I was intrigued as I thought of what I may be able to post on a random Thursday. I began to think of what photos I may have which would be entertaining to anyone but myself.
My first entry into this realm of "hipness" came on the first Thursday of June of 2014. The photos I uploaded on Facebook were of myself and some photos from my season of coaching the 2001 Burnsville (MN) traveling fastpitch softball team.
I remember that season quite fondly. I had coached various teams, both in-house and traveling, in Burnsville, MN. I love the game of baseball and I love coaching/teaching the game at different age levels. I would typically move from team to team as I have no children of my own, attempting to make the program better at all stops.
On the day that I first met my team that year I had decided that I would make an entrance which was "different". I had the players show up at the high school on a Saturday afternoon. At the time that our meeting was supposed to start, the team was greeted by Minnesota Twins mascot, T.C. Bear. The bear visited for a few minutes and then came to get me in the parking lot and show me where the team was. I made my way up to the field and asked why everyone looked so perplexed when I arrived. The looks on the players' faces were priceless. And so the 2001 season was underway.
We had a good team. We had "bit players" who were able to fill in where we needed them. I was quickly told that one of my best players had been injured just prior to the start of the traveling season. This made no real difference to me because I wanted to make this team great on its own merit.
My assistant coach was a very nice gentleman named Larry Yandle, who always got me enthused when he would shout, "C'mon'! C'mon, now!" in his great Carolina-based accent. Larry's daughter was my third baseman and Larry was a great asset to the team.
I told many tales to the girls during the season, but they were most intrigued by the fact that I was in the employ of the front office with the Minnesota Twins. My third baseman had a huge crush on Twins' first baseman, Doug Mientkliewicz. I used to call her "Mientkiewicz" when we played. For those of you who do not know how to pronounce that name, phonetically it would look like "Mint-kaay-vitch".
One of the favorite stories they enjoyed was one which involved Twins then-cathcer A.J. Pierzynski. A.J.played for the Twins from 1998-2003 and played 18 years for seven different teams, winning a World Series with the White Sox in 2005. A.J. was along with me on a winter promotional tour in January 2001 called "Twins Caravan". We started in Winnipeg, Manitoba and then made our way back toward the Twin Cites over a four-day period. One of my favorite moments of the trip was on the last night of the Caravan we left Duluth and ended up stopping in Hinckley at a restaurant called Tobie's. I had dinner with A.J. and hall-of-gamer Harmon Killebrew. On the way back to the cities we discussed a wide range of subjects including baseball superstitions and the like.
But on the night first night of Caravan we were at a night club which was the site of an autograph session. As the night got later on, the tunes being played by the deejay got more and more contemporary. It was a good mix as the songs moved through the decades. But at about 1:30 a.m. the group decided it was about time to hit the road for the hotel. But on the way our of the club, I made a fatal faux pas. The song playing on the way out was a little ditty called "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin. My error? I was singing along with the song, not missing any words, within earshot of Mr. Pierzynski. As we got into the car, along with third baseman Corey Koskie, and headed for the local Burger King for some late-night grease, A.J. overheard me and says to me, "No! You do NOT know the words to this song?! You didn't even recognize the last Destiny's Child song! You are the whitest brother I know. I'm just gonna call you Carlton." And so it was born. My nickname for the promotional week had been established.
I told the players that story and they thought it to be incredibly amusing. They immediately wanted me to perform the Carlton Dance, performed by the tv character Carlton Banks, played by Alfonzo Ribeiro on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I told them that I would do so sometime during the season.
We had a tournament in Rochester in August of 2001 and on the Saturday of that weekend we played a few games in the morning but were not scheduled to play again for about 5 hours until our late game. It was decided to take the ladies to the movies in order to get out of the 100-degree weather. The only film playing at the time at the theatre near the complex was "Jurassic Park 3." An epic motion picture...........would NOT be used in the description of this movie. I enjoyed the original and even liked the sequel, but this is one of those pics that would've been better of not being made. But it did serve the primary intended purpose. We started the game rather slowly that evening and we found ourselves down by three runs to our opponents with only two at bats remaining. I gathered them around and told them that if they were to string together a rally and we could pull this game out, I would do the dance on the mound at the end of the game.
