I Want To Say-- "Thank You"

To have a successful event, you must have the right people involved, then get out of their way and let them do what they do best…I know we had the best. There are so many people to thank, so I will start with the one’s that got us started:

- Thank you to Daniel Honeycutt and Ronnie Yarbrough (You know why I highlighted your first names)—our chef’s. These guys started cooking the BBQ at 11:00 the night before the event…and continued throughout the morning with the flavorful smoke hanging in the air. I actually witnessed some players drooling during their workouts. I can’t express enough the gratitude I have for those two guys. They went above and beyond…

- Thank you to Jeff Schaefer and Jake Robbins from CBC. Not only did Schaef do an absolutely marvelous job with the infielders and base running, his addressing the ball players and their parents with his experiences was powerful, direct and sent the message of what it takes to be a ballplayer---talent alone will not be enough. I must admit I felt guilty asking for his help when I didn’t have anything to offer him in return. But that shows how classy a guy he is. He said that’s not what this event was about: “I’m just glad I could help,” When it comes to pitching and its philosophies, I thought I heard it all. But I saw things that I had never heard before and it all made sense. Jake Robbins delivers…and he does it in a style that I very much admire—like a minister. Jake is such a cool guy…but since I’m partial to pitchers, aren’t they all? In my opinion, Jake Robbins is simply the best pitching instructor in Charlotte, but you better hurry if you are going to schedule with him: After watching Jake throw Saturday, I believe he received the motivation again to give professional baseball another round. He can still bring the juice….The more I’m around these guys, the more I want to hurry up and join them again.

- Thank you to Brandon Yarbrough. This is the 2nd time I have witnessed Brandon give instructions to the catchers. To give you an idea of how good he is, I had two excellent catchers come up to me after the event asking if there was a way they could schedule more time with him…and these guys were very good. Mark my words, when Brandon finishes his baseball career, he is going to be an excellent coach…and we all know that catchers make the best coaches. And he’s such an outstanding young man. If I ever do something like this again, Brandon will be first on my list to beg to come help.

- Thank you to Robert Woodard. I’ve known Robert for a very long time and there is nobody I admire more. I knew Woody would do a great job in instructing, but when he took the time to speak to the players as a group and shared his feelings about being a baseball player, he did so in a manner they could all relate. He has the ability to connect with the guys…and they all focused and sat riveted to everything he said.

- Thank you to Ryan Morris. Of all the pro guys, I think I had more fun watching Ryan most of all. To watch him go from student to teacher was amazing. Ryan really took quality time with the individual pitchers. He would pull a particular player to the side and help him with his mechanics or give the player an encouraging word on their performance. What made it so fun for me was to watch a kid I’ve known since he was 15 develop into a man…and what an outstanding young man he is! I can’t wait to be watching him on TV soon.

- Thank you to the Head Coaches: Danny Hignight, Hal Bagwell and Derek Shoe. These 3 guys are some of the best in the business. There’s no wonder why Danny and Hal have two of the best programs in the state. And Derek will set a new standard at Concord that will demand respect and will develop his players into winners. I love being around these guys. They are not only terrific instructors, but they have strong personalities and super competitive. I couldn’t stop laughing listening to these guys giving each other a hard time—each sandbagging about their teams and kidding Shoe about his challenging future. When these guys get around each other, you can’t help but have fun: The good-natured ribbing went on all day. But when it was time to instruct, they became very serious and ensured all the players understood what they were trying to teach.

- Thank you to Providence coaches, Wendell Robertson and John Tuscan for not only getting the field in immaculate condition, but being very helpful in assisting or leading in the instructions. Coach Hignight is very fortunate to have these quality guys on his staff. I just hope Wendell realizes how much I appreciate everything he did that many don’t know (such as coming around 6 AM to turn the lights on the field so we could see.) I also want to thank A.J. (Skeets) Wright. Skeets thought he was coming to watch some of the players participate—little did he know he was going to be an active participant in the instructions. But just like all coaches, it was hard for him to just watch.

