verdugo288

The story I’m about to tell is probably the most important conversation that took place prior to the ’92 season.  It came from a very unlikely source.  And it was something I needed to hear.  I will never forget what was said to me that night.  I am not bullshitting about what was said to me.  Because it was encouraging, it set me on the right path, and it (most importantly) made me feel for the first time in my life that MY WAY of Managing a Ballclub worked. 

I was sitting in “The Barru” about 11pm one night.  It was about a month before opening day.  My friend and I were pretty hammered.  There was about 20 people in the bar.  In walks this older guy.  He sits down at the far end of the bar.  I was facing East.  The bar had a “U” shape to it.  He sat down on the stool that was closest to the door.  Everyone else was bunched up in the middle where I was.  He sat far away from the crowd.   He was facing north.  The way the lights were set up there no one could see his face.  It was just a silhouette we could see.

And as he took his seat, this silhouette pointed right at me and barked out “That guy is an ASSHOLE!”

This certainly wasn’t the first time anyone had said this to me.  So I didn’t think much of it.  Although some of the people now were straining their eyes to check out the face that was attached to this silhouette at the far end of the bar.

“Yeah”…he said to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “That guy’s an asshole.”

I was kind of chuckling now. 

“In fact”….he said….”buy that asshole a beer!”

The bartender jumped on it….and set down another beer in front of me.  I still couldn’t tell who the hell this guy was.

I figured the beer he had bought for me was somewhat of a “peace offering”….so I did my best Robert Deniro impression.  I hoisted the beer this mystery guy had bought for me in his direction, smiled, raised my eyebrows and said “from one asshole to another” as I took the first gulp.

He didn’t say much for the next five minutes.  I still didn’t know who he was, and my friend was like “who IS that guy?”

So I decided to buy the mystery guy a beer.  That was when my friend said to him “so what’s the problem here?”

“I hate that guy” the silhouette said.

“Why?” my friend asked.

“Because I’ve coached against him, and I’ve umpired games where he managed.  And I’ve never seen anyone who could get his players to run through brick walls for him like that asshole could.  I always resented him for it.  He was always able to do with his Teams what I dreamed about doing with mine, but I could never do it.  I could never connect with my players like he could.  And while I respect him for it, I’ve always hated him for that, too.”

He walked over to where we sat.  I could see his face now.  He smiled, shook my hand and said “I’m really looking forward to following what your Team does this summer.  You guys are gonna probably win the whole thing.”

I was floored.  Speechless.  And indeed it was a guy who had coached against me.  He never beat me.  He came from the CSA.  He was a very knowledgeable guy.  He absolutely LOVED the game.  But it was true.  I had listened to this guy coach his teams and while he was always saying all the right things….he just couldn’t connect with his players.  I didn’t know how to react to what he said.  I had never really been given a compliment like that before.

Maybe he was drunk.  Maybe it was the beer doing the talking for him that night.  But what he said opened the door to what he was ABOUT to say.

He knew what a hard-headed guy I was.  And he was wise enough to open for what he REALLY wanted to say to me with an “attention-getter” like the one he had just used.  It turns out, he was about to give me a little ADVICE.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Sure” I said.

“The BEST thing that happened for this Legion Team is you leaving the High School.  You could be a College coach if you wanted.  It’s just not YOU.  I’ve seen ’em all.  And the WORST thing that happened to you as a coach was becoming a High School coach.  I know you belonged there.  But you changed your style!!!!  Yeah, I watched you coach at the High School level, you did well, but you weren’t being YOURSELF”

He was right. 

“I’ve been following you as a coach for many, many years.  I’ve seen both styles of coaching.  Just be yourself!  Just do what you do!  You don’t have anything to prove to anybody.  You’re one of the most gifted coaches I’ve ever seen.”

Like I said a couple of Posts ago….I didn’t really know how many fans Verdugo had.  And I certainly had no idea that I had a fan.  Someone who had been watching me all of these years.  It was pretty humbling indeed.  And to hear it from a guy who loved the game as much as he did, and for him to say these things to me with a bar full of people listening….it really meant a LOT to me.

He smiled, and said “Just be yourself….and you guys are gonna win the whole damn thing!!!!  Good luck this summer.”

And he left.

He ended up coming to just about every home game we had that summer, and all of the playoff games.  I knew when he was there.  But there were only a couple of times where him and I made eye contact that summer.  This would happen when I was on the field, in the heat of the battle, and he was in the stands, watching Verdugo.  And every time our eyes locked that summer, he did the same thing.  He nodded, smiled, and he gave me a wink.

Because he knew that this hard-headed guy named “Gee” ….who never really listened to much of what anybody had to say….had taken his advice.