Classmate Richard Leightner '67 (1958-1963 in Page, AZ)
Tom Hoynes, 72, was born on May 13, 1949 and passed away on July 9, 2021.
His arrangements are under the care of Neptune Society.
Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation.
"Page Pioneers" Tom Hoynes, his parents, Lovell Exley, Sr. & Leona Hoynes, and brothers, Exley, Jr. '60 and Pete Hoynes '64, arrived in Page the Summer of 1958. They lived on E Street next to the water tower in the MCS Trailer Park that summer then moved to an MCS home at 42 S Navajo Drive in Page about the time school started the 1958-1959 school year. [NOTE: Most of the first houses in Page were USBR houses, but the seven houses on South Navajo Drive and the MCS Guest House at 125 S Navajo Dr. were MCS-owned houses.]
Before arriving in Page, Tom's family lived at the Perry Lodge in Kanab, Utah, for a month or so. While there, the movie star, Clint Walker "a great guy", lived in the Perry Lodge room next to them while they were filming "Fort Dobbs". During that time, Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, ran around with the young actor, Richard Eyer, who played "Chad Gray" in the movie. Pete had a good time there.
After that, they moved to nearby Fredonia, AZ for the 1957-1958 school year, where Exley '60 was a Sophomore at FHS, Pete '64 was in Grade 6, and Tom '67 was in Grade 3. Tom attended Grades 4-10 in "America's Last Frontier"--Page, Arizona after they moved to Page the Summer of 1958.
Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, went to school in the third of the three Butler Buildings for 7th and 8th grades. His teachers were Steve O'Brien and Bruce Hart. Tom's brother, Exley Hoynes, Jr. '60 attended and graduated from St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, NM, after Fredonia HS. St. Michael's HS had dormitories, so was also a boarding school for students like Exley and his friend, Gary Latham '60. They met in 1957, when Gary lived in Orderville, Utah, and Exley lived in Fredonia, Arizona, and they remained close friends until Gary's death from ALS.
Tom transferred as a HS Junior to Lakewood HS, Lakewood, OH, and graduated there in 1967. He graduated from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus, in 1971. Tom was Captain of the LHS Varsity Swim Team as a Senior; he finished 8th in the State in the 400-yard freestyle, setting a new varsity record. Tom was Treasurer of the LHS Lettermen's Club as a Senior. At U of I, he was on the Swimming Team and a member of Alpha Deta Phi.
Tom was the namesake of his paternal grandfather, Thomas Maxwell Hoynes I (1870-1954). Thomas Maxwell Hoynes, Sr. was Mayor of Savannah from 1927-1927 (Appointed) and 1931-1933 (Elected). He was District Manager with Standard Oil Company at the time and went on a leave of absence. The story is that Standard Oil said, "politics or oil" and he went back to Standard Oil.
TOM HOYNES worked for the San Francisco Health Department --
Minutes of the Health Commission Meeting - Tuesday, November 5, 2002:
Response to Syphilis
San Francisco, as is true of other American cities with a large population of gay and bisexual men, continues to experience an increase in the number of syphilis cases. During the month of October, 56 early syphilis cases were reported. This is the largest number of cases reported for any one month this year. As of October 31st, a total of 429 early syphilis cases have been reported in the City. As has been the case all year, nearly all of the cases are among gay and bisexual men. Over 60% of the cases continue to be HIV positive and nearly 30% report using amphetamines during sex.
DPH is continuing to intensify our effort to reduce the number of new syphilis cases. In particular, three units within the Health Department have volunteered to temporarily detail staff to the STD Program to assist their staff with syphilis case management and follow-up of high-risk individuals. The three staff members who have been reassigned, Giuliano Nieri from the AIDS Office, THOMAS HOYNES from the TB CONTROL PROGRAM, and Uzziel Prado from Environmental Health, have all accepted the reassignment with enthusiasm and with a statement of their commitment to assist in helping to reduce the spread of STDs to the residents of San Francisco. This is an example of teamwork and collaboration among the various units in the Health Department and exemplifies everyone's commitment to public health.
