Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Ryan Brownlee.
Our sponsor is Core Energy Belt, the trusted source of professional baseball players in both Japan and the USA. With over 700 professionals, including two former MVPs, relying on these belts, Core Energy has established itself as a leader in performance and durability. I've been wearing their belts for a while now and the added back support has made a noticeable difference both on and off the field. They offer free shipping and a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Go to Corenergybelt.com and use code ABCA2025 to save 15% on your first purchase. I'll repeat that, go to Core Energy Belt and use the code ABCA2025 to save 15% on your first purchase.
This episode is sponsored by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time.
Netting Professionals specializes in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, BP screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more. Netting Professionals is an official partner of the ABCA and continues to provide quality products and services to many high school, college and professional fields, facilities and stadiums throughout the country.
Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time.
Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or infoettingpros.com visit them online at www.nettingpros.com or check out NettingPros on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Make sure to let CEO Will Minor know that the ABCA sent you. Now on to the podcast.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: With nearly 50 years of coaching experience that has spanned the globe, international coaching legend and longtime high school skipper Bill Percy is the distinguished recipient of the 2025 ABCA Wilson Lefty Gomez Award. Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to the individual who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. His coaching career began in 1974 at Florida Southern College, where after winning the 1972 NCAA Division II College World Series as a player for the Moccasins, Percy joined the coaching staff as an assistant under ABCA hall of Fame coach Hal Smeltsley. Percy began his high school teaching and coaching career in Colorado Springs, Colorado, becoming the head baseball coach at Palmer high school in 1978 before taking over at Mitchell High School in 1990. Percy's 1992 and 1993 Mitchell teams both advanced to state championship games, finishing Runner up each year. Percy was honored as an ABCA Diamond Sports High School Regional coach of the year following the 1999 season at Mitchell. Percy has extensive experience coaching internationally in Europe and with USA Baseball. A lifetime member of the abca, Percy remains active in his home state of Colorado, currently serving as an assistant coach at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Percy while also serving as the executive director of the Colorado Dugout Club Coaches Association. Let's welcome Bill Percy to the podcast.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Here with Bill Percy, ABCA Lefty Gomez, winner, 2017 ABCA hall of Famer, but 50 years of coaching experience at the college, high school and internationally. Also the executive director for the Colorado Dugout Club. So, Bill, thanks for jumping on with me.
[00:04:01] Speaker C: You bet, Ryan. Thanks for having me.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Hey, do you have to hunt if you live in Colorado?
[00:04:05] Speaker C: Oh, there's a lot of things you can hunt, but we're actually getting up early and traveling across the border tomorrow to go pheasant hunting in Kansas. There's a few more, few more birds in Kansas than there is in eastern Colorado.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Yeah, my boss has been to Colorado to hunt up in the mountains. So it seems like it's very strenuous hunting up in the elevation.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Well, it is. And I'm not a big game hunter. My, my brother is. He's up in Wyoming. I go up there and kind of sit with him and he bugles in the elk and so forth. It's really, it's really kind of a cool thing. But I've never been a big game hunter, so I have not gone in my own state of Colorado. But people are passionate about it for sure.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: We had a soccer coach at Western Illinois. He would go to South Dakota to hunt pheasant.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: That's heaven. That's the best up there. We've got a couple of our players on the Northeastern team that are from Rapid City and they're always talking about the fez up there. It's pret darn good.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: You spoke at the 2004 ABCA Convention. If, if somebody was going to have to do public speaking, what tips would you give them?
[00:05:08] Speaker C: Well, back then it was a little different ball game, Ryan. I mean, you know, we were using overhead projectors and we were throwing down, you know, our, our, our slides and so forth. And, and I, you know, and I was pretty nervous. I mean, think about this. It was one of those times where it finished up on a Monday and, and they've got me on last. And, and I think I followed a pretty famous coach from Baylor. I forget the name. And I was Literally, Literally on last. And an old Dick Birmingham joke, he would say, you know, I saw more backs of Levi's Levi jeans than you could ever imagine. And that was kind of the case when, when I was up, because here's a high school guy talking about outfield play, and it's Monday at like 11 o'clock, and people are like, no, I'm out of here. And a lot of guys were heading for the doors, but the ones who stayed, you know, I think they got a pretty, pretty good thing. And I'll never forget, you know, my favorite old timers, they, they've since passed, God rest their souls. Jack Kaiser, Jim Phipps and, and Ron Klein, Chicago area coaches were in the front row and, and afterwards they came up to me and said, coach, that was one of the best outfield presentations we've ever seen. And I'm like, are you serious? And so, yeah, but, but advice for Guy. I think the main thing is just, you know, whether you script it, whether you read it, I mean, just, just, I mean, just try and relax and try and, you know, you know your stuff, you know your content, and once you get past that first few seconds and you're breathing, like my yoga instructor always says, that's one thing you have to do, is keep breathing. You're fine. And I think the whole thing, Ryan, is just relaxation, really.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: It is, it's getting settled in.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Right?
[00:06:53] Speaker A: And practice, like practice, practice, practice, practice, practice your speech and go over it and then hopefully you get into FL flow state once you, once you get up there and get into it.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: Exactly right. And, and now nowadays, PowerPoints, even the overheads, when you have time to kind of move back and forth and you're not just standing behind a podium and, and just, you know, lecturing without a cue, without a teleprompter, without all that, I mean, that's challenging. Dick Birmingham can do it. He was the best. Okay. But most of us, it's hard. It really is.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: So anyhow, how long have you practiced yoga?