Well, don'tcha know what happened next. The focus that these players had after that was kinda frightening. We hit like we had invented the game for those two innings and we scored 5 runs to go ahead. We closed out the win and I was shown to the pitching circle where I then proceeded to do the dance as the players sang the song aloud.
The season quickly drew to a close and I decided to give the team a party in a suite at the Metrodome. We were on the field and they met many of their favorite players. I believe we were playing Cleveland and my shortstop Jenny got a chance to meet one of her favorite players, Omar Vizquel. We had a great time that evening to be sure.
I pretty much knew when the season started that I was going to be relieved of my duties as coach of this team at season's end. I had no children in the program and there were fathers who were chomping at the bit to coach the team who would be an early-season favorite to win a championship in 2002. That's how it works in traveling sports. It's even worse now than it was back then. I took the "dismissal" with mixed emotions. Politics and too much parental involvement in traveling youth sports is such a huge issue that I was probably going to be better off getting out of the program with a hearty handshake from the people who gave me the chance to coach the team in the first place.
I've actually gotten in touch with a number of players from my 2001 team via something called facespace or mybook or instafart or something like that. They are all nearing their 35th birthdays and a scary fact, to say the least. A few of them have gotten married and started families of their own by now. But all have turned into beautiful women and I am so pleased to have reconnected with them in a small way.
We had a lot of fun and I will always remember that season for many reasons. I probably didn't have the chance to thank them back then, because 18-year old girls aren't usually interested all that much in what 40-year old guys who aren't their fathers have to say. Even those who ARE their fathers for that matter.
Well, that's my story. I think I hear Tom Jones singing "It's Not Unusual" faintly in the background. Maybe he'll do "What's New Pussycat" next. One can only hope.
I told the players that story and they thought it to be incredibly amusing. They immediately wanted me to perform the Carlton Dance, performed by the tv character Carlton Banks, played by Alfonzo Ribeiro on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I told them that I would do so sometime during the season.
We had a tournament in Rochester in August of 2001 and on the Saturday of that weekend we played a few games in the morning but were not scheduled to play again for about 5 hours until our late game. It was decided to take the ladies to the movies in order to get out of the 100-degree weather. The only film playing at the time at the theatre near the complex was "Jurassic Park 3." An epic motion picture...........would NOT be used in the description of this movie. I enjoyed the original and even liked the sequel, but this is one of those pics that would've been better of not being made. But it did serve the primary intended purpose. We started the game rather slowly that evening and we found ourselves down by three runs to our opponents with only two at bats remaining. I gathered them around and told them that if they were to string together a rally and we could pull this game out, I would do the dance on the mound at the end of the game.
Well, don'tcha know what happened next. The focus that these players had after that was kinda frightening. We hit like we had invented the game for those two innings and we scored 5 runs to go ahead. We closed out the win and I was shown to the pitching circle where I then proceeded to do the dance as the players sang the song aloud.
The season quickly drew to a close and I decided to give the team a party in a suite at the Metrodome. We were on the field and they met many of their favorite players. I believe we were playing Cleveland and my shortstop Jenny got a chance to meet one of her favorite players, Omar Vizquel. We had a great time that evening to be sure.
I pretty much knew when the season started that I was going to be relieved of my duties as coach of this team at season's end. I had no children in the program and there were fathers who were chomping at the bit to coach the team who would be an early-season favorite to win a championship in 2002. That's how it works in traveling sports. It's even worse now than it was back then. I took the "dismissal" with mixed emotions. Politics and too much parental involvement in traveling youth sports is such a huge issue that I was probably going to be better off getting out of the program with a hearty handshake from the people who gave me the chance to coach the team in the first place.
I've actually gotten in touch with a number of players from my 2001 team via something called facespace or mybook or instafart or something like that. They are all nearing their 35th birthdays and a scary fact, to say the least. A few of them have gotten married and started families of their own by now. But all have turned into beautiful women and I am so pleased to have reconnected with them in a small way.
We had a lot of fun and I will always remember that season for many reasons. I probably didn't have the chance to thank them back then, because 18-year old girls aren't usually interested all that much in what 40-year old guys who aren't their fathers have to say. Even those who ARE their fathers for that matter.
Well, that's my story. I think I hear Tom Jones singing "It's Not Unusual" faintly in the background. Maybe he'll do "What's New Pussycat" next. One can only hope.
.....I'm just saying'.
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