A Comeback to Remember Youth Baseball Teaches Kids About Winning and Losing
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A Comeback to Remember Youth baseball teaches kids about winning and losing. One team, and one special season, taught a coach about something else: the importance of staying in the game. by flinder boyd was a beautiful day for baseball. On a late afternoon last “Why don’t you coach kids or spring at Friendship Park in South Ogden, Utah, the red something?” she asked. Breitweiser IT infield clay crunched with each step, and the sun spar- liked the idea. He had managed kled off the nearby Wasatch Mountains. J.D.’s youth baseball team years But despite the ideal weather, coach Curtis Breitweiser earlier and hoped he could recreate felt nervous—“half scared to death”—as he waited for the South Ogden happier times. A’s to arrive for their first practice. He hadn’t coached in more than a de- As practice got underway, some cade, and with no direct connection to any of the 9- and 10-year-old play- kids were wearing basketball ers, he wondered whether they would like him or respond to his teaching. shoes. Others wore soccer shorts. Around town, the former insurance salesman, then 57, was known for One was using a plastic toy glove. his endearing smile and ever-ready nuggets of advice, but the past year At one point, Breitweiser told the had been the hardest of his life. In April 2017, his only son, J.D., took his team to meet at home plate. Con- own life at the age of 23. fused, a few players sprinted to Breitweiser, his wife, Caron, and the couple’s three daughters tried to the dugout. In one drill, the boys rally together, but the only time he felt any solace was when he was alone formed two lines, 5 feet away from on his Harley-Davidson, or climbing majestic Ben Lomond Peak. When he a partner, for some toss and catch, decided to retire early, Caron suggested he take up a hobby. but even that was an adventure. ILLUSTRATION BY THE BRAVE UNION may 2019 SouthweSt 57 F1_Baseball_DE.indd 57 4/4/19 5:17 PM “It was horrible,” Breitweiser efore the first game, when a teacher placed them side says. “They just had no concept.” B against the team by side in junior high, and they’d The week before, the team had from South Weber, been inseparable ever since. They essentially been picked at random Breitweiser lined up now worked as electricians in the by Breitweiser at a league-wide the players to stretch in unison. same office at Hill Air Force Base. draft. Few of the players knew one They were decked out in matching The season before, Coffey and another, and no one knew him. gray pants and green South Ogden Muchmore had coached a team Breitweiser ended practice early A’s tops. While other teams in the that included their sons, but, Cof- and gathered the team in a circle. league were happy for their players fey says, “It didn’t go well. We don’t “Listen, all I want is for you to have to have one weekly practice, the know anything about baseball.” fun and hustle. Do we know what A’s had gone through an intensive Over time, the team improved hustle means?” he asked. There baseball boot camp, practicing ev- significantly. On the last day of was a smatter of yeses and an “I ery other day for three weeks. boot camp, Breitweiser lined up think so.” “Hustle means do your Luke, an undersized left fielder the players in the same formation best.” The kids put their hands to- who wore glasses that were slightly as the first practice—two rows of gether in the middle of the circle. too large for his face, learned not kids facing one another—and had One … two … three … “Play hard to sprint in the opposite direction them toss the ball back-and-forth. and hustle!” they screamed. of the ball. Corbin, the first base- No one dropped it. Breitweiser saw Of course, no one knew it man, stopped ducking every time a glimmer of hope. then—not the parents, not the a pitch was thrown. Gradually, the Against South Weber, he chose players, and certainly not Breit- A’s worked up to the basics. his shortest player, Brandon, as his weiser—but they were about to For help, Breitweiser had starting pitcher. Painfully quiet, he embark on something special. taken on two parents as assis- had the best arm on the team, but For now, however, they were just tant coaches—Jordan Coffey, Breit weiser had also noticed that a band of baseball misfits in need tall and spindly, with a quiet de- he threw a bit like his own son. of