TOM HOYNES' FAME AS "Mayor of McCovey Cove" - (some of the news articles):
CATCHER IN THE BAY / Fan prowls waters for homers splashing into McCovey Cove
By Carl Nolte - May 30, 2000 - Updated: Aug. 6, 2012 2:41 p.m.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda, CA shows up in his boat at every Giants home game to try to fish balls from San Francisco Bay.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda patrols the water in McCovey Cove hoping to catch home run balls hit over the right-field wall into the water. His is one of several boats that have taken to jockeying for position during Giants home games.
TOM HOYNES is 51, old for an athlete, but he plays the best position in baseball, patrolling the salt water outfield in a little cove in San Francisco Bay.
He is waiting for only one thing: a huge home run that must clear the right field wall at Pacific Bell Park and plop into the water at McCovey Cove just beyond.
If that happens, Hoynes powers his 10-foot inflatable Zodiac boat to the exact spot and tries to fish the ball out of the water.
It is a thing of timing and skill combined -- Hoynes must get there before any other boats and must get the ball in his net before it sinks.
Balls hit so hard and so far are rare: They are called "Splash Hits" and in the few weeks that Pac Bell Park has been open only four of them have been hit by the Giants, all by Barry Bonds. Hoynes has gotten three of the four.
Fishing these mighty trophies out of the bay is his avocation, the acme of life just now: like catching the perfect wave, like standing on the summit of Everest.
Such feats have rendered Hoynes nearly inarticulate. He is there, he said, simply, "to chase baseballs." He does it because he has a lot of vacation time from his job with the San Francisco Health Department just now.
He wears a black and orange Giants cap, carries a net long enough to land a wild salmon, shows up at every Giants home game, driving his tiny boat from the Fortman Marina in Alameda, eight miles in only 20 minutes. "Faster than you can drive," he says.
Pac Bell Park is the toast of the town, but he has never been inside.
There are are more than 40,000 fans in the new ballpark on a quiet weekday game afternoon, and the color of the people walking, sitting, watching, standing in the ballpark is a palpable presence on the water.
One can hear the game, but not see it: The announcements drift out over the water a word at a time, like a conversation that has been broken into little pieces and carried on the wind. Every so often, the crowd roars suddenly for some notable event.
Hoynes is listening to the game on the radio in his boat, circling slowly like a gull waiting for lunch to show up. When the ball rockets off the end of a bat -- "Back! Back! Back!" the announcer says, his voice rising, the crowd standing and yelling, the little boats roar into position, like sharks on the surface, waiting for that one moment.
Usually, the ball drops in for a hit or is caught, or bounces off the wall, or maybe goes into the stands. In the cove, they wait only for the monster hit by the great Bonds. Everything else is merely interesting.
Hoynes has the cove nearly to himself sometimes, but on weekends when the weather is nice and on special days, there is an armada.
The Giant Of McCovey Cove - Jul 31, 2000 - By Rick Reilly - Sports Illustrated
TOM HOYNES may be the only fisherman in the world who puts his catch in a safe-deposit box. That's because Hoynes, in his 10-foot dinghy, catches home runs. In fact, the 51-year-oldHoynes has four of the six splashdown homers clubbed into McCovey
Cove--the inlet behind the San Francisco Giants' new Pac Bell Park. He also has the first ball ever hit out of the stadium. He's landed about 200 batting-practice bay bombs, all of which he's thrown to kids on the pier. The game balls he Glad-bags and takes to the bank. He has to. He's been offered $10,000 for that first one, even though it was hit during an exhibition game.
"I'm doing this for one year," says Hoynes, who let me troll for horsehide with him during a recent game between the Giants and the Houston Astros. "Then I'm retiring. This job is too hard on the body."
You have no idea. First Hoynes, in a Zodiac inflatable with an outboard motor, has to beat his way across the waves of San Francisco Bay between his Alameda home and the ballpark, a trip that takes about 30 minutes. Once he gets to McCovey Cove, he's got to go up against kayaks, sailboats, charter boats, powerboats, swimmers and Portuguese water dogs, while girls on the pier flash their breasts at him and wise guys in the stands
throw fake home run balls trying to make him look stupid. All in the name of souvenirs.