[00:07:30] Speaker C: Got into it about three years ago. You know, I've got the arthritis pretty, pretty bad. And, and I've had multiple surgeries, shoulder replacement, knee replacement, the, My throwing shoulder has been reconstructed. And, you know, I, I just, I don't know. One of my former students, managers, she was, she was a manager for me and she, she said, coach, you got to try this out. And I did, and I absolutely love it. So I, I can't keep up with all these young people, but I do what I. Instructors are awesome. They're great.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: I'm an advocate. People that listen in know I'm. I've been practicing for a long time. Long time. So really, I'm an advocate. I. It's been, it's been transformative for me personally. It has, it has. That meditation have been transformative for me.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: It. It really is. And, and you know, it helps. I mean, when you're going through it, you're like, oh, my God, this hurts. I can't do this, I can't do that. But, man, when you walk out of there, right, it's kind of like after you get off the treadmill, you know? Yeah, I hate it. But when I'm done, I feel pretty good.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: You ran the ABCA All American High School All America Committee for a while?
[00:08:34] Speaker C: About nine years. Yes.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: How'd you enjoy that?
[00:08:38] Speaker C: Loved it. I just love being, you know, meeting with the guys, some of which I knew, I had known beforehand and meeting new people, you know, in. Our chairs were. Were Bernie and. Bernie Walter and Guy Anderson and Bill Olson was involved. And just the fact that, I mean, the ABCA really did it right. They would bring us in during the World Series, they would help get us tickets. You know, we would have our meetings and it was, it was a blast. You really look forward to it every year. And it's hard. It's hard representing Region 7 just because there's so much talent in other regions around the country. And I could remember vividly Coach Hoffman, Rich Hoffman, you know, coming from South Florida and having, you know, and he coached a rod in high school and everything. And, you know, he's kind of sitting back like, well, yeah, this guy's going to be a first rounder, this guy's going to be a sandwich pick, blah, blah, blah. And. But he's not going to get tra. He's not going to sign because he wants to go to University of Miami. So then we're looking at each other like, okay, how many of these Florida guys we have to get on here? And usually, I mean, Rich could always argue like, well, there's quite a few.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: So I say it every year they have the hardest job because they have so many more names to work through than. Than the other All America Committees.
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, you really do. And, you know, part of this, unfortunately, is the fact that, well, back in the day, now, this is not the case now because it's in July, the draft. But you know, back in the day, they would have the draft usually right before or you kind of knew where guys were going to go. And that's unfortunately what Kind of swayed our thinking. Well, this guy's a second rounder. He's got to be on here, you know, or first rounder or whatever. But, you know, and maybe he didn't have as great of a high school season that year his senior year, but it kind of went that way often.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Is there anything in the game you haven't done that you wanted to do?
[00:10:35] Speaker C: Man, I don't know.
You know, after, after the World Series my senior year, Coach Smellsley because I never pitched. I mean, I pitched when I was a kid, but I always had a strong arm and everything. And Coach Melsa came out to me in the hotel and he says, God, I wish I would have made a pitcher out of you. And I'm like, you're telling me this now? You know, we had just gotten beat by UC Irvine in the, in the. Back then it was the College Division World Series. And so, you know, maybe. And then after that, after I got into coaching for a number of years, I really kind of made a point of, you know, just, you know, ingesting myself into the pitching end and becoming a pitching coach and working with my pitchers. So I, I, yeah, I, I do that, but I really don't like driving the bus, but I've done that.
So I don't know.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: What did you enjoy about working with the pitchers?
[00:11:31] Speaker C: The one on one. Really the one on one and the, and the preseason stuff, the off season stuff. And let's face it, I mean, when you're in the high school level, you don't have your kids as much.
And we were, you know, my last 16 years at St. Mary's was such a small school, but we would start getting together, you know, in early January right after the conventions and stuff and get, and get going into that six week period preseason period. But I love the one one stuff.
And you know, I learned, and I learned this first as a teacher that, you know, when you're working with these kids and I came up through the old school system, that's how old I am. And, and old school was fine back then. It was accepted, but it doesn't work now. It, it really doesn't. And I think more than anything else, it allowed me understanding this, allowed me to establish better relationships with my players one on one. And with pitchers you can do that a lot because they're just usually typ. Goofy bunch. But that, that's really what I enjoyed was the, the one on one stuff. And, and, and you know, I also learned that it's, you know, the, my way or the highway Thing, Ryan? No, it doesn't work really anymore. You have certain absolutes that you, that you maintain that guys, this is, we have to do this. But I love giving the guys a little thought in the St. Mary's kids were intelligent kids. I mean, they're very smart kids. All, all of them were going to college. And when you've got kids like that that are intellig, you're, you know, conveying to them, man, it's fun, it works.
[00:13:05] Speaker A: And it keeps you sharp as a coach too, because you have to clarify what you're doing.
[00:13:09] Speaker C: Absolutely, yeah. No question.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: What was the inspiration to get back in and be at Northeastern?
[00:13:17] Speaker C: Well, I, I managed to stay retired for about five months and you know, the wife's still working, she's younger, she's a lifesaver, she's a social worker, lifelong social worker. That she's still going strong and, and I'm like, okay, I can't play golf every day. I mean, I could, but I'm not that good and you know, I can't fish every day. So, you know, Andrew Catchel, Coach Catchel came to me, a former player of mine, summertime and stuff, grew up here. I'm kind of like a second dad to him and so forth. He said, coach, I can't find a full time assistant. I really can't. A good one. And he said, would you come up and would you help me at Sterling, at Northeastern? And I said, listen, I'd love to do it. I'd love to be, not be a head coach anym. I don't want to be a head coach anymore. I just want to teach and coach. But there's no way I will ever live in Sterling, Colorado.
