Coach Bail won my mom over when he talked about families, including his personal family, his athletics department family, and the families of the young men he coached. It was apparent this man cared about his job as well as the players, coaches, and everyone else in his life. I liked him personally.
He then talked about how he saw me fitting in. Coach Bail had done his homework on me and knew of my Under-18 invitation and the work I’d done with the Cubs hitting instructor. He was honest and said that there were older players who would probably be ahead of me. But there was a chance I could walk in and start because there would be open tryouts. I liked that he would give me a chance to prove myself.
“David, I’ve talked to Coach Casey, and he wanted me to convey that he wouldn’t have a problem with you playing both football and baseball. I know that there’ll be some overlap between spring football and baseball season. Of course, I’d prefer you just play baseball. But I want you to know that you have the full support of Coach Casey and myself in making it as easy as possible for you to play both sports.
“Coach Casey told me he and his staff hadn’t had their in-home visit yet. But he would be ecstatic if you decided to play both baseball and football at The Ohio State University,” he said to finish his sales pitch.
After our talk, we had dinner, and Coach Bail got to know us all better.
◊◊◊ Tuesday April 19
My phone woke me up. I looked at the caller ID and sighed. Word must already be out about my first in-home recruiting visit.
“I didn’t set it up, my parents did,” I said as soon as I picked it up.
“Someone has a guilty conscience. Our guy can be there for dinner tonight,” Bo Harrington, my former mentor and now quarterback coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide, said.
“I call bullshit. Alabama is not going to let me play both football and baseball. Coach Wilson couldn’t conceive of anyone not being 100% focused on football.”
I heard Bo laugh. Everyone knew that Coach Wilson ran his program almost like a pro team. If they would just wise up and make it so football players didn’t have to waste time in class, he would probably be happy. I would be shocked if he would let baseball interfere with football preparations.
“What if I told you he said that for you, he would make an exception?” Bo asked.
“I’d call you a liar to your face,” I shot back.
“Okay, you got me,” Bo said with a snort. “What if I told you, you could play baseball IF it didn’t conflict with football and that Coach Gat was willing to let you play with those restrictions?”
Coach Gat was Alabama’s baseball coach.
“Look at you, working your magic to make me happy,” I teased him.
“I’m results-oriented,” Bo retorted.
That sounded like something his boss would say. I decided to test his resolve.
“I’ll believe Alabama is on board with me playing both baseball and football if you can get Coach Gat to dinner at the Dawsons’ tonight.”
“Will you commit to Alabama if I make it happen?” Bo asked.
“No. We already discussed this. If I remember correctly, someone advised me not to make a commitment until spring of my senior year,” I said, using his advice against him.
“I told you that before I had the perfect place for college lined up for you,” he replied, and then got serious. “Wanna know a secret? I think we might have to start Wes Hunt as a true freshman.”
That got my interest. Wes might win them some games, but if the pressure was on, I was betting he would fold at the wrong time. I could walk onto campus as their savior. The only problem with my logic was that if Wes had a year’s experience with actual playing time, it would be hard to unseat him. I could end up on the bench for the first three years.
Then again, I knew that every time we’d gone head-to-head, I’d beaten him.
What shocked me was that Coach Wilson might actually consider starting a freshman. Quarterback was, without a doubt, the hardest position to just walk on and play. Coach Wilson must have some real problems if Wes Hunt would need to start. I didn’t say that to take anything away from Wes; he was the best quarterback in the senior class. I could name fifty teams that would beg to have him on campus starting for them. It was just that we were talking about Alabama, probably the best-run football program in college.
“I could actually start as soon as I walk onto campus,” I said in astonishment.
“Sometimes I forget that you’re a ‘stupid boy’ and don’t read your own press clippings. I’ve seen both of you play, and I think you’d have a shot at unseating him,” Bo said.
That gave me pause. I pondered what Bo was telling me.
“I really don’t want to deal with baseball recruiting right now. The Ohio State visit was something my parents set up so they would be familiar with the process,” I admitted.
“Good. I would have had to pull some strings to get Coach Gat there tonight, but I would have if you wanted me to.”
“Thanks.”
“How was it?” Bo asked.
I launched into a five-minute spiel on the virtues of The Ohio State Buckeyes.
“Did you know that it snows there?” Bo threw out.
This time I had to laugh. If he wanted to play the weather card, I might have to tell him what it was like at USC. At least in southern California, it didn’t feel like there was 90% humidity when it got hot. We talked for a little longer, and then I had to get up and go run.
◊◊◊
Tonight, at baseball practice, it was just Moose working with the outfielders. He wanted to work in detail on balls where we had to contend with the wall or fence to catch.
“If a ball looks like it’ll be a home run, I don’t want you to do what David did earlier in the year,” Moose said. “Don’t try to use the wall to boost yourself up to catch it. I say that with one exception: if we’re in the playoffs, and it’s the State Championship in the bottom of the seventh inning, do whatever it takes.” Moose grinned as he said that.
“Why shouldn’t we try to make that catch?” Dan asked.
“Two reasons. The first is that the chance of injury makes it not worth it. The second is that the odds of you making that play are slim. When I played baseball, I think I made five of those plays. On the last one, I tore a ligament in my ankle. I had to have it reattached and was in a cast for six weeks. It still bothers me when the weather changes, almost forty years later.”
“If we do need to do it, what’s the right way?” Milo asked.
Moose trotted over to the fence to demonstrate.
“Even a chain-link fence like this can hurt if you run into it. Hit a pole, and forget about it. I’ve seen players get knocked out, broken arms, bruised ribs, and the like. I’m telling you little dumbasses this so you understand that it’ll mess you up if you aren’t listening for your help,” Moose said. Then he looked each of us in the eye.
“If you don’t call out a warning for your teammate, you’ll be sitting next to me in the dugout. Is that understood?” Moose asked.
“Yes, sir,” we all said in unison.
“The trick to doing it right is to use your non-glove hand to grasp the top of the fence. This is to keep your ribs from smacking into the wall,” he said with a half-smile as he demonstrated what would happen. “Then put your toe against the wall and push yourself up.”
It looked perfectly safe to me.
◊◊◊
After my dojo workout, I drove to Shiggy’s house. Brook and Cassidy were curious about my Japanese lessons, so Shiggy agreed to let them come to dinner. He assured me that Hana had enough to feed everyone. I think Brook wanted to see if she needed to worry about Hana.
We were all hungry, so Shiggy had Hana serve dinner first. Cassidy got excited as she clapped her hands.