Sometimes as many as 20 boats are out there, not including the booze cruises, the bachelor-party boats and the guy who paddled out on a palette tied to two surfboards. None of the other mariners are as prepared as our intrepid Homer of the Seas. On this night, for instance, the dinger dinghy is loaded with two oars, two big flares, two life jackets, two burritos, two bottles of water, a two-way radio, a transistor radio and a scouting report that tells him which pitchers tend to throw too many gopher balls to lefthanded hitters, who might just smash them out to "Wave Ave." Compared with Hoynes, these other ball hawks are kids playing in a bathtub.
"We see these guys come out on their first night, and first thing they do is drink a quart of apple juice," says Hoynes. "We know they'll be gone in a half hour trying to find a head somewhere." As for the six water dogs invited by the Giants to dunk for dongs, they get all the press, but they only come out on Saturdays and holidays and have yet to fetch even a batting practice ball. In fact, on July 4 the handlers couldn't get them
off the boat and into the water.
Just as well. It's dog-eat-dog out there already. Whenever a batter sends a ball the minimum 420 feet--over the right field wall, over the two rows of bleachers and over the public pier--into saltwater glory (says Barry Bonds, the only Giant to do it so far, "It ain't no joke hitting one into the water"), then a battle scene from Waterworld breaks out.
"It can get a little dangerous," says Hoynes. It's like a chunk of bread thrown in front of 50 starving ducks. Retrieving the first regular-season home run splashdown, Joseph Figone, a former Candlestick Park groundskeeper, nearly got his motorboat broken
in two when another one rammed him. "If he'd have hit me two feet back, he'd have sunk me," says Figone, who still has the ball. It'd be a lousy thing to have on your tombstone, wouldn't it?
WENT DOWN WITH SHIP
AND $9 BASEBALL
That's why Hoynes takes his role as senior fly-fisherman seriously. He is constantly retrieving fans' tickets, glass cases, little kids' caps and, occasionally, windswept money. He's got a mock trading card of himself. (Nets: Right. Steers: Right.) Oh, and he hopes to give Willie McCovey himself a night on the dinghy if he'd be willing. "Can't do it," says the 59-year-old McCovey, who sits in a luxury box instead. "Can't swim."
Just as well. On this night only two BP taters for our waiters, and none in the first four innings. But in the fifth, Bonds, the Sultan of Splash, comes up. Six boats do the position dance.
Figone is especially edgy. Hoynes has beaten him to three bay bombs in a row.
There is a mash to deep right center. Is it long enough? Confusion. Did it clear? Suddenly, Figone sees the ball! Coming down not 25 feet from him! In a flash, Figone drops his wallet and beeper into the boat--"No, don't do it! It's a dork ball!" yelps Hoynes--and dives in!
Figone's got his hands on it! Then the Diamond Vision scoreboard in center shows a fan in the bleachers holding up a ball. Now a dread reality sets in Figone's eyes. He looks at his ball. In Magic Marker is scrawled one sickening word: SUCKER.
Giants Fans Come by Raft, Kayak, October 22, 2002, By Rob Gloster
ON MCCOVEY COVE, Calif. (AP) _ These Giants fans wear life preservers.
They come by schooner, kayak and raft. Some come to party, others hoping to catch a ball. And though they won't see a single pitch, they're a big part of the World Series scene at Pacific Bell Park.
They are the boaters and floaters who spend cold, damp nights in the murky gray-green water of McCovey Cove, where Barry Bonds homers occasionally go splash.
McCovey Cove has its own website, honoring guys such as TOM HOYNES, whose dinghy did not miss a game throughout the entire 2000 season--the team's first at Pac Bell Park.
There are few rules in the cove, except that no motors are allowed within 75 feet of shore. The San Francisco Port Commission imposed such restrictions after a motorized inflatable boat nearly collided with a surfer going after Ball No. 500.
Kayakers left empty-handed as few home runs leave the park
By Bay Area News Group |
PUBLISHED: July 9, 2007 at 9:05 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:03 a.m.