And he said it was three hours away. So he said, coach, we can make it work. And we do. We do. I stay at his house when I'm up there. I'm not up there obviously every day, but you know, I'm up there probably once a week for some training, for some practices and I'm at all the games, all the travel, everything recruiting and so that's that part of it I'm loving. And, and more than anything else, what I'm really loving is the fact that these kids are amazing. I mean, I don't know what it is, if it's me or, or what it is, but they're so appreciative of just having me around. And these guys will pick my brain, they'll talk to me constantly, whether I'm working with the outfielders, the base runners, the infielders the hitters, and they're so respectful. And I'm just absolutely loving it. And I don't have to worry about being a head coach.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: That's your typical baseball story. You're three hours away. You're going to stay at somebody's house so you can coach.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've got the entire downstairs myself and, you know, Amber, his wife, and the two kids hit the sack early. So Andrew just comes down and we could just, you know, we can, we can brainstorm, we can strategize, we can sip a little whiskey. I don't know if I could say that or not, but. And just, you know, tackle some, some issues and figure out how to sell beat Southeast Nebraska, you know, because they're the ones that are in our way right now.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Is that the key to longevity is staying active?
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Absolutely. 100. Ryan. I mean, you know, I, there's days when, and I even go back and I substitute teach at one or two high schools. It's easy. I love doing that. I still love being around, you know, younger, younger people and. But that is the key, 100%. And you just, you know, and everybody told me that, you know, when you retire, you got to have a plan. You got to figure out what the heck you're going to do. And, you know, I'm pretty lucky. I'm still officiating high school football up in Denver, and I don't move like I used to, but I had a semifinal game this year that was fun.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: How long have you officiated?
[00:16:19] Speaker C: 33 years.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Love it. Love it. Do you think the University of Colorado should have baseball?
[00:16:26] Speaker C: Oh, we've been thinking that since 81. Since they dropped the program. Absolutely.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: You know, it's a great state for, for high school baseball. It is.
[00:16:37] Speaker C: And, and yeah, go ahead.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Meyer and I talked about it. I interviewed Tom because he's one of our Dave Khalitz Awards. He's in Wisconsin. And I, I said that to him. I think the two states that don't have it, the flagship programs are Colorado and Wisconsin. Both should have baseball.
[00:16:53] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. No question about it. And, you know, back in the day when, when Barney was there, when Gary Barnett was there, you know, he came off of Coach McCart staff and then, you know, he went to Northwestern and then came back to see you. And, and he always said we'd see him come down when he was recruiting and so forth. And I've known Gary for, for many years. They're going to get it. They're going to get it. Well, that Kind of, you know, they happened, it's fizzled out. And now the fact that, you know, we hope Dion stays. We really do. And, and I. Because I think that can make a difference with, with, you know, with Dion there.
So we hope so. But one thing about Tom, you know, I love, I love Tom. He came out this way, one of his trips, one of his springtime trips and we hosted him and they played us and, and just, just a fabulous guy. I met him through Tom O'Connell and, and you know, all the well deserved award for, for Coach Meyer.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Did you know you're going to get into coaching when you're finished? Yeah, that was always the plan.
[00:17:56] Speaker C: Always. Yeah, always the plan. When I started in college, you know, Most of the 70% of the kids were changing their majors and you know, obviously I wanted to play professional baseball. Those things didn't work out and, but I knew, I knew all along from probably the time I was 18 or 19, that I wanted to give back. I wanted to teach and, and it just, you know, worked out. I became an education major. I started off as a physical education guy, you know, and I actually kind of got.
Got bored of that. I wanted to get into the classroom. I'm an absolute history nut. And, and they gave me a chance, even though I didn't have a minor in it, but I had a crapload of hours, and they gave me an opportunity to teach in the social studies department and I jumped at it.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: What do you love so much about history?
[00:18:48] Speaker C: You know, it's crazy, but when I was a kid growing up in the Chicago area, all I did was. Was look at maps and I read books like crazy and I read books on two subjects, sports and, you know, war history.
And I just, I don't know, I just got attracted to that. I mean, in my family, we had a lot of. My parents were much older than me, so her, my mom's was the youngest of 11. Her, her two or three of her brothers were doughboys. They fought in the Great War in World War I. I mean, that's how big of a difference there was between my parents and I and her one brother who, well, spent his entire life. They're all northern Wisconsin people. And Uncle Charlie played with the Green Bay packers when they were just starting out with Curly Lambeau. So there was so much of a sports history in, in my. On my mom's side at least. My father was Canadian and he wasn't really into sports. But. But my goodness, the history on my mother's side, unbelievable.
I could tell you some other stories, but I probably shouldn't.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: How do we get. It doesn't seem like the newer generations as enthused about history. How do we re. Engage them with. With history?
[00:20:04] Speaker C: Well, I'll tell you how you do it. Is, is. Is the system needs to make sure that, you know, you hire good people, you hire quality people. I've seen great teachers over the years that just connect with the kids. Okay. But I've also seen weaker ones that just, you know, they're there for a paycheck and maybe they're just kind of going through the motions. They like having their summers off. But teaching and Coach K. And I'll mention this in my speech in D.C. but Coach Kaszewski said it all. He says teaching and coaching is a privilege, absolute privilege. And as far as getting kids interested in history, if you have passion of people who love history, who want to keep it alive and bring it back, those are your most successful history teachers, the ones that make the classroom interesting. And nowadays, I hate to say it, but I mean with all this technology and people say, oh, your stuff sounds coology, go ahead, look it up and start working. You know, I'm a talker, as you can tell, and I love to interact with the students and I want them to interact with me as well. And they knew they can get me off subject whenever all they had to do was ask me a base. A sports question and. But I would always come back to the topic. But we interacted well and I think that's how you do it as a teacher these days. You have to just love these kids and make it interesting for them.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: I think you have to immerse yourself into it and make it a story.
