The “Moose” Has Been “Loosed!”

(#192)
By Kendall Smith
(Special for Mississippi Scoreboard)

Saturday, August 10th, the Mississippi baseball community lost a legendary coach, advocate, teacher, and Hall of Famer.

More importantly, thousands of students, players, friends, homeless street people, and church congregations lost an even greater man.

Coach William A. “Moose” Perry lost a lengthy battle and courageous fight with Parkinson’s, along with a myriad of other health problems. He NEVER quit fighting, NEVER complained, and NEVER stopped sharing his faith…. even when it was exceedingly difficult to speak.

Writing about the life of Coach Perry, one would be drawn to speaking with a few of his players that made it to “The Show,” Major League Baseball. No conversation would fail to mention Stan and Stewart Cliburn, the stars of his 1974 Forest Hill State Championship squad.

And of course there is Chad Bradford, the legendary “submariner” that pitched for many years for multiple MLB teams. Legend has it that Coach Perry told him to try that approach, since he was not having much success with a traditional delivery.

Oftentimes in life, the most successful people often touch and influence the lives of the unknown. Such is the case in the conversations I had recently with several former players who have been impacted by Coach Perry to this day.

Richard Willis transferred to Northwest Rankin High School in the fall of 1985, with the primary goal of playing for a talented team with skillful players and incredible coaches. “For me, baseball was always the avenue that allowed me the luxury of making friends.”

“It was the only thing I was good at, and I probably owe more than half of my friends and relationships to the game of baseball.”

Fast forward to the month of December 1985. During a routine physical, doctors found a small mass during an examination. Diagnosis? Cancer. Surgical removal ASAP.

Off to St. Dominic’s, I’ll never forget the first face I saw, other than my parents.
Coach Perry.

“Knowing Moose the way we all do now, it is no surprise that he’d be the first one to show up for some young kid he barely knew. He put his hand on my left shoulder, took my other hand and prayed, and not some generic prayer. He genuinely prayed.”

“I’d known God my whole life, but it was the first time I ever truly felt God’s peace take over a room.”

The next day, (oddly Friday, the 13th), Richard’s doctor came into his room and ordered all the nurses there who were preparing him for surgery to leave.

“Yesterday, you had cancer…today you DON’T.”

Richard quickly added that he did not view Coach Perry as a faith healer, but as a child of God that believed in the power of prayer.

Jay Hill was another player that arrived at Northwest through a wandering journey. His childhood included multiple moves, a few separations and divorces by his mom, and constantly being shuffled around. After another marriage, his mom moved to a location near the Reservoir, enabling Jay to attend and play at NWR.

Once again, circumstances necessitated a move mid-year to South Jackson to live with his stepfather. His dreams of playing for Coach Perry, D. M. Howie, and others seemed dashed. And again, Moose came to the rescue. Each morning around 6:00 AM, Coach Perry, who lived in South Jackson at the time, would come by and pick up Jay and carry him to school, and home again after practice.

“We’d talk about the Lord on the long trip to school.” Coach Perry would talk to me about life, overcoming the challenges I’d had, and he made sure I had a solid relationship with Christ.”

Today, Jay has recently celebrated 30 years of marriage, was basically “adopted” by a NWR family, went to work in their family business, and purchased the business from them. Today he is a leader in the printing industry and has never forgotten those long daily rides with Coach Perry.

Toby Stovall is a successful banker with Trustmark. He loved baseball and played in summer league recreational ball in South Jackson. Later, attending Forest Hill, he dreamed of playing for the Rebels. Trying out his sophomore year, his success in landing a spot on the talent-laden roster proved fruitless.

“I was so disappointed, but knew the odds were against me.” Toby’s dad, a friend of Coach Perry’s, went to see him and asked if he could at least let Toby be on the team, have a uniform, and be around the players and coaches and soak up all the knowledge he could.

“Though I did not get to play much, those were the best years of my athletic life.” “I made life-long friends, and the influence and the desire to succeed he installed in all of us carried over for years in my career.”

Coach Perry’s final few months were spent in the Highland Home. Each day, there was a constant parade of players and friends stopping by for a visit. Jeff Milner, a retired postal worker, came by every morning to feed him breakfast. Tommy Groves, a coach at St. Joseph came by most days with stacks of snacks. Doug Copeland even moved Coach Perry into his own house for a few weeks until he could get Coach situated in a long- term health care facility.

The baseball and faith communities will miss Coach Bill “Moose” Perry.

We take solace that “The Moose Has Been Loosed” from the ravages of Parkinson’s and now enjoys a healed body, conversations with his players already in Heaven, and most importantly…rejoicing in the presence of his Lord and Savior, to whom he dedicated his earthly life serving.

(A memorial service for Coach Perry will be held at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton this Saturday morning, August 24th, at 11:00 AM. Visitation will begin at 9:30 AM in the church foyer.)