MLB great’s son prepares for career in baseball – FOX 13 News, Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) – Lakewood High’s Bo Bichette was born with baseball in his blood and he hopes, one day, to carry his father’s major league legacy.

Bichette is rated as one of the best high school prospects in the nation. His father, Dante, is a four-time All-Star with 13 years of MLB experience. Bo hopes the phrase, “like father, like son,” will help define his future.

Bo Bichette is home schooled so he can work on his game and his education. How he ended up at Lakewood High for the last three years was pure luck.

It’s not often that you walk through a city park and see a former Major League star hitting the ball around with his son, but that’s exactly what happened to Lakewood High head coach Jayce Ganchou. Lucky for him, he recognized Dante Bichette and it led to Bo playing for Lakewood High.

“Everyone always says ‘five tool [player].’  He’s a sixth tool because his brain is just bleeding baseball,” Ganchou said.

Bichette committed to play baseball at Arizona State and will be a high draft pick come June.

If he had listened to his dad, however, he would already be a professional — but not in baseball.

“Tennis is his dream, for sure,” Bo Bichette explained. “He’s always wanted me to play. He said he’s dealt with the politics of baseball his whole life.”

“Yeah, I tried hard to push him to tennis because… nobody writes the lineup, you know,” Dante explained.

Bo Bichette jokes with his dad, saying he made the right decision.

“I think he did alright. It looks like it now,” Dante said.

Bo Bichette was too young to remember how good his Dad was, in his day. So he often has to get a fatherly lesson.

“I have to straighten him out every once and a while, because there will be a guy pitching [on TV] and I’m like, ‘Bo, I use to hit that guy good.’ He’s like, ‘You couldn’t touch that guy.’ So I have to break out the numbers and show him that pop could hit a little bit,” Dante explained. 

In a family full of baseball talent, the debate now becomes: Who gets to brag about being the best?

“Maybe my dad would be better to ask that,” Bo deferred.

“Oh man, I would get in trouble if I tried to answer that question,” Dante said, laughing.