ONE DAY YEARS AGO, I SAT IN HANK JONES’S KITCHEN. Hank was a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had known me since I was fifteen years old, helped develop me as a player, watched me grow through high school and college ball, and was now offering me a chance to play professionally.

The contract lay beneath his fingers. He slid it toward me — then immediately pulled it back out of my reach. Staring me hard in the eyes, he said, “I want you to know something: you will never play in the big leagues. But you might manage there someday. I’d like you to do that for us.”

Manage?

Sure, someday, I thought. But not until I proved Hank and every other naysayer, including my parents, wrong.


A LITTLE LATER, I FOLLOWED HANK’S CAR TO SALEM, OREGON, where I would join the Dodgers’ Northwest League team. Alone in my car, I vowed to prove Hank wrong. I had been the underdog plenty before.

When we arrived at the ballpark, it was clear I was indeed a long way from Dodger Stadium. The field was a well-worn patch of dirt and grass that gave the impression the game should be finished quickly, before the cows returned to feed. The lighting was dim, at best, and the locker room was small and dirty.

leaf graphic

The first person I met in the locker room was Burt Hooton. A big, slow-talking Texan, Burt had just finished a distinguished Major League pitching career (151 wins) and was beginning his first assignment as a minor league pitching coach. I remembered his devastating knuckle-curve; Dodgers fans remember him surrendering one of three consecutive titanic home runs hit by Reggie Jackson in the clinching game of the 1977 World Series. We shook hands. He seemed friendly enough. I didn’t mention Reggie.

Next, I met Tom Byers, the manager, who seemed busy and was immediately on his way to something else. Trainer Geoff Clark issued my uniforms and I began dressing for batting practice. A Dominican player in front of the locker next to me said something to me in Spanish I did not understand. Later, I learned there were eight other players who spoke no English. The child of Greek and Albanian immigrants, all I knew how to say in another language was Ti kanis? (Greek for How are you?) and ade sto Diablo, which my Greek grandfather would holler when the lawnmower wouldn’t start.

I smiled, said nothing, and continued dressing.

By the time the team assembled for stretching, the manager had forgotten my name. He covered by asking me to introduce myself to the team, which I did to 24 other players, most of whom had been together for at least a year. They saw me — just as they would any newcomer — as a threat to their job. I immediately felt like an outsider, the new kid at school searching for a friend.


I LEARNED PRETTY QUICKLY THAT THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PLAYERS who sign professional baseball contracts: prospects, and those who play catch with prospects. On any given minor league team, especially at the lower levels at which I toiled, there are only a handful of real prospects — those players that the organization believes will one day wear a big-league uniform. The rest are roster-fillers, inventory, skids who help fill out the lineup so real games can be played.

I was a switch-hitting utility player reasonably adept at playing second and third base. In a pinch, I could play shortstop. In college, I had also become serviceable behind the plate, so there were four positions I could play without embarrassing myself too badly. As a hitter, my best years were behind me. I had no power, was an average runner, and having my throwing shoulder rebuilt the year before had robbed me of the only decent tool I once possessed.

I played catch with Mike Piazza, who would go on to become arguably the best hitting catcher to ever play baseball, and has since been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Though I felt I could defend better than Mike, the difference in our hitting was staggering. Had we both been artists, Mike would have painted the Sistine Chapel, while I rattle-canned graffiti onto highway overpasses.

To be clear, Mike was the prospect. My job was to get him loose.

That year, I also met the legendary former Dodgers catcher John Roseboro, one of a handful of roving instructors paid by the Dodgers to visit all the minor league clubs in the organization to evaluate and work with the prospects for two or three days at a time. Others included Dave Wallace, now pitching coach for the Orioles; “Sweet Lou” Johnson, whose battle with drugs once saw him use his World Series ring as collateral in a cocaine deal, and who parlayed his successful rehabilitation into a meaningful role with the Dodgers, working with outfielders and speaking to players about avoiding the pitfalls of drugs and alcohol; and Dick McLoughlin, a salty, hard-drinking former Triple-A manager whose specialty was bunting, a skill he expected you to do perfectly. Once, during a drag bunting drill, Mac set his “LA” hat on the third baseline. He then set my “Salem” hat on the grass four feet from the line. “Tell me, son,” he growled, “where do you want your fucking mail sent?”

