Life as a small college baseball coach brings many positive things into a person's life. Though it has been since the summer of 2003 that I coached full-time, I spent sixteen years doing just that. Of the many great things to come from that was the fact that both of my children virtually grew up on our small campus. They traveled many miles to baseball games, mostly throughout the state of Michigan, as I spent most spring and summer days on the road recruiting. The recruiting landscape has changed tremendously since my kids were young, but those years of traveling helped us to build a unique bond and gave them experiences that most other kids don't have.
My kids are now 26 and 21, and Tess will become the next college graduate in the family this coming May. When they were young, they spent the day (and sometimes the evening) on campus with me on days that they did not have school. That includes school holidays and summers. They spent much time hanging out in the Siena Heights Fieldhouse with kids of other coaches, playing basketball and generally just running around. They also helped me work on the baseball field in the spring and summer. In addition, they often just hung around my office and assisted with daily tasks, such as meeting recruits and their families and running to the Admissions, Financial Aid, and other campus offices. In doing that, I remember how well they learned how to communicate with adults.
When they were on the road recruiting with me, Eric always wanted to play catch. I would have to time our throwing well enough so that I could still see the players we had gone to see, and of course I would ask him to help me decide if the players could help my team become better. Tess didn't want to play catch as often as Eric did, but she was great as she watched the games and talked to parents, scouts, other college coaches, and random people who also attended the games. I remember her asking me why so many of the players at one game caught the ball with only one hand and why the catchers would use their glove (instead of their bare hand) to pick the ball up off the ground.
All of that time spent with my kids was a fabulous benefit of working on a campus that valued children and families, and I will always remember fondly the actual growing up they did while they went to work with me.
Ultimately, Eric has now become a college baseball coach. Last week he had the privilege of being one of the speakers at the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Annual Clinics. Among the other speakers were his boss at Hillsdale College, former major leaguer Paul Noce, and Kirk Gibson, the current Arizona Diamondbacks manager and former World Series hero of both the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Eric was the second speaker of the clinic, and his topic was pitching. I know that I am his dad, but I thought he did a fantastic job. He spoke with the confidence of a veteran coach and the maturity of a polished speaker. I had already known most of what he was going to talk about, since he worked on his outline and power point presentation for most of the week here at home. Other coaches there told me (and I'm sure many told him) that they were very impressed by his presentation.
I must say that I am very proud of his performance in front of so many high school and college coaches, many of whom were coaching games that Eric attended with me when he was a small child. I am lucky that I get to share coaching ideas and philosophies at home nearly every night with Eric. I know that I am still learning the game, and now I get to continue to learn with such a good, young coach right here in my own home. I'm hoping he still learns some things from me, too!!
I have been blessed to have been able to spend my entire adult life doing something that I absolutely love to do, and of course I am grateful that I was able to do so much of it with Eric and Tess along for the ride. They have both become awesome, competent adults, and I am proud of who they are! I wouldn't change a thing!!
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