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Dads' Favorite Things

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Fathers share their gift thoughts. Top row: Derrick Brooks, Joe Maddon, Steve Hogue and Don Zimmer. Bottom row: Rick Baker, Ferdie Pacheco, Tony Dungy and Butch Ryan.

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By LENNY SAVINO

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 13, 2008

What do dads want on Father's Day? (Besides full control of the remote and a bottomless snack tray?)

You may be surprised.

Out with pricey monogrammed shirts, ties and golf balls, say some local dads. In with heartfelt ''I love you'' cards, poems, letters, phone calls and text messages.

Handcrafted cards complete with misspelled endearments score highest among our surveyees and top the list for Most Likely to Be Saved Forever.

If you insist on a formal present, the dads say, practical scores. An inexpensive gift card from a favorite restaurant or home-supply center works nicely.

Derrick Brooks, Longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker

(Father of four children, ages 2 to 13)

Growing up in Pensacola, Brooks learned about gift-giving from his stepdad.

''He taught me that gifting is more spiritual — more about being together — than material,'' Brooks says. ''It's not really about what you give; it's how you give.''

His dad loved to fish, so the family usually gave him accessories such as lures, boots or hats.

On Father's Day, Brooks expects golf toys and homemade cards. Cards are the best, he says. ''They're the most memorable.''

Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays manager, beloved by fans for this year's winning season

(Father of two in their 20s)

Growing up in Hazleton, Pa., Maddon gave his father either after-shave lotion, cologne or Phillies Cheroot cigars on Father's Day.

''My dad was a very simple man who didn't require much,'' he says.

He feels the same way. On Father's Days, Maddon gets phone calls, text messages and cards from his children.

''They check in.''

Steve Hogue, Tampa police chief

(Father of two and grandfather of one)

With a daughter working in Iraq, Hogue says the greatest Father's Day present would be for the entire family to celebrate at his home. That being improbable, he'll settle for a gift card from The Home Depot. He's an avid do-it-yourselfer who still does oil changes and brake jobs on his cars. Presently, he's refurbishing his lawn-sprinkler system.

''I've had my share of shirts, ties and golf balls,'' Hogue says. ''If I had my druthers, it would be the gift card. Home Depot is only a mile from home, and I'm always there picking something up.''

Don Zimmer, Tampa Bay Rays senior baseball adviser

(Father of two, grandfather of four)

This is Zimmer's 60th year in professional baseball. He owns six World Series rings. Zimmer and his high school sweetheart, Jean (''Soot''), were married Aug. 16, 1951, at home plate in a baseball stadium in Elmira, N.Y.

Growing up in Cincinnati, Zimmer says his father always got caramel candies for Father's Day from Fanny Farmer's candy shop.

''He loved candy.''

Zimmer prefers gift cards to his favorite seafood and Italian eateries.

''I take a lot of people out to eat,'' he says. ''Gift cards are the best.''

Rick Baker, Guitar player, author, lawyer and mayor of St. Petersburg

(Father of two middle schoolers)

Every Father's Day, his dad asked for checkered green-plaid golf socks.

''It was a family joke. My father was an avid golfer, and he loved those socks,'' Baker says.

What Father's Day gifts does Baker like most? Homemade cards with original poems and ceramic knickknacks his children make at a nearby pottery shop.

''Anything the kids like, I really like,'' he says.

Ferdie Pacheco, The ''Fight Doctor'' grew up and worked in his father's pharmacy in Ybor City, became a family physician and the personal physician to boxer Muhammad Ali. Pacheco also went on to become a well-known sports broadcaster and an accomplished author and painter.

(Father of four, grandfather of two)

Growing up, Pacheco used to give his father a carton of Old Gold cigarettes on Father's Day. Today, his children know what he wants: books, especially about Hollywood, the Civil War and World War II. They often provide inspiration for his artwork.

''I may turn a book into a $5,000 painting,'' he says.

Tony Dungy, Coach of the Indianapolis Colts (and formerly of the Buccaneers)

(Father of six children, ages 2 to 23)

''What I enjoy most about Father's Day is to see the little ones get so excited about giving,'' Dungy says.

Dungy's father was a college science teacher, and his mother taught high school English when Dungy was growing up in Jackson, Mich. He remembers giving his dad ties, socks and cards made in school. Nowadays, the Dungys usually celebrate Father's Day by going out for a meal together.

Butch Ryan, Wharton High School English teacher and leader of The Butch Ryan Band

(Father of one teenager)

Baseball has been an integral part of Butch's Father's Day history. Both he and his dad were serious Rays and Cubs fans. Butch gave his dad baseball caps and jerseys, and now his son does the same for him, plus Tom Petty CDs. All three generations attended games together or watched them on television.

By some incredible stroke of Father's Day luck, Butch wound up teaching baseball legend Wade Boggs' son at Wharton High. Butch and Boggs became good friends.

Coincidentally, Boggs was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at the same time as Ryne Sandberg — the famed Chicago Cubs second baseman for whom Ryan's son is named. Boggs arranged for the Ryans to sit in VIP seats at the induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.

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