For more information contact:
Give The Game Back To The Kids
7400 S Houstoun Waring Cir.,
Littleton, CO 80120
Tel: (303) 738-9613
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Player Profile
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Who am I, you ask? A “nobody” and I can prove it! This was my answer to a 12-year-old
boy who posed the same question after I finished peddling the first edition of my
book to a baseball training facility in town. A fair question, especially if the
little bugger was going to buy a couple thousand books. Ok, maybe one, two at the
most. This is when I realized that to promote my book I might be forced at some
point to promote myself. I have evaded it for a long time but now the day is here
and I guess it is time to step up to the plate! Uncomfortable would be putting it
mildly.
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Growing up, I never considered myself special because I wasn’t. Nor did I feel that
I was blessed with Superman’s talent, just Jimmy Olson’s desire. And like most kids
who dream about playing in the major leagues, I played baseball from the time I
could hold one, until the time I arrived on campus at the University of Arizona
in 1974. Then I played even more.
It was my four years at Arizona that helped mold me into the person I am today.
The competition at Arizona was fierce and I soon found myself spending too much
time riding the pine (and pulling splinters from my callused behind)! So I devised
a plan to get more playing time. It entailed becoming proficient at every position
on the field, hustling when I wasn’t told to and employing a few techniques that
I share in the book. The plan proved to be successful. They gave me an award at
the end of my senior year. I was just as surprised as Forest Gump was when he received
his medal for saving Lieutenant Dan.
After graduation, the scouts passed me by without even saying hello. To fill the
void of not playing I focused my energy on coaching kids. I soon realized the profound
impact a coach can have on a young player. It was also the moment I realized that
this is where my destiny in the game was to unfold. For the past 30 years I have
coached boys and girls, individuals and teams, in baseball and softball, rug rats
to “high schoolers,” in Montana, Colorado, Australia and China. But never for money.
Although today I still run like a snail, see like a mole and make a bulldog look
handsome, I do feel blessed in one aspect of my life. And that is the number of
successful baseball people whom I have been privileged to befriend and whose knowledge
I absorbed. Most were former major leaguers and friends of my father, while others
I played alongside or for. The two individuals who contributed the most knowledge
and had the greatest impact in shaping my coaching style are pictured in My Hall
of Fame that follows. The third member I have listed first, and I think you will
understand why when you turn the page.
So who am I, you ask? Well I’m still a “nobody.” But I’m a “nobody” who possesses
a considerable amount of baseball knowledge acquired over a 50-year time period,
from experience as a player and a coach, and from the wisdom of retired players
from the past. I’m a self-appointed defender of kids and the game that they love
to play!
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