Where are they now? Frank Menechino
Frank Menechino never posted monster numbers during his time with the A's. Nor did the infielder ever stand the tallest, thanks to his 5-foot-8 frame. But a Major League player doesn't get tagged Big Bank Frank for no good reason. "If I can't be the guy hustling the most out there," Menechino said, "I don't want to play."
That all-or-nothing mantra is what lit up the spark plug in the former Oakland fan favorite, who spent seven years in the A's organization, four of them coming in green and gold at The Show. Now 37 years old and three years removed from his big league career, the wildly popular and always entertaining member of the A's clubhouse recently spoke in his heavy New York accent, of course from his home in Staten Island, where he is doing what the retired bunch do best.
"I'm fishing every day with my friends," Menechino said. "It's hard work, especially when you're fishing for trout."
Don't expect the New Yorker to join a card club or become an everyday golfer just yet, though. His playing days may officially be kaput, but the whole retirement-from-the-baseball-world stint is very much temporary.
"I'm going to start my baseball coaching career," he said. "Right now I'm giving hitting lessons to little kids and I've been working for a Web site called 'Free the Fan,' which is basically You Tube for sports. I worked the All-Star Game doing interviews for them, but I want to start coaching next year, so I figure this is the last summer to have some fun."
Said fun follows a two-month gig with Danesi Nettuno, a professional Italian team for which Menechino played earlier this year before hurting his back.
"Then I just said, 'You know what? I'm done,'" he explained. "I had enough over there and came home. The main thing is that I'm happy with my career. I'm happy with what I did. It was time for me to quit because I just wasn't having that much fun anymore."
Although Menechino wouldn't mind working for a Minor League team with either the Mets or Yankees to stay close to home, he said he would never rule out a coaching offer from buddy Billy Beane, who he credited for his shot at the Majors. "The reality is, when I was with the White Sox, they said I couldn't play any other positions," said Menechino, who primarily found time at second base. "You can't play, you don't have the arm, you don't have the range, you can't do this, you can't do that. I heard it all. Billy was the smartest one out of everybody because he knew what I could do."
The hard-nosed Menechino knew his Major League role was ultimately defined as a utility player, but the inconsistency of it all never affected his value to the organization.
"I was always put second," he said. "They always had these guys that were so great ahead of me, and then all of a sudden, there I was playing. That's an accomplishment for me. Nobody wants to be a utility player. You want to play every day. I think the coaches and the teams want it that way. They don't want a guy who is content playing every few days."
Every few days turned into a lot of days -- 139, to be exact -- during the 2001 season when A's starting second baseman Randy Velarde went down with an injury, prompting the fill-in Menechino to earn more than a slice of respect. "That year I had a great first half and everyone was saying it was just a flash in the pan," he said. "But no one realized I got two cortisone shots in my elbow and was playing with a torn quad. They threw me out there every day because I was getting the job done defensively and my on-base percentage was second on the team to (Jason) Giambi."
Giambi is one of a handful of past and present A's players Menechino has kept tabs on. He still keeps in contact with the likes of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Eric Chavez and Jason Isringhausen -- guys he said made his Oakland experience beyond memorable.
"The team chemistry we had was unreal," he said. "The way we pulled for each other, the way we hung out together. We never panicked. When everybody around us panicked, we never did, and we always seemed to turn it on at the right times.
When you look back at the teams we had, I sit back scratching my head saying, 'How did we not win a championship?'"
It's a tiring question considering Menechino and the A's reached the playoffs four years in a row -- 2000-04 -- yet never found a way to get past that first round. Even still, he insists his days in the Bay were some of the best, made even better by his supporters. "I know I was liked in Oakland because when I came there as a Blue Jay, they booed the heck out of me," he said with a laugh. "Then they gave me a standing ovation when I came up with the bases loaded and the A's were killing us. I was like, 'Oh, thanks. We didn't have a lot of fans in Oakland, but the fans that did come were great. The players there, we recognize that."
2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P.
Shute wraps up 34-year coaching career
The climate in Waldo County, as far as baseball is concerned, shifted significantly Monday afternoon. That is because Emery Shute, 51, has officially coached his final game. Shute, who has coached at many different levels of baseball over his 34 years of service in Waldo County, coached his final game for Steamboat Petroleum, Waldo County's American Legion baseball squad, in Monday's state tournament in Augusta.
