Thursday, Apr. 29, 2004
We're now 2-5 (almost 3-5), posted at 10:02 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com My boys won another game today, and were ahead 7-2 in the second game of the doubleheader before it was called due to darkness. They're playing well as a team now, finally starting to gel, and it feels good to be on the forefront of that. I'm already thinking ahead to next year, thinking about what I will do to make myself a better coach. I'm still not that great at looking at a kid with a hitting problem and telling them what they're doing wrong. I feel good about defensive stuff there, but not offensive. I can see what they're doing wrong, but am having a hard time correcting them. Otherwise, though, I think I've been a pretty good coach. The school paper asked that question of me the other day: How would you assess your own performance as a coach? I stammered like George W. Bush getting his similar question about mistakes in his presidency. I didn't know what to answer without appearing weak, and I don't want to appear weak in an interview that my players would read. I'm sure I made mistakes this year, but I think I've done a decent job overall. I was thrown a couple of curveballs - two seniors, two of my best players - quit the team early on, and that sucked. One blamed me and the other just stopped showing up. But I'm proud of myself for not playing the second kid after he didn't show up for practice. After that, he hasn't shown up for games or practices, but I'm not going to let him get away with skipping practice and then expecting to play. He's a sweet kid, but he was never really into baseball this year, I could tell. I'd rather give that spot to a younger kid with full potential. I think I handled that well.Today I think I was a good coach, too. I got 22 of my 24 players (down from 27) into the games, giving a couple of guys starts who had never gotten starts before, and throwing guys into pinch-hitting spots who hadn't gotten at-bats all year. One kid, I've written about him a lot since his 9th grade year and then again a couple of days ago, one of my favorite kids of all time, well, he got his first at-bat today. When I told him, he was visibly shocked, to the point where the other kids were telling him not to be nervous. Then, one kid asked him if he was shaking. He grinned and said, "Naw..." but when the kid asked him to put his arm out, his arm was shaking like a leaf. What a funny kid. I'm still really wanting to know why he has a probation officer. Anyhow, I wish the story ended well, but, well, he struck out on five pitches. Other kids, though, had their first at-bats and made them count. It was a fun game to be involved in.
Very juicy rumors at school today about the principal leaving for another high school in another state... The school is abuzz. In this case, I fear change.