Pretty much only history class I ever took was in high school, but we actually lived during the stock market crash. So it was Great Depression time, that era. So you basically actually went through it as, as a person. And that was the most fun class I'd had in high school because you're actually going through it. So it was very, very cool.
[00:21:48] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, undoubtedly it's, it's. And I always tell people this all along when I talk to younger people and I say, well, who was your history teacher? Well, and their response will tell you everything.
If they had a good teacher, a good history teacher, they love the class. If that he or she was boring as heck. Well, you know, they, they won't remember a thing. They really won't.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Who'd you lean on coaching wise when you first got into it? What were your resources?
[00:22:18] Speaker C: Well, at what level you talk about out here? Because Florida was quick. Florida was only five years, then the year in, in Lawrenceburg as a grad assistant and then. But I, when I got out here, you know, what was interesting was, and I know you'll remember this name, he's another longtime ABCA hall of famer, board of directors and just passed away a couple of years ago. But when I got out here, I didn't know the Colorado guys at all. I came out here, my parents had retired out here. I came out here when I was at Warrensburg Visit, and I fell in love with the mountains. I fell in love with Colorado. And so there were guys when I got out here that really had a big influence on me. And one of them.
And I never met Tom until I can't remember when I actually met him, but we were, we both went against each other in the, in the European Championships years later when he was with the Dutch and I was with Croatia and so forth. But Tom Petrov, when I came out here from Florida Southern and Missouri, I thought I knew everything. And then I got introduced to Tom Petrov, and he was one of the best teachers around and all. A lot of these famous coaches out here at that time were products of unc. I mean, Tom had taken that program to the College World Series, major College World Series, I don't know if they call it Division one then. And he's knocking off these heavyweights. And a lot of his players were Denver and Colorado Springs area guys who I got to know really well. And Tom was a huge influence on me. And he never knew that until I spent some time with him over in Europe when we were, you know, when we were going head to head in the European Championships. And, you know, there were other people. Dick Fanning, longtime coach. Dick's still alive. He's. He's in his 80s, but the famous Air Academy High School coach here, you know, who was on the same football staff with Gary Barnett and everybody at Air Academy. But Dick was a longtime baseball coach and, and, you know, he got me interested in the abca. And I, he. The first guy I came out here and coached with and volunteered. It was the spring of 76. And, you know, I just, he helped me quite a bit. Dick did. And, and, you know, but yeah, he was, he was very influential for me and some other people in the education side of things. But baseball wise, that was. Those are two biggies for me.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: What made Tom Petrov so, so good? Everybody mentions his name. What made him so good, good, you.
[00:24:51] Speaker C: Know, no offense, I mean, us Chicago guys aren't always fond of New Yorkers, but Tom's not a New Yorker. Tom's an east coast guy, but Tom's an East coast guy that has. Has a great. Or had a great personality. He could connect. He could just make you feel comfortable, you know, around him. And he also had that. That aura of confidence. That, man, you. There's just so much to learn there. And, you know, I was a sponge when it came to stuff like that. I just wanted to. I wanted to keep learning as much as I could.
But he had a wonderful personality, and he, you know, he would take time. I. I can remember him walking. Walking the halls of the ABCA conventions. And Tom's in his 90s, and he's still going strong, and he would take five minutes to, you know, to talk to you, to spend time with you. And I'll never Forget, it was 1997.
It was our first year in the A pool, the European championships. And this is little country of Croatia with 4 million.
And we just got beat. We lost a heartbreaker, one to nothing to. To France, and we were swinging wood for the first time, and we couldn't score runs and save our lives. And I was pretty down in the dumps, and. And after the game, I felt his hand on my shoulder, and it was Tom. You know, he's. And he was in coaching for the Kingdom in the Netherlands. He had his uniform on. They were playing after us, and he just said, bill, you're doing a great job. Hang in there. And, you know, just keep. Just keep grinding. Keep.
Meant as much to me as anything, certainly at the time.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Did you want to stay on the college side or was high school the best option for you back then, you.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: Know, teaching and coaching high school?
The college guys weren't making any money, you know, so the, The. The choice was easy. It really was. Had I gone back to Florida, I don't know, maybe I would have, you know, because Coach Anderson and Coach Smelsey gave me the opportunity to coach there when I was literally, what, 23 years old? 22.
And maybe I would have gone the college route. You know, a lot of my teammates who weren't. Who weren't playing professionally or who did play professionally were getting back into the college ranks. You know, Frank Cator and Jack Ryan and a number of them, Bumpy Nichols and. But I don't know the decision overall, financially, it just made sense to go that route.
You're going to work, you're going to spend a lot of time in the classroom or in the gym you're still going to do your coaching, but I mean the hours are going to be long regardless.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Are the kids much different? High school, two year or four year level?
[00:27:34] Speaker C: In what respect?
[00:27:35] Speaker A: Maturity wise?
[00:27:38] Speaker C: Oh man.
Here's the difference I see. The, the kids are still the kids, you know, biologically, they're still, you know, they're the same. Are they more mature? I will say this. They're exposed to so much more now than, than, you know, we were. Although I was exposed to quite a bit growing up in the Chicago area in the sixt.
What the, the thing I notice most now or more now is there's such a, there's such. And, and it's kept a lot of coaches away from doing this, from this profession is there's so much more involved from a parental standpoint. There's more interference, there's less respect from that entity. The kids always respect you. They'll respect you. But there's so much going on in their lives right now and it's, it's, it's really a challenge for us more. So are they different?
Not necessarily.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: I think their environment's different is the biggest thing. And you said it. They deal with a lot more than, than any of us ever had to deal as, as 12 to 22 year olds. They deal with a lot more than we ever had to.