some structure, and a lost mid- meanor, and his best friend, Jason That seemed like a good omen. Af- dle-aged man in need of some Muchmore, stout, fast-talking, and ter three batters, though, Brandon direction. covered in tattoos. The pair met had walked the bases loaded. PARK. FLY. SAVE. Columbus (CMH) Denver (DEN) Hartford (BDL) airport parking AIRPORT PARKING Exclusive Offer Nashville (BNA) Newark (EWR) Oakland (OAK) Off TM Airport 20% Parking Pittsburgh (PIT) Providence (PVD) Seattle (SEA) Visit propark.com/stm TM TM Use Promo Code: Red Beam Garage C “STM” or scan QR code at exit Use promo code STM when booking your reservation at propark.com/stm or scan QR code at exit. You’ll receive 10% off at Red Beam PVD and 20% off at all other locations. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Expires 12/31/19 F1_Baseball_DE.indd 58 4/4/19 5:17 PM “Time!” Breitweiser yelled to the umpire and walked to the mound. “Are you OK?” he asked his pitcher. Brandon looked at his father, Does Your Hand Shake Jorge Bocaranda, who—along with his wife, Yamileth—was si ing in a When You… lawn chair down the right eld foul Drink a glass of water? Write a note? Dial a phone number? line, far away from the rest of the If so, you may have a condition known as essential tremor. parents. Bocaranda had grown up Our team at the Swedish Radiosurgery Center has successfully treated around the game in Venezuela and hundreds of patients over the past five years — using Gamma Knife, perhaps knew more about baseball a nonsurgical, FDA-approved approach to treat essential tremor. than anyone else at the eld that day, but he didn’t like to be near adults he didn’t know. Twenty- ve years earlier, he immigrated to Utah a er coming for a short visit. He was so struck by the state’s beauty that he never le . Then, a few years later, while DRAWING SAMPLE BEFORE TREATMENT DRAWING SAMPLE AFTER TREATMENT out one evening in Salt Lake City, Learn more about essential tremor and find out he was assaulted. The experience if Gamma Knife treatment is right for you. scarred him. He moved his family 1-206-320-7187 Swedish.org/essentialtremor to South Ogden, an economically Seattle, Washington, USA diverse area, but in their part of town, they were the only Latino household. As Brandon grew, he in- herited his father’s love of baseball, but also his resilience. Breitweiser kicked the dirt o the rubber, and Brandon retook the mound. Then he red a strike, and then another, and another. He Your struck out three straight ba ers. Weekend In the bo om half of the in- ning, the A’s knocked the ball all Your over the eld and eventually won, Way –. The players did a victory lap around the bases, culminating with a team slide at home plate. Your next getaway to Washington, DC begins The next game, the A’s won a in Montgomery County, Maryland. Explore the thriller, –, followed by a – shut- great outdoors, soak up history and unwind out. By the fourth game, cousins at local breweries. Experience your weekend, and grandparents of the players your way - with classic Maryland flavor! were in the bleachers, Co ey says. Breitweiser’s sisters and parents, too. Breitweiser estimates the A’s would have as many as people coming to games. “Winning was so awesome,” he says. The assistant coaches became more involved. Bocaranda inched closer and closer to the dugout un- Request a Travel Guide & til Breitweiser handed him a jersey Enter to Win a Weekend Getaway and made him an uno cial third assistant coach. At work, Muchmore and Co ey VisitMontgomery.com/Weekend F1_Baseball_DE.indd 59 4/4/19 5:17 PM couldn’t stop talking about base- to the cemetery where his son was so cool,” Breitweiser recalls. ball. They’d debate the team’s ideal was buried. He’d sit next to J.D.’s “J.D. was like my best friend.” pitching matchups, or who should tombstone and relive the team’s When J.D. died, Breitweiser’s bat leadoff. If they were confused highlights. Brandon was turning life went into a cosmic tailspin, about any aspects of the game, like into the best pitcher in the league; but coaching the A’s had given how to hit a cut-off man, they’d Luke had taken a ball to the face him some semblance of order. He pull up how-to baseball videos at in the outfield, leaving him with a built a routine around preparing their desk. Their favorite pastime, shiner, but he wasn’t running away. for games, drilling the players, and however, was guessing the back- Breitweiser and J.D.