One of the great things about research is the discovery of interesting items not on your research list. I am dating myself but when I was a school aged lad, we had to go to the library and read books, encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases to gain information for research. Once inside those pieces of information, often times I would find an interesting topic on the same page or an adjacent page, read up on that, and thus becoming doubly smart. Okay enough about the olden days – let’s get back to the fun of finding things by accident. Case in point, last weekend I went searching for my old apartment complex in Virginia Beach and spotted Providence Park, which led me to the Kempsville Pony League and Kempes Landing and two amazing pieces of Virginia Beach baseball history. Success on many, many levels.
While at Kempse Landing Park, I decided to check out the high school baseball field at nearby Kempsville High School. The High School is literally on the back side of the park. And so with a quick U-Turn down Kempsville Rd to Chiefs Trail, around the back of the school buildings, next to the football field, and into the parking lot of the baseball field I went. It is winter, so the field is on its way back from hibernation. Still, it was great to locate it and I hope to catch a game or two there this Spring.
When I returned home, my curiosity for Kempsville High School alumni was quickly satisfied by a quick Google Search of the school. Actually the list is quite impressive. Actors, musicians, professional athletes, prominent local politicians – quite the alumni list I would say:
- JR Reid, North Carolina Tarheel star, NBA player
- Lady Miss Kier from the band Deee-Lite
- Jason George, actor Grey’s Anatomy
- Al Gettel, former MLB Pitcher whom I read about him in the Kempsville Pony League piece
And one very famous two-way athlete whose sports resume has very few peers, other than Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Bryan Jordan. That player, is former Kempsville High School multi sport star D.J. Dozier. I decided to take a closer look at Dozier’s baseball career:
Here is the interesting thing about Dozier’s stats. They came after he had a tremendous football career at Penn State University and shortly after he began a professional career as a running back in the National Football League. Here is Dozier running through and over defenders in the National Championship game, 1987, vs Miami:
You want to get in that guy’s way??? I don’t think so. One other thing I should mention about Dozier. He was actually drafted in the 1983 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers after his senior year at Kempsville High School. Recruited and played for a top level college football program, drafted out of high school to play professional baseball? Wow, what a talent.
D.J. Dozier played several years in professional baseball and football. His cup of coffee in professional baseball came in 1992 with the New York Mets. 25 games, 50 plate appearances, 9 hits. Dozier played 5 seasons in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals after his brilliant career at Penn State University. Stats aside, he played both simultaneously for a number of years. That accomplishment has only been achieved by a handful of athletes over the years.
Many have played two sports in college. Some have played professional football, retired, then went to professional baseball and vice versa. But to play in two very high levels of two sports, that puts Dozier in rare air in terms of all-time great athletes. It was great researching Kempsville High School and learning about one of its famous alumni, D.J. Dozier. A generational talent that played both professional baseball and football. Just incredible!!!
The Rhiter 
Leave a Reply