[00:28:45] Speaker C: Yeah, 100% they do. And, and you know, back then you could, you could, you could be a little rough with a kid, not physically, but you could be, you know, you could be a badass with them and so forth and, and still get their respect. But, and you would have the respect.
You would have support from your administration, you'd have support, you know, from your, from the parents and so forth. But you could see that change over time. You really could. And then it became a selfish thing. And you know this, you know, the parents became very, very selfish about their kids and the kids are the kids because of their parents. So if the parents are really selfish, probably so the kids are going to, you know, they're going to, they're going to be like that as well. You know, what, what, what can you do for me type thing. Thing. Not what I can do for you. John F. Kennedy.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: When's the last time you're in Chicago?
[00:29:39] Speaker C: I don't know. A couple years ago. I know the convention was there. If I'm flying through Chicago on my way to Europe, I'll usually stop. My sister, who is 83 years of age, she's a retired Catholic nun, she's in A nursing home in Wheeling, outside of Chicago. And God bless her, she's just. I mean, her body is shot, but her mind is as sharp as anything. And we'll go to visit her when we can and so forth. She is an incredible sports fan and she is so smart. She could literally be a general manager on the baseball or football side of things.
She, she just knows her sports so well because she lays there in her bed and she, she watches Notre Dame, she watches the Cubs, she watches her beloved packers, and, you know.
Yeah, so that was probably two years ago.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: I think I have to battle for Chicago out here, North Carolina. They. All they see is on the news, so I have to battle for Chicago out here. I, I still think it's the best city in, in the U.S. but, well.
[00:30:42] Speaker C: It'Ll always be my hometown.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: What does winning this award mean to you? It is our highest honor. What is, what is winning the, the Lefty Gomez Award, what does that mean to you?
[00:30:53] Speaker C: Well, I mean, it speaks volumes. It really does. I. When Craig contacted me, literally, I was at our own convention at my hotel room in, in Denver, and I first thought. I, I was speechless. I mean, I couldn't believe it. And, and I said, craig, you've got to have the wrong guy. And, and he just kind of laughed and said, bill, you know, Google it and research it, please. And you, you will, you will know why. And I think for me, and I have not had the success. I probably lead the nation in runner up finishes at multiple levels, World Baseball Classic, High school, European Championships, you name it. But what it really means to me is, is just a, I don't know, a gratification that, you know, what you have done quite a bit in this game and you have traveled the world and you have given back, because that's truly what I want to do. And we never go into this for the money and, and I will always maintain. And it's just.
It's such a incredible feeling, Ryan. I just can't. It's hard to describe, and I just hope I keep my emotions together, you know, up there and. But I just.
I don't know. It's really, it's really hard to describe. It's. It's, you know, it's really cool.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: How did you get hooked up internationally? I mean, you've been everywhere doing that. How do you get, how do you get started with that?
[00:32:23] Speaker C: Well, you know, I was one of Dick Birmingham's guys for a while, as was Tom O'Connell and Bill Olson and, and a lot of us.
I'm Going to tell you right now, it was Bill R.C.
and of course, I had known Bill. I had met Bill in the younger, my younger days when I started going to the convention in, in the early 80s. And, and you know, my mother always told me, she said, you know, get your foot in the door and meet as many people as you can. Well, over the course of time. And of course, meeting Dick Birmingham was paramount. That was incredible. But meeting people like Tom O'Connell and Pete Caliendo and so forth, and, you know, they started the envoy program, MLB did, in the early 90s, 92, 93, and it was going pretty well, but there were other countries that wanted, wanted a piece of this. They wanted, they wanted some guys. They wanted some pro guys or, you know, high school, college guys, MLB guys. And there was a little country that was. And this was the early 90s now that was going through a terrible, terrible war. And I don't really want to get into it because it's still, you know, it's tough. It was tough, really was. But it was January of 97, and I got a phone call and it was right after the convention, the ABCA convention. And it was Bill RC and, you know, I didn't know Bill that well, but he, he basically asked me, he says, bill, how would you like to go to Europe and represent Major League Baseball and be an Envoy coach?
And I said, wow. I knew nothing about the program, but I, I knew I love to travel. My wife is Dutch, she's first generation. She has all of her relatives over there and so forth. And, and I speak, said, tell me more. Keep talking. And you know, he, he says, well, here's the deal. Croatia has been just been clamoring, been begging for an Envoy coach now for years, but obviously we could not send anybody over there from 91 to 95 when that conflict was going on, the war is over. I said, well, you sure the Bullets aren't flying it? No, they're done. They're done. But, you know, so it was January of 97, and, and I said, I'll tell you what, can I, can I make a phone call? Do I get a phone call here, a lifeline or whatever? I said, I want to call Tom. And because Tom had been in it since 92, I believe, when they started, and Tom was a fixture already in Germany, I called Tom up probably that night, and he said simply, he says, bill would be the best baseball decision you ever make in your life.
And I said, that's enough for me. I called Coach RC Back the next night. I said, I'm in.
And that was it.
I had been to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a junior Pan Am team with Dick Birmingham and Pete.
God, where else? We've been to Tokyo with Pete, like I said, with DJ and Hoss, with another, I don't know, 15, you or a 16 year team. This was right before USA Baseball took over those younger programs. Now, of course they go all the way down, I think the 12th and unders and so forth. But yeah, I mean, I bounced around with Dick and, and, and Pete and so forth. And we won a gold medal in Chicago in 93. And my God, we had three, four future big leaguers on that team. David Ross being one of them. Wilkie, Brad Wilkerson, Jonathan Atkins.
And so it was just, it was really cool to have the opportunity to do these things. And I just, I jumped at it.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: Who has the most unique culture outside the states of which country you've been to?