His club took second place in the recent six-team Zone 1 tournament, which earned it a berth in the state tournament last weekend. For Shute's team, state play concluded on Monday with an 8-5 loss to Gayton. Waldo County finished 1-2 in its first state appearance in about a decade. In the past 34 years, Shute has coached little league, Babe Ruth and American Legion baseball teams. He has also been an assistant district administrator and was the head coach of the Searsport District High School baseball team in 1988. Shute also guided the Waldo County Little League team to the district championship and helped a team advance to New York and the Northeast regionals.
"They need a new face," said Shute of the legion program. "I enjoy it, but you only have so much time and you do still have to work."
Another contributing factor in Shute's decision to stop coaching baseball was all the extra responsibilities outside of coaching a team that began to wear on him.
"The fundraising is too hard," he said. "I've been doing this for 11 or 12 years and trying to raise that money is a lot. It's a lot more than just showing up at a game. There is a lot of paperwork, fundraising and there is just a lot to it."
According to Shute, American Legion is some of the highest-grade baseball played in the state, and helps young men get exposed to a higher talent level and for some, prepares them for the next level of baseball. Shute has coached many different athletes to many different grades of success, with many going on to have successful stints in college baseball. He also coached Camden's Mike MacDonald, who is a AAA pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization.
"Mike was very special," Shute said. "I didn't have a thing to do with how good he was, he was just a joy to watch. He was there an hour before practice, and stayed an hour and a half after. He was just a special individual. You don't get kids like that very often."
At the American Legion level, a lot of the fundamentals have already been instilled in the players and, according to Shute, keeping them mentally focused is key. "I try to keep them loose, I try to keep them relaxed and I try to have some fun with them," he said. "Because if they go up there (to the plate) tense, they aren't going to do anything for me. Having fun is the main thing, but the game can eat you up fast if you don't have your head in it."
That, of course, and water. Lots of water.
"You get to the game and the first thing the kids say is, 'Where's the water?'" he said. "If you forget the cups you might as well cut your arms off. I've lugged enough water to bathe a herd of elephants."
Of the many levels of baseball he has coached, Shute appreciates American Legion the most because he knows that the kids are there for the right reasons and all love to play. Shute, a graduate of Searsport District High School, was also a member of two Class C state championships in 1972 and 1975.
"In '72 I didn't play much," he said. "But you want to get back to that, and we got back there as seniors and we won it. I played third base. I wasn't a great player, but I worked very hard at what I did. To win a state championship is the tops of every kid's dream."
And both his children realized their dreams as well. His son helped Searsport win the state Class C championship in 2008 and 2006 in baseball, while his daughter contributed to Searsport's state Class C title in soccer in 2002. Shute remembers some of the 1972 state Class C title run vividly. "Our starting pitcher was Timmy Murphy and he could throw rockets," said Shute. "When we won, (Murphy) threw his glove up in the air and we went nuts you know like kids do, and somebody stole his glove. So when we played in the state championship game he borrowed my glove. I was a freshman and I knew I wasn't going to play so I said, 'Here, use my glove.' So my glove helped win the state title in '72."
Murphy went on to be a great basketball and baseball player at Husson College, and came back with something for Shute in '75 before the state title game. Murphy brought down his white spikes for Shute to wear in the game in a friendly gesture. Shute wore them, and the Vikings went on to the state title. "It was very unique," said Shute.
Shute said the game is much different than it was when he played over 30 years ago. The biggest part is that all the players want to play, but there are only nine positions on the field. "Kids this day in age don't want to do that," he said. "They think everyone should be starting and playing, but sitting on the bench is part of it. You can learn a lot sitting on the bench if you're into a game. If you don't want to be there and you're upset that you're not playing, you're going to miss a lot of what's going on."
Shute was traditional in his values, both on and off the field. "I was brought up to play this game one way, and that is you play very hard," said Shute. "And if you play hard you get rewarded. And that's not just baseball, its life. Some days there are going to be four people going for the same job and if you don't step up, you're not going to get it. Same goes for school if you don't work hard, you're not going to get A's and B's. You're just going to get by."
