Tag: Majpr League Baseball

Opening Day – Appy Style

I attended seven opening days in Major League Baseball amd there is nothing like it. I also was in uniform for twenty six in the minor league opening nights but never one in the Appalachian League. On this day, the Flyboys of Greenville travel to Elizabethton,Tn. It is a commuter trip, meaning we drive to the city, play and return home after the game. This field in Elizabethton is the smallest in all of minor league baseball There are three sets of grandstands, each very different from the other. The clubhouse is “ dusty”,the playing surface is adequate for this league. The scoreboard does not work, almost like the season has snuck up on the fine folks there. The mounds are flat -both game and bullpen. This ballpark sits on the Watauga River. The Watauga runs from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina into Eastern Tennessee. The river that rubs aside the ballpark is beautiful

The game is nearly underway. A former player of mine is the manager for newly coined River Riders. The attendance is sparse, the excitement and energy from the players is not. The teams, battle for nine innings. Some sloppy play from time to time but expected as each team had one workout before opening day. Let not one forget, these excitable players are collegians not paid professionals. Intensity, hustle and effort spilled out from initial pitch to last swing of the bat. The Flyboys fall in the season opener by one run. The men played hard, tomorrow is a new day and I can’t wait to be a part of it.

Meeting The Flyboys

The inaugural season for the USA Baseball and MLB run Appalachian League starts one day after reporting day. The day before our first and only preseason workout we board a bus headed to East Tennessee State University baseball stadium. The team has 16 pitchers to begin the season. I have researched the players on the roster. I am trying to learn as much as I can about each athlete before meeting them in person.

The teamed donned these sweet Appy league tee shirts and shorts on this warm, muggy Tennessee afternoon. I have roster in hand so that I can learn the names of the players as quickly as possible. Oh man did we make a blunder the initial day. We wore the shirts with no numbers on the back. After a team briefing from the manager, coaches, medical team and USA Baseball personnel, I can get my first sit down with the pitchers.

I have learned over the years how short the attention span of us males can be- well limited. So, I am going to be loud, to the point, make it light, informative and humorous to break up the conversation. The most glaring issue is who is this guy talking, me. So an introduction of my playing and coaching history is the leadoff hitter. Secondly is finding out who is ready to pitch the next day. By the end of the workout I announced who will toe the rubber the first two days of the season. It did make me feel uncomfortable asking a pitcher who is in the middle of throwing a bullpen , “ what is your name again”. Well, we made it through the first day despite not knowing anyone’s name. In professional baseball the coaches are called by their first name, not coach. But these kids call me coach, which on the inside makes me smile. Coach is the second greatest moniker, next to Dad!! Tomorrow, is a commuter trip to play in Elizabethton, Tn. A new adventure, a new city and a new league kicks it out tomorrow.

Fired

On April 18, 2018 the Cincinnati Reds lost 2-0 in Milwaukee to the Brewers which dropped the team record to a woeful 3-15 mark. Soon after the team’s charter flight landed in St. Louis, the buses pulled up to the hotel, I was summoned to manager Bryan Price’s room. The entire coaching staff was crammed inside, along with the medical staff and other members of the traveling party. I was informed that I has been fired, along side Bryan, who delivered the news. The room was quiet briefly before Mr. Price began to speak, eloquently as always. I just could not hang around to listen, so many things were running through my head. I told the group I would ” see them on the other side” as I slid out the backdoor. I have worked in this organization for 32 years. Gathering my thoughts I called my former wife to let her know what happened and everything would be fine. Most importantly, call our children so they hear it from her rather seeing it on a ticker at the bottom of an ESPN broadcast. I also had a text message waiting from the general manager of the team to come to his room as well. It was an eerie walk , but is part of a coach’s or athlete’s life. That does not make it any easier. The men were cordial, direct and I was told ownership wanted a new voice- and basically that was it. I had a feeling this was coming, just the vibe I had been given since an encounter with ownership during spring training at a party that featured all the owners and staff for a gorgeous dinner on the side of Camelback Mountain.

I walked quickly to my room to pack and sort out thoughts. The traveling secretary, handled the travel back to Cincinnati where a driver took me to the stadium. The clubhouse attendants are waiting to help, the security team is there to help, all involved are truly professional as I pack my things. A person can accumulate a plethora of items working somewhere for eight years and it took some time to consider which belongings were was junk, what I wanted to take home. I spent hours going through paper work, disc drives, computer documents as well as clothes, shoes, gloves. I was finally ready to say goodbye to the place I loved to come to work to every day. I even showed up to work when there was no game that day. I signed a professional contract with the Reds in 1986. A legendary scout, George Zuraw, tendered my first contract. He told me the day my contract was inked to not be afraid to be the first one there(at the ballpark) and the last one to leave, I did that every day for over 31 years. I walked out of the stadium for the final time that day with my head held high.