[00:36:05] Speaker C: Well, when you say unique, I mean, you know, the Far east is, is, is certainly quite a bit different than our culture.
But you know, our two or three weeks in, in Tokyo, I can remember, you know, our interpreters and what, one young gal and, and then a young guy. They were students, college students and so forth. And of course, you know, it's, it's culturally that when you're walking down the streets, first of all, we got a lot of looks. It was just me and, and her name was Kawa, Kawa, Kawa somebody. And, and she would walk behind me and I'm like, kawa Ka, please come up here. And she'd know, she wouldn't do it. She couldn't do it because I guess if she was seen walking next to me, it might have been interpreted, you know, differently or, or whatever. So I would have to say probably Japan, you know, the food and, you know, just the culture itself.
But what does that do for you.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: When you come back? Does it make you appreciate the United States more?
[00:37:13] Speaker C: No question, no question about it. Not only that. And I was going to say the Balkans, I mean, because the Balkans have been through so much. I mean, not only the, the Bosnian war, but they've been so, through so much. The entire 20th century since World War I ended, I mean, their borders have changed multiple times. Croatia gained their independence, Slovenia, their independence, Bosnia, their independence and so forth. And, but they've been fighting their whole lives.
But the cool thing about it was you go out with these guys, guys, and you, you, you coach them, you teach them, they're some of the most passionate people in the world. And that's what I loved about them because we, we clicked. We clicked right away. And here we are going up against the European powers and we're hanging, I mean, we're absolutely hanging with, with the Dutch, you know, the Italians and so I don't know, I forgot what you asked me, Ryan.
[00:38:11] Speaker A: Hey, what, what's the key to running a good baseball camp?
[00:38:16] Speaker C: Fun.
Fun. Be quick.
Be quick with your, you know, with your sessions. You know, 20, 30 minute sessions, depending on the ages. We work with the young kids a lot. We work with the older kids. When I'm over in Europe, we were across the board. We got the young kids, the older kids. You make it fun just like out here, you know, you don't want to make, make your practices boring. So let's, let's compete a little bit. Let's have some games. Let's, let's, let's do those kind of things. And you play the music once in a while and, and yeah, and just, I mean, just have a smile on your face. That more than anything else.
[00:38:53] Speaker A: Enthusiasm goes a long way with the, with the younger ones especially. Have some enthusiasm.
[00:38:58] Speaker C: Without a doubt.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: Is winning a championship at Florida Southern one of your best memories?
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Yeah, no question, no question about it. But I mean, here's the thing though. We got a few things backwards in the, in the context. They won it my junior year. I came over from Indian river for my junior and senior year and I, you know, my own, my own reasoning, my own problem and, and, you know, not a lot of people know this and, and I thought I got it straightened out in the bio and so forth. I got into the, into coach's doghouse my junior year and I wasn't with them in the spring and, and it, it broke my heart. It really did, but it was my fault. And I, I realized, okay, you know, if coach gives me another chance, I will not screw up this time. I won't. And he did. He came back, he said, bill, we want you back. We want you for your senior year. And I said, okay, coach, thank you. I'm in. And, and, you know, I started getting my priorities together and, and, you know, but that was, seeing them win it, you know, that was tough. That broke my heart. And of course, my senior year, we got right back in, right back there. And, but we lost Irvine. I think we wound up fourth or fifth and so forth. And, and, and then right after that, shortly after that, because I, I wasn't sure I did want to continue my, my, my studies. I wanted to get a master's I wanted to keep going. I wasn't ready to start teaching yet.
And coach gave me another chance. He said, how would you like to coach the B team at Florida Southern? And I said, you're darn right I would. And I did.
[00:40:39] Speaker A: How'd you get to Indian river from Chicago? Chicago.
[00:40:44] Speaker C: Well, here's another great story, and I guess we've got the time. Oh, yeah, that summer. And this is the summer of 69 now. And I'm not talking about the song. I'm talking about a pretty tough time.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: I was born in the wrong generation. I wish I was born. I wish I grew up around the late 60s. I was born in the wrong generation. I know you can probably tell me different, but I. I gravitate towards that time.
[00:41:08] Speaker C: I won't tell you different, Ryan, because you know how many people have told me that over the years?
And being a history teacher, I absolutely love two decades of the 20th century. One was the 20s, of course, you could figure out. Figure that out. And the other was the 60s because I grew up in the 60s and there was so much stuff going on, so much happening.
My brother dropped out of the University of Illinois, and he went into the Army. He did two tours in Vietnam. He came back my senior year when we were having that magical run at Immaculate Conception. And this was before. This was before classifications, the year before. So it was a Hoosier story. We were beating. We were beating before the schools of 4,000 people or little Catholic school. We were knocking off everybody and so forth. But I know, you know, when Jim came home, I just. I just knew I did not want to go. And, you know, I wasn't. I wasn't as bad as Bill Walton and, you know, or walking to campus protesting because at Florida Southern, you couldn't really. They probably. They punish you.
Is a very strict school. But I knew I didn't. I didn't want to go that. That route. So here's what happened. I was playing American Legion baseball that summer of 69, and I, you know, it was. It was right there. And you. You might have heard this saying before. There was a Triton Junior College was a very famous junior college. It was a very good baseball program. Kirby Puckett played there, okay? And Triton was not too far away, five miles, maybe. And the saying was, triton's better than fighting. And it was.