And what will he miss the most?
The kids," he said. "They're (ages) 15-19 and they make me feel 21 again."
waldo.villagesoup.com
Steve Goodwin: Preparing students for the "game" of life
For Blue Ridge head baseball coach Steve Goodwin, coaching is more than a game; it's a serious pursuit preparing young men for their futures.
"My philosophy is more about teaching them how to be prepared for life, not just about baseball," said Goodwin, an accounting and computer science teacher who first began coaching Little League when he was 16 years old. I'm a disciplinarian. Our kids have to have their hair cut. They have to shave. They have to be on time. And they have to do the right thing in the classroom; the right thing period. That will take them so much farther than baseball. The game itself teaches them how to compete, not just at baseball but hopefully at life."
Goodwin, 46, didn't start as an aspiring educator. Born in Rock Hill, he moved to Mauldin when he was 8 and graduated from Mauldin High School in 1980. He graduated from Winthrop in 1984 with a degree in business administration and went to work in banking.
"But I wasn't an inside person," he said. "I wanted to be outside and I wanted to pursue coaching."
He earned his teaching certification from Lander in 1987 after coaching and student teaching at Laurens District High School, where he had his first fulltime coaching post. He coached football at Carolina High, then baseball before moving to Travelers Rest to coach football and girls basketball. "But I got a lot of technicals coaching the girls basketball," he laughed. "Then the athletic director at Blue Ridge hired me as junior varsity coach and that led into the head coaching job," he said. He's been the Blue Ridge High head baseball coach 13 years, 12 of which he's taken his team to the playoffs.
"He's probably one of the better coaches in the state," said Ray Riley, the school's athletic director. "He's always totally committed to the school and has a great sense of ethics. Everything he does he wants to be first class. Yes sir!" and "No sir!" are required courtesies for members of Goodwin's team, on and off the diamond.
The Tigers have won regionals at least four times during his tenure, most recently in 2006. His team has made Upper State championships only once, and lost to Chapin 3-2. "But it's not about that," he said. "Records are wonderful and it's wonderful to see students go on and play college ball. But it's not the most important thing. The games that we're behind eight or nine runs and then come back and win, those really mean something. It shows they won't quit. If you're going to quit at baseball you're going to quit other things in life, your job, your wife your family."
Goodwin and wife Tina, a Tigerville Elementary School teacher, have two children, Chas, 16 and Jayma Lee, 11. Chas was starting catcher on his dad's team last year, a source of pride and a challenge for both father and son. "The main thing is you expect more out of your own kid than the others. I'm a litle more forceful with him. You don't want anyone to think you're showing favoritism and it's hard for him in that sense, too. He did a good job as starting catcher and proved he was capable of playing at that level."
About to start his junior year, Chas is ranked among the top ten catchers in his class in South Carolina. He's enjoyed teaching and coaching at Blue Ridge, Goodwin said. "People used to think we were just a little country school, but more and more people realize what we have to offer from the athletic department and in the classroom. I've been lucky to be there," he said.
Copyright 2008 GoUpstate.com
Mosley closes in on naming baseball coach
Tim Jennings hopes the adage "good things come to those who wait" rings true this week. The Mosley athletic director expects to wrap up interviews for the head baseball coaching position by Tuesday. He said the announcement of the new coach could come as early as Wednesday.
Jennings would have liked to have been finished with the process by now, but the Bay District Schools Board hiring freeze put those plans on hold. The freeze was instituted in May and lifted last week. Now the position, which has been open since the resignation of Mike Williams on April 30, can be filled.
"It's good news for everyone," Jennings said about the lifting of the hiring freeze. "It's good for everyone to know where they will be working next year and for them to get back to business."
Jennings said he conducted several telephone interviews and will have done seven face-to-face meetings for the position. He wouldn't divulge names, but he said the group of coaches, both in the finalist pool and those as a whole, has a wide array of experience. He also learned an important lesson about coaches close to home.
"There's a lot of good, young local coaches here in Bay County," Jennings said. The new coach will be Mosley's third in as many years. Jennings is hopeful the new hire will plant roots and remain at Mosley for consistency's sake. You'd hope the next guy will stay a while," Jennings said. "You certainly don't want to have to look for new coaches every two or three years."
