Coach Was Back & Already Calling One of His Players A Pu**y...

Part 3: Swing Batter, Batter, Swing!

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Captain's Practices were loose and a lot of fun, even with a nosy assistant like me hanging around. It provided me with a good chance to bond with the kids without the pressure of formal practice and the presence of a head coach, who is the ultimate boss on the diamond and in the dugout. 

No one had actually earned a spot on the varsity team yet; the head coach would be the one to make those decisions. I hoped to have some input in that process.

As soon as it was legal for Coach to run formal practices, everything changed. It immediately went from a casual hit-around to a rigid, pressure-cooked tryout, and you could see the desperation in the eyes of some of the kids on the cusp. Everyone wanted to make the varsity baseball team, especially the seniors, who knew they would most likely be reduced to mere softball players in a beer league after graduation. This was their last chance to play some hardball.

I began introducing the kids to "Rotational Hitting," and Mike was the first to start reaping the benefits. He began turning his front foot at a 45-degree angle to the plate and letting his hips lead his hands. He finished his swing with a slight uppercut and began driving the ball to open spots in the outfield. Other kids saw his improvement and were starting to pay attention.

The first preseason injury was to Mike. He came in hard on a sinking line drive, and although he made a great catch, he came up limping and walked off the field in pain. I immediately ran over to see what happened…

He injured his hamstring, a common injury for guys with his kind of speed. Outfielders go from a standing start to a full sprint in an instant, which puts a lot of stress on their hamstrings. Mike's injury was nothing out of the ordinary.

He wasn't able to get back on the field, and later, after practice, he met with the trainer, who said it was a hamstring pull. Hamstring injuries can nag an athlete for a while, and even after they heal, they can reoccur. Mike would have to miss a few practices.

After Mike sat for a couple of days, you could see Coach losing his patience. He told me Mike was a "pussy" and that "he should be back on the field by now…" I tried to explain that hamstring injuries can be difficult, and you can't rush the kid back on the field. And that Mike was being treated daily by the trainer and was starting to do light stretches. He was making good progress. Coach thought I was making excuses for him…

Once Mike got the green light to return to the playing field, I told him to spend a little more time stretching out his hamstrings because I didn't want him to reinjure himself.

During Mike's absence, no one else emerged as his replacement in center field, but I could tell Coach was trying hard to find someone. Mike was a kid who played solid football for Coach, filled in for Gary better than anyone expected and ran for a 44-yard touchdown in the Super Bowl. He was a hard worker, a great kid, and a senior, so this was his last hurrah. Mike played freshman baseball and two years of JV, so I didn't want to believe Coach was giving up on him so quickly…

When Coach pinned the final roster to the bulletin board outside his office, Mike's name wasn't on it. I was shocked, and so was Mike. I met with him the next day and told him how disappointed and upset I was. On my unofficial lineup card, I had him penciled in as starting centerfielder, but that wasn't my decision to make. He took it well, better than I thought. I told him that with his kind of speed, he shouldn't waste it and that he should run track.

Coach's decision to cut Mike because of a pre-season injury said a lot about his loyalty to his players. It was obvious that for whatever reason, Coach didn't want Mike on his baseball team. 

Coach knew his decision to cut Mike wouldn't be popular with me, and maybe that's exactly why he did it. He was making a statement about who was in control of his baseball team…

To be continued…

*All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…