Kid I played with that summer, American Legion ball, Italian kid who went to Provider West High School. His family was moving down to Port St. Lucie, where the Mets are now. Port St. Lucy, was nothing. He Said, would you like to come with me? He was an only child, so I think he wanted a buddy, you know, like another brother or something. And I talked to my parents and you know, I was being recruited by some other four year schools but unfortunately, you know, the grades, the acts weren't high, high enough. So this, this happened, this opportunity happened and my parents said, okay, you can do it. We didn't have a lot of money, but they made it work. And I lived with Vito and his family that first year and it was Indian River Community College. And here I am playing with guys like Mike Tyson, I'm playing against Bucky Dent in Miami, Johnny Tamargo, all these future big leaguers. And I'm like, wow. Wow.
And arguably, no offense, California or Texas, but that South Florida Junior College conference was one of the best in the nation.
So much talent. You know, Demi Maneri's coaching at, at Miami Dade North, Paul's dad, Charlie Green at South. And I'm like, wow. I, I was pretty, pretty impressed.
So that's how I got there.
[00:43:56] Speaker A: Love it, love it. I mean you've spanned the, the generations here coaching for a young coach. Listening in. What would you now about getting into it? Right now? If a coach is going to get into it?
[00:44:09] Speaker C: I, you know, it's, I, I think number one, you have to have the passion for it. And, and I was reading something earlier today, one of Clint hurdles. Oh, every Wednesday he sends out a. Wooden, Wooden Wednesdays, John Wooden things. And there was a little blurb on there about Coach, Coach Wooten from Demapa High School, arguably the greatest basketball coaches ever. And he always said, you know, it's, it's, it's not only, only, not only a privilege, but you just, he talked a lot about priorities. Okay. And, and I think that is, it's funny because Coach Wooden mentioned the same four things that our high school coach Ken Mazarka at Immaculate Conception listed, you know, in terms of priorities, you know, God, your family, your studies and your sport, your baseball, your basketball or whatever.
And I would say to young coaches, make sure you have your priorities straight. That that's so important. And you have, listen, if you don't love what you're doing when you come home at night, yeah, you're going to be exhausted. But if you can't, if, if you can't have that, still have that love and that passion, you know, for, for the game, then you know what, it's, maybe it's not for you and so forth. Be patient. You have to be patient.
And, and here's another thing. And, and this is something I see unfortunately more of with young coaches these days. And, and, and it is different, I hate to say it. It is different from the, of the young guys these days expect that. Or they ask what are you going to do for me? What can you do for me? What's in it for me? You cannot take that position. You really can't. You have to be able to just devote yourself and good things will happen. Your time will come. Okay? It really will. Andrew and I have had discussions about that and Andrew is not like that. Andrew Catchel, my head coach at Northeastern and my son Will. These are some of the most unselfish guys. And you can't be selfish. You just can't be. Unfortunately, a lot of our younger athlet athletes these days are selfish, probably because of the parental situation.
[00:46:13] Speaker A: Yep. And they're looking for, for instant gratification and it doesn't work that way. Like you're going to plateau out, especially in coaching. If you're looking for, for quick things in coaching, you're going to plateau out where if you can sacrifice and, and stay with it, you're going to be way further ahead. Might take you a little bit, but you're going to end up further along than, than you you would have working for instant gratification.
[00:46:38] Speaker C: Yeah. No question, no question about it.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: Do you have a fail forward moment? Everybody's got to answer this one question. Something that you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward.
Maybe not playing your junior year at Florida Southern.
[00:46:52] Speaker C: That was one of them.
[00:46:53] Speaker A: You got another one.
[00:46:58] Speaker C: You know, I've lost three state championships in the last inning over the course of time. Mark Johnson got me once on a walk off home run at Cherry Creek week. By the way, are you, I hope you're doing something with Mark.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: I did last summer.
[00:47:10] Speaker C: Good, good.
[00:47:11] Speaker A: He was great. Shout out to Coach Johnson.
[00:47:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Wonderful guy.
You know, those were tough but, but if anything that just, those just gave me more strength. Like I'll, I'll be back. And it's funny because in 92 and 93 it was back to back. You know, after Mark, after Cherry Creek loss in 92 we lost. In 93, same deal, last inning. And at that point it could have been one of those goes, okay, that's it, I'm never going to do this. And you know, ironically I started thinking about Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills and so forth. I said, hell no, I, I'll, I'll get back to this. I'll Keep doing. And then I realized really, you know, it's, it's really not all about the W's. It's not about the championships. It's more about, you know, I had a saline there. It's not about the rings. And this is the most important ring to me, the hall of Fame ring. It's more about the relations and, and that's what's, what's kept me going, you know, over, over the time. But I would say my situation at Florida Southern my junior year was probably the biggie.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: How do you get off the mat there? That's not easy thing to do. You lose back to back years walked off. How do you get off the mat after that?
[00:48:26] Speaker C: I came home and I kept playing and I played semi pro baseball in the summer. I played for Rocky Militello with the Melrose Park Eagles. And, and you know, I had teammates that went on and played professionally and you know, I just kept doing that and these guys just kept encouraging me. You know, my teammates at Florida Southern, I had fraternity brothers that are baseball players. They kept encouraging me. You know, Dave Bergman was on that Melrose Park Eagles team. 15 year Big Leaguer. Dave played for the, for the Tigers and God rest his soul, he lost his battle to cancer, I don't know, five years ago maybe and, and stuff. But just, just people in my corner, I mean that, that was it that they helped you get off the mat.
Because if they weren't there, you know, I mean, my mom, of course, and my dad, I mean, I, I didn't have. My dad just wasn't really into sports that much and, and the relationship was, was kind of shallow. But she was always my biggest fan and, and she was a fighter. I mean, and she would not allow me to quit. She would, wouldn't.
[00:49:29] Speaker A: My dad was good friends with Dave Bergman, by the way.
[00:49:33] Speaker C: Really?
[00:49:33] Speaker A: Illinois State grad.
[00:49:35] Speaker C: That's right. Illinois State graduate Danny Hogan.
