TORONTO – Marvell Wynne Sr. never won a World Series ring during his eight-year baseball career in the big leagues.
But that championship void in the Wynne household may soon be filled by his son and namesake, who can win his first MLS Cup title when the Colorado Rapids play FC Dallas on Sunday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Galavisión, TSN2).
Although he will not be in attendance at BMO Field, the senior Wynne shared some words of advice with his son, a central defender for the Rapids, ahead of the championship showdown.
“He said he was very proud of me,” the younger Wynne said. “He told me: ‘Don’t try to do anything different. Don’t be nervous. Go out and play your game, because you’re here for a reason. You’ve played consistently throughout the year.’”
The closest the elder Wynne came to a World Series was in 1989 as a member of the Chicago Cubs, winning the National League East but bowing out at the hands of the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series.
But that success didn’t necessarily resonate with the younger Wynne, who was just three years old at the time.
“He won something with Chicago maybe a division of some sort,” the Rapids defender. “He has some kind of picture up.”
The younger Wynne says he never took a baseball career seriously, and his dad supported his path to soccer success.
Rapids manager Gary Smith, for one, is glad he did. The Englishman converted Wynne into a center back after acquiring him in a trade with Toronto FC in March. He went on to start 27 of 30 regular season matches in 2010, and the Rapids allowed the fifth fewest goals in MLS.
“His defensive qualities had always been very, very good,” Smith said. “It’s not just the asset of his pace. He’s a very strong and competitive individual. And very durable.
“I always thought he might be able to do a good job in the middle. He leaps like a stag. He gets off the floor extremely well. In one-v-one situations he’s very, very good. … He’s proven me right.”