Point taken.


ROSEBORO — ROSIE TO EVERYONE — CAUGHT FOR THE DODGERS from 1957 to 1967. He was an All-Star six times, won three Gold Glove awards, and was a three-time World Series champion. A gifted storyteller, he sat the catchers down under a maple tree and just talked to us — priceless stuff you can’t get anywhere, about disguising your signs when a runner is on second base, how to stay fresh over a long season, and what it was like to catch Koufax. “When you work the Rose, you don’t sweat,” he said, through tobacco-stained teeth.

john roseboro

On Rosie’s final day with us, I finally got the nerve to ask him about the storied rivalry with the Giants, about Juan Marichal, and about one of the most notorious incidents in all sports.

In 1965, three months before I was born, the Dodgers faced the Giants’ best pitcher, Marichal, a fiery Dominican known for his pinpoint control and willingness to intimidate batters by throwing at their heads. To counter, the Dodgers sent out their ace, Sandy Koufax, the best pitcher in baseball and a calm gentleman.

“From the first pitch, Marichal was gunning for us,” said Rosie. “He threw at everyone. I told Sandy he needed to answer back. He agreed, but he wouldn’t do it — he just kept pitching away. I figured he must have been waiting for Marichal to come to the plate. But when he did, and Sandy threw outside again…well, I figured it was time for me to take matters into my own hands. When I threw the ball back to the mound, I leaned over into the batter’s box a little and the ball passed close to Marichal’s face. On the next pitch, I leaned a little further and my throw passed even closer to his face. The third time, I leaned way over and my throw grazed his ear. He started jawing at me, and when I took my mask off and started to stand up, he hit me over the head with his bat — three times! I remember looking up and then the blood pouring down my face. I don’t remember much after that.”

Marichal’s blows to Roseboro’s head started a huge brawl. Rosie was sent to the hospital; Marichal was suspended for nine games and fined $1,750. After his return, Marichal lost his last three decisions while the Dodgers won 15 of their last 16 games and the National League pennant, on their way to becoming World Series Champions.

“Juan and I are pretty good friends today, believe it or not,” said Rosie, smiling.


AS A PLAYER YOU ARE OFTEN CONCERNED — sometimes overly so — with who respects you. I was small, skinny, and injured. I was not built like the other guys on the club and didn’t get to play much. I spent most of my time in the bullpen, catching young pitchers with terrific arms and no idea where they were throwing the ball. If I hadn’t realized it sooner, it was becoming clear that I was not a prospect, and that the bullpen was the place my playing career would end. The manager never spoke to me. Most of the roving instructors walked right past me to work with the prospects they had been sent to see. And all of my passion, love for the game, and hard work was going unnoticed because it was wrapped in a package of limited skill. I was making $700 a month to catch in the bullpen and throw occasional batting practice. I got to play rarely, mainly in lopsided games at second base, third base, and behind the plate. I knew what they thought of me.

One July day, when Rosie was in town, he stood next to me while I was waiting to enter the turtle cage to take my batting practice swings. As the hitter before me completed his last round, Rosie put his hand on my shoulder, leaned in, and said, “Swing hard, son, just in case you make contact.”

The manager was throwing batting practice from behind an L-screen. As I stepped to the plate, I recognized the familiar body language that screamed his disdain for a player so utterly devoid of talent. I knew he preferred to spend his energy improving a prospect, rather than wasting his arm on a hack like me. Nevertheless, he reluctantly tossed pitches to the plate, which I peppered on lines into the outfield. It wasn’t that I had done poorly in my daily BP, but for some reason, that day, I got his attention. He even stopped, twice, to turn and watch balls sail over the left-field fence, which, for me, did not happen often. From behind the cage, Rosie said, “Attaway, college boy. That’s how you do it. Tommy, how come we don’t get more guys to hit like this kid? We ought to get him in the lineup tonight.” It was arguably my best moment as a professional baseball player.

