(#68)
During my first season at Magnolia Academy in 1977, I put on a suicide squeeze play. Everybody used to do it a lot back in those days. Not so much now. Especially the suicide squeeze. Too much pressure. 😁
Richard Kelly was the bunter and Ricky Chisolm was the baserunner at third. Chisolm broke for the plate just as he was supposed to and was at the mercy of Kelly to protect him and get the bunt down.
He didn’t. He bunted right through it.
Somehow, Chisolm scored anyway, but I immediately started chewing on poor Richard for missing the bunt. It was loud and everyone could hear it. He took it well.
I was a tad bit cocky and pretty tough on those guys in my younger days. In fact, I was so hard on them that one of the dads, Gerald Gelston gave me the nickname “Little Hitler.”
But I couldn’t do it any other way. I learned all those things from my high school coach Bill “Moose” Perry and he learned them from his mentor, the great D.M. Howie. I had no chance. It was what I had to endure when I played high school baseball.
On the next pitch, Richard, not normally a home run hitter, hit a towering bomb out of the park to right field. It was a pretty impressive shot, I might add.
As he rounded second base, I noticed he was a little hesitant about coming towards third where I was standing.
When he came around third, I shook his hand and said to him, “Now that’s the way to tell your coach to kiss your $&#.”
Most players would think it. Some would say it to themselves. But in the end, that Ruthian bomb to the opposite field was the perfect way to say it without having to pay the price for it later.
Most of the kids today would still be crying or in therapy. They would have struck out, blamed it on me, cried to their parents who would call the athletic director to complain and try to get me fired.
The latter has happened a few too many times over the years at Hinds, Pearl, Hillcrest, but not at Magnolia Academy, where the kids were tough-minded and could take anything you dished out and their parents demanded it.
Self-esteem was a personal issue, not a family affair. The kids would get a dose of it from me and then get another dose from their parents when they got home.
During our record setting 40 win season in 1981, Jeff McClaskey, one of the superstars on that team, did the exact same thing.
And he got chewed out, too, and took it like a man. But, this time the runner got tagged out.
He didn’t want to bunt. I could see it in his eyes when I gave him the sign. And then he hit a pretty impressive home run on the very next pitch.
But “Flap” was just a tad bit more cocky than Richard. Okay, a lot more cocky than Richard. As he rounded third base he had that look on his face like he wanted tell me to kiss his $#% and for all to see. And because of that, I didn’t shake his hand when he went by.
When he trotted out to center field, somebody had already taken his place. I don’t even know who the player was or if he could even play center field. That was not the point. I just grabbed someone by the shirt and told him to hurry up and get to center field before McClaskey did.
When Jeff got there, he was surprised and then made that embarrassing return to the dugout. He said to me, “But I hit a home run!” and I replied, “I didn’t tell you to hit a home run, I told you to bunt,” and went on with my business. Sports psychology at its finest.
Could he have gotten the ball down if he wanted to? Yes, of course he could. He could do anything he wanted to do.
I forgave him pretty quickly. He was a stud and was back in the leadoff spot and in center field the very next game. And to be honest with you, I don’t believe he had ever been taken out of a game or sat on the bench in his life. 🙂
Lessons learned: Be coachable. Do what you’re asked to do. It’s not going to kill you to take a little chewing every now and then. That which does not kill us will make us stronger.
Jeff recently retired after 34 years coaching high school baseball. He knows exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.
Comments:
Richard Kelly– “Most un-celebrated homer I ever hit!! My parents were about 15 ft from Coach. 🙂 I deserved it.”
Jeff McClaskey– “This is a true story and I did not miss another sign.”
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 