The regulars sported flags stating they were part of "Bonds Navy" and were led by TOM HOYNES, dubbed the Mayor of McCovey Cove.
The 58-year-old Hoynes holds the unofficial record of snaring nine splash hits, including eight from Bonds. He said the Bonds balls fetch anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 each, though he doesn't think the Home Run Derby balls will be worth much. "They aren't game balls," Hoynes said before the competition began. "They're not worth that much, if anything."
"He knows everything about the cove," said another longtime regular Dave Edlund. "He's been out here for seven years and through two wives."
Kayak Ball Catcher - September 19, 2003 - Robin Young, Co-Host, "Here & Now"
Forget Barry Bonds, kayaker TOM HOYNES is considered the Home Run King at the stadium where the San Francisco Giants play. During home games Tom can be seen in his kayak, behind right field, catching home run balls.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL, THE BARRY BONDS BASEBALL CASE - 2004
The McCovey Cove attracts a "flotilla" of treasure hunters. Mr. TOM HOYNES, a skilled and organized member of the "splash-hit brigade," retrieved eight of Bonds' home run balls from 2001 and 2002. As the 2001 season came to a close, bleacher bums had taken to writing the word "sucker" on real baseballs, and when Mr. Bonds hit a home run, they have been known to throw ten or fifteen sucker balls into McCovey Cove, delighting in watching the boaters paddling about after them.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - September 17, 2003
When Bonds Sends One Out, HOYNES Often Reels It In
A Kayaker Plies the Waters Outside PacBell Park; Tracking Hits by Radio
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106375133819632700
MEMORIES / CONDOLENCES:
Wow, thanks for the info Donna....although I hate to hear it. Tom was 4 months older than myself but was a wonderful boyhood friend. We used to have some great times on the mesa cliffs behind his house....I remember when his father helped us build a fort on one of the points out there and then put a plank bridge over to it. Good memories. Prayers for comfort to family & friends.
PHS Classmate Richard Leightner '67 (1958-1963 in Page, AZ)
His arrangements are under the care of Neptune Society.
Neptune Society is the largest provider of affordable cremation services in the nation.
"Page Pioneers" Tom Hoynes, his parents, Lovell Exley, Sr. & Leona Hoynes, and brothers, Exley, Jr. '60 and Pete Hoynes '64, arrived in Page the Summer of 1958. They lived on E Street next to the water tower in the MCS Trailer Park that summer then moved to an MCS home at 42 S Navajo Drive in Page about the time school started the 1958-1959 school year. [NOTE: Most of the first houses in Page were USBR houses, but the seven houses on South Navajo Drive and the MCS Guest House at 125 S Navajo Dr. were MCS-owned houses.]
Before arriving in Page, Tom's family lived at the Perry Lodge in Kanab, Utah, for a month or so. While there, the movie star, Clint Walker "a great guy", lived in the Perry Lodge room next to them while they were filming "Fort Dobbs". During that time, Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, ran around with the young actor, Richard Eyer, who played "Chad Gray" in the movie. Pete had a good time there.
After that, they moved to nearby Fredonia, AZ for the 1957-1958 school year, where Exley '60 was a Sophomore at FHS, Pete '64 was in Grade 6, and Tom '67 was in Grade 3. Tom attended Grades 4-10 in "America's Last Frontier"--Page, Arizona after they moved to Page the Summer of 1958.
Tom's brother, Pete Hoynes '64, went to school in the third of the three Butler Buildings for 7th and 8th grades. His teachers were Steve O'Brien and Bruce Hart. Tom's brother, Exley Hoynes, Jr. '60 attended and graduated from St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, NM, after Fredonia HS. St. Michael's HS had dormitories, so was also a boarding school for students like Exley and his friend, Gary Latham '60. They met in 1957, when Gary lived in Orderville, Utah, and Exley lived in Fredonia, Arizona, and they remained close friends until Gary's death from ALS.
