Coach and player, photographer and son: All of the ways that the Horwedels connected through baseball

For Eamon Horwedel, there’s no baseball without his father, Lon.

It’s something they shared together starting from Eamon’s toddler years to this past season, the final one of his collegiate career. Never more than a few steps away, Lon switched his caps from dad to coach to photographer as he watched his son grow up on the diamond.

At just two years old, Eamon started playing catch with his dad. Eamon himself can’t even remember when the baseball was first put in his hand, but what he did remember was jumping and subsequently falling into the grass as Lon threw balls just out of Eamon’s reach. All he wanted to do was make countless diving catches. And soon enough, his dad caught on. 

“We used to call him ‘MacDiver’,” Lon told The Michigan Daily, referencing MacGyver. “I would just throw balls just so he would make a diving catch for it in the backyard.”

In time, Eamon traded his backyard for the baseball diamond as the father-son duo ventured into the world of competitive baseball. 

***

Even at six or seven years old, Lon saw something special in his son’s skills. While his teammates frolicked or picked grass in the outfield, Eamon’s abilities were years ahead of his peers. He made consistent catches whether they were hit straight to him, or even if he got to make a diving play — his favorite. He was developing his game, and quickly. 

And even though the pitching mound became the final destination in his collegiate career, it wasn’t Eamon’s first stop. In fact, he tried out almost every other position. 

During his youth-ball days, Eamon made his way all over the diamond throughout a game. While he might’ve played first base for a few innings, he would pop up at shortstop as the pitching changes occurred or find himself back in the outfield. And when the time came this past season, he found himself at third base for a single inning, just like he was a kid all over again. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter where Eamon played as long as he was playing  — he just loved the game of baseball. 

Not only did Eamon relish the various perspectives each position offered, but he excelled at them. Until eventually, the mound became his home.

“I never thought he would be a pitcher because he was such a good baseball player,” Lon said. “We had so many gloves in our house, it was crazy because he just likes playing every position.”

As Eamon shifted swiftly from one position to another, Lon experienced his son’s versatility firsthand when he took on a new role as his coach. 

But the shift from parent to coach doesn’t always have a happy ending. Some parents choose the favoritism route while others jump to the opposite end, diverting to criticism. But for the Horwedels, their healthy relationship with each other and baseball blossomed right in the sweet spot. 

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel

The key to their successful dynamic was respect. Knowing that as a coach and player, there wasn’t special treatment, positive or negative. And during their years together, the memories Eamon and Lon made on the field held incomparable significance, because they got to do it with each other. 

But while Lon’s coaching cap was on, his dad cap was still there. Lon always photographed his son’s baseball journey, and he didn’t let the new coaching role change that. As a professional photographer, he made sure Eamon’s baseball career was well-documented from beginning to end. Once a season, Lon handed off his coaching responsibilities to another parent as he took his chance to get behind the camera. Because while coaching was important, capturing those moments wasn’t a question of if, but when.

Being side-by-side for so many years on the diamond, the father-son duo has made plenty of memories. But when asked about a moment that sticks out, Eamon began to laugh as he recalled his dad pulling him out of one of their youth-ball games. 

The story goes like this: There was a runner on first base when a rocket was launched to right field. As the right fielder made a diving catch, the runner sprinted all the way to third base and had to scamper back where Eamon — who was playing first base at the time — awaited him. But instead of immediately recording the out, he slowly stepped to the bag, taunting the runner with each step. Until finally he stepped on the base, mere seconds before the runner reached it. 

“As soon as I did that, my dad rips into me a bit and takes me out of the game,” Eamon told The Daily. “I just immediately knew I totally screwed up. That’s not a glamorous moment, but that’s the one I always think of and that I’ll always remember. It’s a good memory and because at the same time, I learned my lesson. It kind of shaped the way that I treated the game a little bit differently after that.”.

Even with the many lessons learned on the diamond, the cherished moments didn’t always occur during games.

The moments that come easily to Eamon’s mind are the rides home from the field, talking about the plays or playing wiffle ball in their driveway. From the beginning of summer well into the fall weather, the pair lived and breathed baseball. It was never constricted to just the baseball season, but that’s what Eamon wanted to do all the time and Lon was happy to support it. 

And that often meant pulling out the gloves early in the morning.

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel

The school Eamon went to was only a block away from the Horwedel house. The duo walked to school early in the morning, trying to fit in a game of catch before the bell rung. And once it did, Lon headed home with the two gloves in hand. 

It didn’t matter where or when, they found a way to play.

As Eamon transitioned into high school and eventually college, Lon’s coaching cap came off, but he still stayed involved in his son’s baseball world. When Eamon committed to Ohio University to play collegiate baseball, Lon wasn’t able to make the trip from their home in Ann Arbor as often as he wanted, yet still he continued to photograph as many games as he could for the college. But then, with two years of eligibility left, Eamon made his way back to his hometown to spend his final seasons on the field for Michigan. 

With his son playing basically in his backyard, it meant Lon’s camera was back out and weekends were spent snapping shots at Ray Fisher Stadium. 

Besides having a friendly face in the crowd, Eamon had something that his fellow teammates or his competitors didn’t: his own personal liberty of seeing frame by frame shots of his pitching.

“It always makes me a better baseball player too,” Eamon said. “I’ll go ‘Hey can I see the pictures you took of me?’ and I can look at my mechanics. A lot of other players don’t have that access that I have. But I have that because of him. So many great things that come because of him being a photographer and being around me all the time.”

Lon can take each of those photos to tell different stories. Behind the camera, he got to play a large role in telling Eamon’s.

***

In his junior year as a Bobcat, Eamon battled a shoulder injury that questioned his ability to ever pitch again. But from all those years ago playing catch on the way to school, he knew not playing wasn’t an option. So he found a new way to make that happen. 

Eamon realized he had to find a new way to pitch without further damaging his shoulder, and decided he was going to teach himself to pitch sidearm. He threw a football around while watching hours of videos to figure out the arm slot. By his senior year, he dominated with his sidearm angle and his ability to make a switch that far in his career contributed to him earning a spot as a Wolverine.

Even as the remnants of the injury followed Eamon to Michigan, Lon was there whether it was midweek games or the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha with his camera in hand. 

With this past season being Eamon’s final year of collegiate baseball, Lon had a front row seat and the perfect view to capture a chapter closing. And even though Eamon wasn’t able to be on the field as much because of his injuries, Lon caught the unconventional moments to commemorate his time as a player.

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel

“As far as being his dad and being a photographer, it’s been fun this past season,” Lon said. “I’ve tried to document more than just pitching. I’ve tried to document quiet moments in the dugout or pregame because I knew this was his last hurrah. When we were in Omaha for the Big Ten Tournament, I was starting to get a bit emotional because I was taking pictures of him just kind of looking over the field.”  

With one door closing, another opens as the two now have more time to experience baseball together, side-by-side.

When Eamon isn’t playing and Lon is shooting other teams or sports, sometimes the two do it together. From snapping shots at Detroit Tigers games to covering Lions games with Eamon assisting, the two continue to find ways to share the thing they both love: sports. 

While Eamon’s time playing for the Wolverines has come to a close, his dad will be there next year ready to take photos of the players he’s come to know as his son will get to cheer on his former teammates as well.

Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel

But even as the two move into this new phase of their relationship with each other, one thing is for certain:

Baseball will be there. 

For the first time in years, the duo will get to go to a baseball game. Not with one taking photos and the other on the field, but rather in the stands, together, simply enjoying the game of baseball.

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