I spent the rest of the night catching in the bullpen.

mike piazzaIn early September, the club fell short in its quest for the Northwest League championship. Guys prepared to head to Pennsylvania or Baton Rouge or Venezuela or the Dominican Republic, or wherever they called home. I stopped by a party following the last game, mainly to say goodbye to the few friends I had made. I wanted desperately to rejoin them, healthy, at spring training in Vero Beach in March, but I gathered from the way the season had gone that getting an invitation would be a long shot. After spending the season being thrashed on the sidelines by errant fastballs and fifty-five-foot curves, and getting very few at-bats, the writing on the dugout wall was pretty clear. As I was leaving, Mike Piazza shook my hand and said, “See you in Vero.”

That would be great, I thought.

I haven’t seen him since.

In time, my shoulder would make a full recovery. But the same calendar that measured my health could do nothing to change my unassailable mediocrity. Two months later, on a rainy November day, I responded to a notice summoning me to the local post office to collect a certified package. Inside was a letter from the Dodgers thanking me for my service to the organization and granting my unconditional release. My professional baseball career was over.

I paused for a long moment as if someone would pull the paper from my fingers, just as Hank had done five months earlier when he offered me the contract. Alone in my car, with the wipers clearing rain from the windshield, I laid the letter in my lap and wept. My dream of playing in the big leagues was over. I was 23 years old.


IT IS A CRUEL GAME, BASEBALL. It permeates your skin and swims in your veins, makes you believe that it will reciprocate your love and loyalty, only to mire you with sadness and unrelenting failure. Even the best players in the game make outs 70% of the time. Much is said about them. Less is said about the rest of us.

Years later, I realized that Hank had been right: I was never meant to be a major league baseball player. He knew that instinctively the day he offered me a contract, then pulled it from my fingers. That day, instead of telling me what I wanted to hear, he told me what I needed to hear. Thanks to him, I didn’t wallow for the rest of my life, thinking I had been screwed out of a playing career that I did not deserve. From the start, I was an outsider looking in. But thanks to Rosie, for one hour in July of 1989, I felt like the best player on a professional baseball team — a feeling I will savor as long as I live.

Chris Sperry, Baseball/Life

Written by Chris Sperry

Chris Sperry is a baseball consultant who develops players and amateur coaches, assists professional scouts, and counsels families of prospective college-bound student-athletes. He holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration from the University of Portland, the same institution at which he served as head baseball coach for 18 years. His key interests are in player and personal development as they pertain to a life in and beyond sports.

  • Rob Hicks says:
    January 18, 2016 Reply

    Great read Chris. I remember playing long toss with you on our days off way back when. It was the first time I heard the term “pie thrower”, which I was not. But I think of you every time I refer to it. I look forward to your next article. RH.

    • Chris Sperry says:
      January 20, 2016 Reply

      We had some good times, Robbie. Your arm always worked the way it should. Not a pie thrower.

  • Rick Smith says:
    January 18, 2016 Reply

    Great story Chris. You do have a knack for writing! We need to get together some day soon.

  • Don Freeman says:
    January 20, 2016 Reply

    The baseball ride is unique for each one of us. Memories, friends, players, teammates, umpires, and more clutter the far corners of our minds. The majority wouldn’t change any of it other than reliving those great times. That is what our memories are for. I cherish those individuals that I have encountered on my journey and look forward to those that are yet to come. After recent heart surgery, I expect the journey to continue another 30 years. I would have given anything to have had the opportunity to play catch with prospects. I have had this conversation with you Chris and really enjoyed your article and hearing it again.

    • Chris Sperry says:
      January 20, 2016 Reply

      Thanks for reading, Coach. So good to spend time with you this off-season.

  • Dave Terry says:
    February 10, 2016 Reply

    Not quite sure how I ran across this, but darned glad that I did. Been a long time, coach. You did more for my three boys at the plate during your Winter Camp than I could ever hope to. Your name came up on Sunday and all of my boys (now men) remembered how you treated them…not what you taught them about hitting, but how your passion and love for the game was so infectious, and how you taught young kids with the same enthusiasm as you taught the college kids. All three said “Coach Sperry made us WANT to be a good hitter…” It was a very cool talk we had. Drop me a line or give me a call…I think I owe you a lunch (or maybe you owe me one)…either way, Brett leaves for Spring Training mid March and I’m sure he’d love to join us for lunch. Dave

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