The Interview That Changed Baseball Forever I woke up on a normal Wednesday morning, having no idea that in the next week, I was going to make history. I received a call from the Brooklyn Dodgers owner/manager, Branch Rickey informing me that he wanted to have a meeting with me. I immediately thought what this could be, but my excitement of playing in the MLB concluded when I remembered they were trying to make an all “Negro” baseball team called the “Brown Dodgers”. I assumed that I was going to be recruited on to that team and was no looking forward to it. The next day I showed up into Branch Rickey’s office.…
My Cross Country/Track coach is one of the best men I know. He not only betters his runners by teaching us, but he also runs with us. Pushing us to greatness with words of encouragement, he implores us to leave all energy on the course/track and teaches us to be exceptional people outside of running. He expresses to us that no matter what we do, he will always be proud of each member of the team; therefore, our actions can’t change his love for us. That’s why it was devastating when he told us before the past track season, that he would not be able to coach for the remainder of the running season from February until we initiated winter conditioning November.…
Partway through my first Junior Varsity baseball practice, it was clear that I was the least qualified player on the team. Still learning the basics of baseball, I was pulled aside by the coaches and told that they were still uncertain of their decision and that they would be monitoring my progress to determine eligibility. As soon as I got home, I studied baseball through any video, started attending every practice offered, and constantly requested one-on-one coaching sessions. My coaches slowly took notice of my commitment and my rapidly developing skill set in baseball.…
For my high school coach I interviewed Tony Stennett who works as our S.i.d along with being an Assistant coach on the Men’s basketball team. He has also worked as a freshman coach on a high school team. We talked about the difference between coaching in high school and then college, we also discussed his philosophy along with other challenges that faces coaches along with many other things that coaches have to deal with. The first topic we discussed was what he thought was his biggest challenge in coaching we said that it was getting through to all athletes because every player is different and has different Ways that they can be reached.…
I have one brother and two sisters. My brothers name is Alec and my sisters names are Hannah and Clarissa. Clarissa is the oldest one, then it's Hannah, Alec, then me. I'm the youngest in the family. Everyone in my family plays a sport, the girls in the family play softball because our mom and aunt played since they were little and carried it onto us.…
I played sophomore baseball for Senior over the summer. It was the best season I've ever had as a Dubuque Senior High School baseball player. I was the pitcher on the team, also known as the "Ace". Before the last couple of games we had an anonymous team vote on which award people should get. At the end of the season we had a potluck with the varsity team and the sophomore team.…
I step up to the plate-palms sweating, heart racing. Two strikes go and now I know I have to hit the next one. The pitcher winds up and “crack!” I’m off to the races.…
The experience that I went through and that I would like to share was when I played golf in the beginning of the year. I was fine managing my schedule during the first week or two of school, but then I started getting more and more homework as the weeks went on. I had a hard time keeping up with my school work and playing golf. I practiced every day after school and I didn’t really have any time after school to do my homework. Playing golf took up basically all of my time because I played it 5-7 days a week between practicing with the school team or practicing with my golf instructor/coach.…
Back in 2014, my sophomore year in high school, was when I first started playing softball. I never thought a sport was going to make a huge impact in my life. I’ve always had a huge passion for sports, but sadly I didn’t join any sports until I got to high school. Not to brag, but I was a good athlete and still am. The very first time I stepped on a softball field, it was love at first sight.…
I am currently a baseball player for Lower Columbia College where I am also pursuing a general education AA with the expectation of transferring to a four-year college or university in fall of 2016. I signed with the Red Devils in 2014 while still in high school, receiving a scholarship to play for them during my college freshman and sophomore years. Although I originally planned on majoring in education to teach math and science at the middle and high school levels, my interests have shifted to focus on sports therapy/physical therapy due to my involvement in sports. I have been playing baseball since I was seven (7) years old, dedicating a large percentage of my time and energy to be the best player possible. Because I was always on the…
In the 4th grade I came across this quote by Benjamin Franklin “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”. That quote has stuck with me to this day because it really made sense to me. With everything I have done it life whether it was house chores, schoolwork, or sports I have tried to apply this so I could learn to my fullest ability. Now as a baseball coach I am trying to apply this to the way I teach players. For example, if I tell a player how to throw a curveball they will forget, if I teach them they may remember, but if involve them they will learn.…
My recurrent shoulder dislocations were a constant battle, but a battle in which I’d always won. After a dislocation, all it took was a couple weeks of physical therapy before I could return to the baseball field. Although, after my fifth dislocation I ended up sitting in the hospital awaiting the results of my MRI with an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. My surgeon soon returned with news that my injury required a season-ending surgery. Thus, I had a Bankart Repair on my throwing shoulder, and afterwards, although devastated, I supported my teammates from the sidelines for the entirety of the season.…
Everybody has many influential experiences in their lives and some of them are more influential than others. Each single event in a person’s life will influence their development as a person whether they know it or not. I know of many influential experiences in my life, but only one of them has decided my future. I never would have thought one of those experiences would have happened on a family trip to Florida. We drove and on the way back, we stayed in a hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.…
When I was a little boy, I loved to play sports and be active. When I woke up in the morning, I ask myself, “What am I going to accomplish today,” or “Where am I going to go today?” There is always one place for me that makes me who I really am and makes everything perfect, and that's the Bowling Alley. Ever since I was a little kid, my dad has been teaching me every little thing I needed to know about Bowling. I always wanted a tutor, but my dad always said no because he wanted to teach me to be just like him.…
My Golf Game Golf has always been in my family. My dad plays, my mom used to play, my granddaddy played, and my papa plays. I never really played until two Novembers ago I started. My dad decided that if I wanted to participate, I could. We went out to Man O' War to start taking lessons.…