Tom transferred as a HS Junior to Lakewood HS, Lakewood, OH, and graduated there in 1967. He graduated from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus, in 1971. Tom was Captain of the LHS Varsity Swim Team as a Senior; he finished 8th in the State in the 400-yard freestyle, setting a new varsity record. Tom was Treasurer of the LHS Lettermen's Club as a Senior. At U of I, he was on the Swimming Team and a member of Alpha Deta Phi.
Tom was the namesake of his paternal grandfather, Thomas Maxwell Hoynes I (1870-1954). Thomas Maxwell Hoynes, Sr. was Mayor of Savannah from 1927-1927 (Appointed) and 1931-1933 (Elected). He was District Manager with Standard Oil Company at the time and went on a leave of absence. The story is that Standard Oil said, "politics or oil" and he went back to Standard Oil.
TOM HOYNES worked for the San Francisco Health Department --
Minutes of the Health Commission Meeting - Tuesday, November 5, 2002:
Response to Syphilis
San Francisco, as is true of other American cities with a large population of gay and bisexual men, continues to experience an increase in the number of syphilis cases. During the month of October, 56 early syphilis cases were reported. This is the largest number of cases reported for any one month this year. As of October 31st, a total of 429 early syphilis cases have been reported in the City. As has been the case all year, nearly all of the cases are among gay and bisexual men. Over 60% of the cases continue to be HIV positive and nearly 30% report using amphetamines during sex.
DPH is continuing to intensify our effort to reduce the number of new syphilis cases. In particular, three units within the Health Department have volunteered to temporarily detail staff to the STD Program to assist their staff with syphilis case management and follow-up of high-risk individuals. The three staff members who have been reassigned, Giuliano Nieri from the AIDS Office, THOMAS HOYNES from the TB CONTROL PROGRAM, and Uzziel Prado from Environmental Health, have all accepted the reassignment with enthusiasm and with a statement of their commitment to assist in helping to reduce the spread of STDs to the residents of San Francisco. This is an example of teamwork and collaboration among the various units in the Health Department and exemplifies everyone's commitment to public health.
TOM HOYNES' FAME AS "Mayor of McCovey Cove" - (some of the news articles):
CATCHER IN THE BAY / Fan prowls waters for homers splashing into McCovey Cove
By Carl Nolte - May 30, 2000 - Updated: Aug. 6, 2012 2:41 p.m.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda, CA shows up in his boat at every Giants home game to try to fish balls from San Francisco Bay.
TOM HOYNES of Alameda patrols the water in McCovey Cove hoping to catch home run balls hit over the right-field wall into the water. His is one of several boats that have taken to jockeying for position during Giants home games.
TOM HOYNES is 51, old for an athlete, but he plays the best position in baseball, patrolling the salt water outfield in a little cove in San Francisco Bay.
He is waiting for only one thing: a huge home run that must clear the right field wall at Pacific Bell Park and plop into the water at McCovey Cove just beyond.
If that happens, Hoynes powers his 10-foot inflatable Zodiac boat to the exact spot and tries to fish the ball out of the water.
It is a thing of timing and skill combined -- Hoynes must get there before any other boats and must get the ball in his net before it sinks.
Balls hit so hard and so far are rare: They are called "Splash Hits" and in the few weeks that Pac Bell Park has been open only four of them have been hit by the Giants, all by Barry Bonds. Hoynes has gotten three of the four.
Fishing these mighty trophies out of the bay is his avocation, the acme of life just now: like catching the perfect wave, like standing on the summit of Everest.
Such feats have rendered Hoynes nearly inarticulate. He is there, he said, simply, "to chase baseballs." He does it because he has a lot of vacation time from his job with the San Francisco Health Department just now.
He wears a black and orange Giants cap, carries a net long enough to land a wild salmon, shows up at every Giants home game, driving his tiny boat from the Fortman Marina in Alameda, eight miles in only 20 minutes. "Faster than you can drive," he says.
Pac Bell Park is the toast of the town, but he has never been inside.
There are are more than 40,000 fans in the new ballpark on a quiet weekday game afternoon, and the color of the people walking, sitting, watching, standing in the ballpark is a palpable presence on the water.