Bay also is seeking a new baseball coach after Christian McCarter resigned his post in May. Mosley was ahead of Bay in that the Lynn Haven school was able to advertise the position longer before the freeze. Bay athletic director Glenn Manley said he expects to have a list of finalists for the position ready by next week. Manley said there currently isn't a teaching spot available for the new coach. He said there's still the possibility to hire someone from outside of the school system.
His continued concern is filling the swimming and volleyball openings. He said he found a swimming coach, but wanted to wait until the hiring is approved by the School Board to make an announcement. He also has someone in mind for volleyball, and is meeting with the applicant on Tuesday.
Copyright 2008 Freedom Communications
Former coach Corbi honored at banquet
GLASSBORO Joe Corbi was all about football. It wasn't about winning or losing, though he certainly enjoyed winning more.
"For Joe, it was football 24/7," Corbi's wife Bernice said at the South Jersey Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame induction banquet, Wednesday. "He would be sitting on the toilet, drawing X's and O's on the toilet paper. We would find X's and O's on everything and anything, it was his whole life."
Corbi passed away in September, but he is not remembered for his passing. Instead he is remembered for his 38-year tenure as a leader on the field most of which was spent at Deptford High School. His run with the Spartans lasted from 1974-1998. In that 34-year span, he led his team to two Tri-County Conference Royal Division championships, eight Olympic Conference titles and two South Jersey sectional crowns one in Group II and another in Group III. His career record ended at 194-84-9, making him the sixth winningest coach in South Jersey history. And he was always able to get over the next-day hump of those 84 losses.
"I would always say something after a loss like, "Why didn't you pass more?'" Bernice Corbi said. "He would look at me and say, Tomorrow's Sunday, and eight million Chinese people don't give a (darn).' He was always able to rebound tremendously from a loss. He was such a strong person."
When Corbi finished each year, he took every opportunity that he didn't have during the season to spend time with his family. Even that sometimes included coaching.
"He spent a lot of time with the kids, especially (son) Joseph," Bernice Corbi said. "(Joseph) was complaining about his baseball coaching, so I said, "Well, go and help him then.' So he ended up going and coaching his baseball teams. My two girls were gymnasts, and he was also very supportive of them."
Corbi was supportive of his friends in football as well. And they were just as supportive of him. On Wednesday, Florence coach Joe Frappoli was honored with the Special Achievement Award and was sure to mention that Corbi was instrumental in beginning the idea of the SJFCA. He said Corbi was "one of the driving factors."
Though Frappoli was honored with an achievement award Wednesday, Bernice Corbi was sure to mention that her husband will always be right at the top of the list of South Jersey football coaches. "I don't know how to say it, but he's a hard act to follow."
2008 Gloucester County Times
Unforgettable moments with local baseball legend Billy Muffett
The afternoons I spent talking baseball with Billy Muffett were unforgettable. Muffett passed away this week, which brought to mind a series of stories he shared with me several years ago. Muffett spent 45 years in professional baseball, his path criss-crossing with so many of the game's legendary figures. Muffett called Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Ted Williams teammates. As a coach, he tutored Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton and Jack Morris. When he learned of Muffett's passing this week, Ryan said, "He was one of the pitching coaches that impacted my career. He had a real passion for what he did in the game. My deepest sympathies go to his family."
Muffett's tour of the game took him to places like Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds and Fenway Park. Looking at his scrapbook and hearing his baseball stories gave me chills. Muffett enjoyed a remarkable life, and was gracious enough to share it. Muffett finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1957, and he was one out away from a no-hitter against the Kansas City Athletics as a Boston Red Sox pitcher in 1960 before a two-out bunt single knocked him out of the history books. One of the stories that Muffett didn't particularly like telling was his role in one of Hank Aaron's greatest moments. Aaron's home runs gave the Milwaukee Braves the 1957 National League pennant.
While all of Milwaukee was celebrating after the game, Muffett was distraught. "It was a low point for me," Muffett told me six years ago. "I wanted to go hide. But there's no place to go hide."