[00:49:39] Speaker A: Bass.
[00:49:41] Speaker C: Yes. Duffy Bass. Great program. As a matter of fact, my Legion coach was Larry Halard. His son was an all American in Illinois State.
And yeah, I, I mean I loved, I love my teammates there. It was, it was, you know, I left my high school team and I played for guys, guys that play for the bigger, you know, public schools and, and man. And, but you know, and you're playing against guys like again, this is how old I am. Greg Lasinski. Oh my God. I'm just glad I didn't play football. Automatic conception. Because trying to tackle Luzinski the Bull, that would have been, would not have been fun.
[00:50:15] Speaker A: What are your Other morning routines. I mean, you're in great shape and very active still. Outside of yoga and golf, what else you got? Are those the main ones?
[00:50:25] Speaker C: I work out six days a week. I do a cardio three or four, and I'll still do a lift, probably too much.
And, you know, I'll do that. And you know, Sophie, my, my golden retriever is upstairs. I'll walk her a couple times a day. And, and you know, I love to travel, and that's why I want my wife to eventually retire. But, and I'll take her. I'm going to take her to Europe next summer. You know, she knows, she knows all of my good friends in Croatia. She' there, she's been to Austria when I did an ISG clinic in, I don't know, Vienna with Jerry Weinstein and, and, you know, so she's met so many of my friends over there. But I'm going to take her, I'm going to take her to Europe next summer. And we're just going to, we'll, we'll travel, we'll travel, see some places that we love to go to. And so I, I, I love to travel. We have a place in Cabo, a timeshare in Cabo. Love to go down there.
Sneak down to Scottsdale once in a while. Play some cheap golf in the summertime.
Ironically, our only open weekend with Northeastern this spring is the first weekend in February. And guess what's, what's happening then. The Waste Management has been open.
Yeah.
[00:51:39] Speaker A: So former assistant who actually works for Waste Management in Phoenix. So I don't, I haven't been able to pull the trigger to go down there yet. It looks, looks amazing.
[00:51:48] Speaker C: You really need to. And I mean, it's, it's, yeah, it's gotten a little crazy. They're, they're trying to get a handle on things a little bit more. So. And they need to. But it's just, it's so much fun.
And I'm not a big golf guy, but I love, I love going down there. So Coach Catchel is like, go ahead, Coach. Go down. It's our Open weekend. Just make sure you're back by the weekend so you can come to practice. I said, okay, deal.
[00:52:10] Speaker A: What else are you looking forward to about the convention this year?
[00:52:14] Speaker C: Every year? I mean, for 43 years. Maybe it's more than that. I don't know. I'd lost track. 42, 43 years. Meeting all, seeing old friends for the first time that I get a chance to see. Maybe it's old teammates, you know, people Coaches, colleagues, all of that. I love the international, you know, meeting on Thursday night that Bill, Bill used to host when he was, when he was with us, and now Tom O'Connell does it. And, and just seeing my, my European buddies that come over for the convention, I, I enjoy that more than anything. And I, and I'll go to the hall of Fame banquet every year just, you know, to see new inductees and, and, and sit with my good friends, you know, the Arizona guys, Stan, Luka Titch and, and Tommy Suko, all those guys. They're just wonderful, wonderful friends that have graced my life.
[00:53:07] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts before I let you go?
[00:53:13] Speaker C: Well, I, it's kind of an open ended question. I mean, I just, you know, somebody asked me, me while they were actually interviewing my wife, I think on radio or tv, I think it was a radio interview or whatever. And, and he asked, he asked her, what are you going to do when baseball's over? And she just stopped and looked at him and said, what are you talking about? Baseball will never be over. And, and that was not me saying that. That was her. And you know, I can't, she, she's been, you know, she has been without her, without her support, without her letting me try travel halfway around the world for the last 42 years we've been married, I wouldn't be doing this. I mean, I, I might be doing it, but I wouldn't be as successful as I've been. I mean, she's been there, she's been there for me. She's, she's been wonderful. And you know, I'm sure Coach Kyzyzewki could say that about Jackie, about his wife and, and, and so many coaches. But, you know, behind every successful coach, there's, there's a very good part partner there.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: How do you make that work? Because you look at the, the rates of marriages not working out in baseball, it's extremely high. How do you make that relationship work?
[00:54:25] Speaker C: It's not a matter of me making it work, Ryan. It's a matter of her. She's, she does it because she, again, like my, like my kids, they are so unselfish. She is very unselfish. I've been the one that's been a little crazy, a lot of goofy, a little, you know, possessive at times and selfish. I mean, I've changed. I've gotten better over the years. But you make it work through just, you know, listening, showing your love and, and just showing your gratitude. And you're right, a lot of them haven't worked and, and, but it, it's, it's a two way street and in my case, luckily the other, you know, the other part of that street has really been the, the, the different maker.
[00:55:13] Speaker A: Love it. Thank you for your time, sir. I'm looking forward to seeing you. D.C. thank you very much.
[00:55:17] Speaker C: Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate it. Take care.
[00:55:20] Speaker B: I'm so grateful to be able to interview the living legends of the game. Shout out to everyone that attended this year's ABCA convention at the Gaylord National. It was another great event. We can't thank everyone enough that participated.
Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt West, Antonio Walker in the ABCA office. For all the help on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me via email r brownleyabca.org Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok Coach Babca or direct message me via the MyBCA app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off for the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks and leave it better for those.
[00:55:53] Speaker A: Behind you.
[00:56:03] Speaker C: Not for your name and you know that way Yep Wait for.
[00:56:10] Speaker A: Another day.
[00:56:14] Speaker C: And the world will always return as your life there before yearning and you know that way Wait for another.
[00:56:35] Speaker A: Day.