One can hear the game, but not see it: The announcements drift out over the water a word at a time, like a conversation that has been broken into little pieces and carried on the wind. Every so often, the crowd roars suddenly for some notable event.
Hoynes is listening to the game on the radio in his boat, circling slowly like a gull waiting for lunch to show up. When the ball rockets off the end of a bat -- "Back! Back! Back!" the announcer says, his voice rising, the crowd standing and yelling, the little boats roar into position, like sharks on the surface, waiting for that one moment.
Usually, the ball drops in for a hit or is caught, or bounces off the wall, or maybe goes into the stands. In the cove, they wait only for the monster hit by the great Bonds. Everything else is merely interesting.
Hoynes has the cove nearly to himself sometimes, but on weekends when the weather is nice and on special days, there is an armada.
The Giant Of McCovey Cove - Jul 31, 2000 - By Rick Reilly - Sports Illustrated
TOM HOYNES may be the only fisherman in the world who puts his catch in a safe-deposit box. That's because Hoynes, in his 10-foot dinghy, catches home runs. In fact, the 51-year-oldHoynes has four of the six splashdown homers clubbed into McCovey
Cove--the inlet behind the San Francisco Giants' new Pac Bell Park. He also has the first ball ever hit out of the stadium. He's landed about 200 batting-practice bay bombs, all of which he's thrown to kids on the pier. The game balls he Glad-bags and takes to the bank. He has to. He's been offered $10,000 for that first one, even though it was hit during an exhibition game.
"I'm doing this for one year," says Hoynes, who let me troll for horsehide with him during a recent game between the Giants and the Houston Astros. "Then I'm retiring. This job is too hard on the body."
You have no idea. First Hoynes, in a Zodiac inflatable with an outboard motor, has to beat his way across the waves of San Francisco Bay between his Alameda home and the ballpark, a trip that takes about 30 minutes. Once he gets to McCovey Cove, he's got to go up against kayaks, sailboats, charter boats, powerboats, swimmers and Portuguese water dogs, while girls on the pier flash their breasts at him and wise guys in the stands
throw fake home run balls trying to make him look stupid. All in the name of souvenirs.
Sometimes as many as 20 boats are out there, not including the booze cruises, the bachelor-party boats and the guy who paddled out on a palette tied to two surfboards. None of the other mariners are as prepared as our intrepid Homer of the Seas. On this night, for instance, the dinger dinghy is loaded with two oars, two big flares, two life jackets, two burritos, two bottles of water, a two-way radio, a transistor radio and a scouting report that tells him which pitchers tend to throw too many gopher balls to lefthanded hitters, who might just smash them out to "Wave Ave." Compared with Hoynes, these other ball hawks are kids playing in a bathtub.
"We see these guys come out on their first night, and first thing they do is drink a quart of apple juice," says Hoynes. "We know they'll be gone in a half hour trying to find a head somewhere." As for the six water dogs invited by the Giants to dunk for dongs, they get all the press, but they only come out on Saturdays and holidays and have yet to fetch even a batting practice ball. In fact, on July 4 the handlers couldn't get them
off the boat and into the water.
Just as well. It's dog-eat-dog out there already. Whenever a batter sends a ball the minimum 420 feet--over the right field wall, over the two rows of bleachers and over the public pier--into saltwater glory (says Barry Bonds, the only Giant to do it so far, "It ain't no joke hitting one into the water"), then a battle scene from Waterworld breaks out.
"It can get a little dangerous," says Hoynes. It's like a chunk of bread thrown in front of 50 starving ducks. Retrieving the first regular-season home run splashdown, Joseph Figone, a former Candlestick Park groundskeeper, nearly got his motorboat broken
in two when another one rammed him. "If he'd have hit me two feet back, he'd have sunk me," says Figone, who still has the ball. It'd be a lousy thing to have on your tombstone, wouldn't it?