Muffett said he went out and had a few beers after the game. Unfortunately, the victory party for the Braves happened to be at the Cardinals hotel. "I probably got back to my room about 2:30 or 3 in the morning," Muffett said. "You had to have your key to get back into the hotel. When I went there, the guy says, 'You can't come in here. I'm not going to tell you exactly what I said that night, but I said, 'I'm the one who made everyone happy in this town tonight. He said, 'Oh baby, come on in!'"
Muffett launched his coaching career at age 36 with the Cardinals. Leading into that, his first coaching success story was Mel Stottlemyre, who became a star for the Yankees. As his playing career was winding down in the minor leagues, Muffett showed his knack for coaching by tinkering with Stottlemyre's mechanics. Stottlemyre was planting his feet too close together on his follow-through and it was hurting his velocity. Muffett also worked with the pitcher's mental approach. Stottlemyre always credited Muffett with his success and praised him in his autobiography.
"In his book, he gave me credit for teaching him everything he knows," Muffett said. "But that's not really true. One of the things I've noticed about guys who last a long time is they really observe a lot."
Muffett was an eyewitness to so much baseball history, including Musial's 3,000th hit as a Cardinals teammate, Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961 as a member of the Red Sox and Williams homering in his final at-bat. Muffett also sat through 10 no-hitters in the majors as either a player or coach. He once threw his own no-hitter with Shreveport in the Texas League playoffs in 1955. A few years back, Muffett's friend George Luffey of Monroe mounted an unsuccessful campaign to have his buddy inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. I believed then and still do that Muffett belongs there. Although he wasn't a Louisiana native, Muffett pitched professionally in the state and lived in Monroe for decades. As a minor league player, Muffett's best year came in 1951 when he went 22-9 with a 2.25 ERA for the Monroe franchise in the Cotton States League. Born in Indiana and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Muffett also met his future wife Janet in Monroe.
Muffett's career stats aren't overwhelming. He went 16-23 with a 4.33 ERA in parts of six seasons and 125 games from 1957-62 with the Cardinals (1957-58), Giants (1959) and Red Sox (1960-62). But when you factor in a long coaching career and the pitchers who benefited from his touch, Muffett's unique contributions to the game are worthy of recognition. He's a memorable sports figure who called Louisiana home. I know I'll never forget Billy Muffett.
Copyright 2008 The News Star
Lane Burroughs Joins MSU Baseball Coaching Staff
Mississippi State University head baseball coach John Cohen announced Tuesday the hiring of Lane Burroughs as assistant baseball coach. The staff addition is pending the approval of the Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning. Burroughs, a native of Meridian, Miss., joins the MSU staff after serving as an assistant coach for the Kansas State Wildcats in 2008. He previously served a nine-year stint as an assistant coach at Southern Miss.
"Lane is a hard worker and a native Mississippian who has a deep appreciation for Mississippi State baseball," said Cohen. "He has a proven track record as an energetic recruiter and as one of college baseball's top hitting coaches. Six of USM's nine NCAA tournament appearances came while Lane was their recruiting coordinator. He has gravitated toward my style of offensive baseball during his career and made it work at Southern Miss. I'm excited about Lane joining the coaching team at Mississippi State."
At Mississippi State Burroughs will be serving on a John Cohen-led baseball staff for the second time in his 15-year coaching career. Prior to his nine-year term as an assistant coach on Corky Palmer's USM staff (1999-2007), Burroughs served as an assistant coach under Cohen at Northwestern (La.) State for two seasons, helping the Demons capture the Southland Conference title in 1998. Burroughs played high school baseball at West Lauderdale High School in Collinsville, Miss., where he was coached by Jerry Boatner, one of the all-time winningest coaches in Mississippi high school history, and was a teammate of Mississippi State All-American and Major League pitching standout Jay Powell. He continued his baseball career at Meridian Community College and later at Mississippi College, where he earned All-Gulf South Conference honors.
He launched his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Mississippi College, then served for one year as an assistant coach at East Mississippi Community College before joining Cohen's staff at Northwestern State. Burroughs and his wife, the former Susan Parker of Meridian, are the parents of two daughters, Parker Grace, 6, and Camryn Laine, 4, and a son, Thomas Jackson, born last September.
Copyright 2007 Mississippi State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
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