The "Coach's Dream Player" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were preparing for the big game. The New Era Tournament Championship. Every year our local newspaper sponsors a championship tournament for baseball teams in Lancaster County. The best in each league play to see who is the champion of Lancaster County. For years I have coached and only once have we reached this plateau. Five other times my teams have made it into the tournament only to be defeated before we made it to the championship game. Finally! In Little League baseball your team is based usually on your one or two best players who are always the pitchers. That has always been the case with my teams. Except for this year. My best player, Jeff Murse, injured his arm early in the season this year and the rest of the team stepped up and got us into the championship game. I had coached Jeff for five years and he was without a doubt the best player I have ever had the honor of coaching. I knew Jeff was good when he played against my team when he was 11 years old. The team I was coaching was ahead of his team by 2 runs in the bottom of the last inning. Jeff's team came to bat. We got 2 quick outs and then my pitcher, Jonathan F. lost his control. He walked the next 2 batters and brought Jeff to the plate. Jeff was very large for his age and was a tremendous baseball player. Lefty! Always makes you better. I went out to talk to Jonathan and told him he was doing great and we only needed one more out to win the league championship in our age bracket. But, I told him, "Don't throw any good pitches to Jeff." I knew Jeff would win the game for them if he got a good pitch. So Jonathan threw 2 pitches that no one could every hit. I felt so bad about my decision. My gosh, this is 9-12 year old kids I thought. Asking someone to walk a 10 year old, well you just shouldn't do that! I yelled to Jonathan, he looked at me and I signaled to throw it waist high. And he did!! Jeff hit it about 150 feet down the right field line for a homerun. Game over! But, I never regretted my move. It's just little league baseball. The next year I was asked to coach Manheim Township's "traveling team" for midget-midget aged players. Ages 11-12. Who do you think I picked first? Jeff was the star of the team and we made it to the New Era Tournament. During the season I would tell coaches, who I knew didn't know the level of players I had, to play a little deeper when Jeff came to bat. I told them I feared for the safety of his players since Jeff could hit the ball so well. One game, with bases loaded and Jeff coming to bat, I told the third baseman, who I was standing next to in my coaches spot, that he should tell his coach he better walk Jeff. Yeah, right! Jeff proved me right when he hit a Grand Slam! I had other good players, also. Adam Leed was eventually drafted by Milwaukee and he played short and outfield. Also did some pitching. We lost in the second round to a team from Willow Street which featured a player by the name of Rob Burger who was later drafted by the Phillies. The following two years, Jr. Midget age of 13-14, we also made it into the tournament only to be beaten by Burger. That kid could really bring it. Same thing in Midgets. The first year Burger beat us, but this year he is injured and his team didn't even qualify for the tournament. Funny thing, so was Jeff. But, my TEAM was much better. Well, Jeff recovered in the final week of the season and was able to pitch and win the game for us. He went on to be very successful in High School and College, but never was drafted into professional ball. He was a coach's dream player. Did everything you asked. A real leader. In a high school English class he wrote an essay titled "The Coach." Since I taught in the same school, his teacher gave me a copy. As I read it I realized that Jeff thought the same of me as I thought of him. His glowing report was humbling as well as humorous. Several sentences were pretty accurate such as: over the large hill came our coach so calmly it looked like he had just gotten up; and his orange hat covered his receding gray hair and his slender face made him look sickly; and he wore black baseball shoes which made his feet look bigger than they were; and he was a thin man with a pale complexion, and he was a very understanding, quiet, but determined as a baseball coach. He also recalled the championship game we won and said he knew we would win, because I told them years ago we were going to win it before we all stopped playing together. He said they won it for me!! WOW! Brought tears to my eyes as I read it, just as it did now as I am typing this story. He finished his essay saying I was the best coach he ever had. Pretty neat to hear that from perhaps the best player I ever coached. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pix of Jeff pitching in the Mason-Dixon Tournament in York, PA. Tournament for the best players from NY, MD, PA, NJ, and VA. We won the tournament with Jeff and Rob pitching for us.