WENT DOWN WITH SHIP
AND $9 BASEBALL
That's why Hoynes takes his role as senior fly-fisherman seriously. He is constantly retrieving fans' tickets, glass cases, little kids' caps and, occasionally, windswept money. He's got a mock trading card of himself. (Nets: Right. Steers: Right.) Oh, and he hopes to give Willie McCovey himself a night on the dinghy if he'd be willing. "Can't do it," says the 59-year-old McCovey, who sits in a luxury box instead. "Can't swim."
Just as well. On this night only two BP taters for our waiters, and none in the first four innings. But in the fifth, Bonds, the Sultan of Splash, comes up. Six boats do the position dance.
Figone is especially edgy. Hoynes has beaten him to three bay bombs in a row.
There is a mash to deep right center. Is it long enough? Confusion. Did it clear? Suddenly, Figone sees the ball! Coming down not 25 feet from him! In a flash, Figone drops his wallet and beeper into the boat--"No, don't do it! It's a dork ball!" yelps Hoynes--and dives in!
Figone's got his hands on it! Then the Diamond Vision scoreboard in center shows a fan in the bleachers holding up a ball. Now a dread reality sets in Figone's eyes. He looks at his ball. In Magic Marker is scrawled one sickening word: SUCKER.
Giants Fans Come by Raft, Kayak, October 22, 2002, By Rob Gloster
ON MCCOVEY COVE, Calif. (AP) _ These Giants fans wear life preservers.
They come by schooner, kayak and raft. Some come to party, others hoping to catch a ball. And though they won't see a single pitch, they're a big part of the World Series scene at Pacific Bell Park.
They are the boaters and floaters who spend cold, damp nights in the murky gray-green water of McCovey Cove, where Barry Bonds homers occasionally go splash.
McCovey Cove has its own website, honoring guys such as TOM HOYNES, whose dinghy did not miss a game throughout the entire 2000 season--the team's first at Pac Bell Park.
There are few rules in the cove, except that no motors are allowed within 75 feet of shore. The San Francisco Port Commission imposed such restrictions after a motorized inflatable boat nearly collided with a surfer going after Ball No. 500.
Kayakers left empty-handed as few home runs leave the park
By Bay Area News Group |
PUBLISHED: July 9, 2007 at 9:05 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2016 at 6:03 a.m.
The regulars sported flags stating they were part of "Bonds Navy" and were led by TOM HOYNES, dubbed the Mayor of McCovey Cove.
The 58-year-old Hoynes holds the unofficial record of snaring nine splash hits, including eight from Bonds. He said the Bonds balls fetch anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 each, though he doesn't think the Home Run Derby balls will be worth much. "They aren't game balls," Hoynes said before the competition began. "They're not worth that much, if anything."
"He knows everything about the cove," said another longtime regular Dave Edlund. "He's been out here for seven years and through two wives."
Kayak Ball Catcher - September 19, 2003 - Robin Young, Co-Host, "Here & Now"
Forget Barry Bonds, kayaker TOM HOYNES is considered the Home Run King at the stadium where the San Francisco Giants play. During home games Tom can be seen in his kayak, behind right field, catching home run balls.
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL, THE BARRY BONDS BASEBALL CASE - 2004
The McCovey Cove attracts a "flotilla" of treasure hunters. Mr. TOM HOYNES, a skilled and organized member of the "splash-hit brigade," retrieved eight of Bonds' home run balls from 2001 and 2002. As the 2001 season came to a close, bleacher bums had taken to writing the word "sucker" on real baseballs, and when Mr. Bonds hit a home run, they have been known to throw ten or fifteen sucker balls into McCovey Cove, delighting in watching the boaters paddling about after them.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - September 17, 2003
When Bonds Sends One Out, HOYNES Often Reels It In
A Kayaker Plies the Waters Outside PacBell Park; Tracking Hits by Radio
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106375133819632700
MEMORIES / CONDOLENCES:
Wow, thanks for the info Donna....although I hate to hear it. Tom was 4 months older than myself but was a wonderful boyhood friend. We used to have some great times on the mesa cliffs behind his house....I remember when his father helped us build a fort on one of the points out there and then put a plank bridge over to it. Good memories. Prayers for comfort to family & friends.
PHS Classmate Richard Leightner '67 (1958-1963 in Page, AZ)