- Thank you to Kermit Smith, Head Coach, Belmont Abbey. Coach Smith had a family obligation in Winston Salem that day, but he rushed down to Charlotte with his family to speak at our event. The information he provided to the players and their parents about the recruiting process and giving them an inside perspective of what it’s like from the college point of view was invaluable and timely. I can’t thank Coach Smith enough for doing this—most coaches wouldn’t have done this during their much-needed family time.

- Although I can’t mention their names, they all know how much I appreciated the other instructors that attended. It was a riot to watch their competitive juices flow when they decided to get into the hitting cage. All of them tried to show up each other. And between the trashtalkin’ and good-hearted ribbing, it was a riot listening to them. Even Jake, Woody and Ryan got involved to prove that pitchers are the best hitters, too!

- Thank you to Ed Myers and Nick Tewell. Ed had no vested interest in the event. He is a softball czar. But he wanted to support TBR and he enjoyed meeting all the families, players and coaches. Ed donated the big tents, trophy and came very early to help set up and stayed late to clean up. There was no reason for him to do this, but it was his way to helping the kids, the families and TBR. He was amazing! Nick had a son participating in the event, but I’m not sure that he had much time to watch. Between his bringing multiple tables, chairs, tents and making runs to his house or Sam’s Club, he didn’t have much time to watch. These two guys were examples of the type parents that continued to help during the whole day. We could not have done this without the selfless help we received by every family that came. Whether they helped in setup, serving, cleanup, throwing BP or bringing a fabulous dessert, everybody contributed to make sure that the players had a great time.

 

- A big thank you to John Wigmore, whom spent the time to present a beautiful Flyer for the event. I know i probably frustrated him with my lack of IT knowledge.

- Another big thank you to Randy Layman. Randy took all kinds of pictures Saturday (even the compromising one's). I know everyone will want a staff and player pictures. They will be posted soon after Christmas, so stay tuned. Thanks again Randy. It is always fun to be around you.

I can only speak for myself, but I hope everybody that attended had as much fun as I did. It was like a reunion atmosphere for most of the instructors- many of them haven’t seen each other in awhile, but when they were all put on the field together, they blended like it was yesterday. To see David Mailman and Ryan Morris together talking about their experiences in minors; to see Jake Robbins and Robert Woodard, both former pitchers at Myers Park, discuss future involvement with each other, to see coaches helping Carl Krimminger to obtain his desire to play independent baseball----well, the event was helpful for everyone, not just the HS players attending.

I must thank Coach Danny Hignight. As most of you know, getting a field to play in Charlotte is next to impossible. Not only did Danny immediately offer his field for this event, but also he helped guide me through the red tape to make it happen. And the work that he and his staff put in to the preparation of his field was unbelievable. Every time I attend his field something else is different. They have added a professional Press Box and a locker room that would be the envy of every college team. They will even have a luxurious coaches room with sofas and widescreen plasma TV….I think I overheard him say that there will be a wait staff as well.

Finally, I want to thank Freddy Suggs whose involvement was the reason this event happened. Freddy Suggs is one of the great baseball men we have in our state. Usually an event like this takes at least 6-8 weeks to organize and promote: We had 8 days. To put together an event like this in a little over a week is next to impossible…but we did it! And we did it for a common purpose. It was to give back to the game and to play a small role in developing stewards of the game for the future. Obviously, we couldn’t have done it unless all the guys that participated didn’t have a commitment to helping young baseball players. I really hope all the instructors; the parents and the players enjoyed the day as much as I did. To me it was nearly perfect. But there was one thing that was absolutely perfect...the BBQ (w/homemade BBQ sauce), the Chili w/beans, the fresh cooked hush puppies and the homemade desserts. I would like to thank MamaDuck, specifically. She did not have a child attending, but wanted to contribute to the event. She did so with a homemade, absolutely delicious, Key Lime pie, my favorite- Orange Mandarine pie and a baseball tradition---Apple Pie. There were so many more, but I couldn't keep up with who made what. All I can say is thank you to everyone that participated by bringing desserts. They were unbelievable!

I’d like to congratulate Grant “Bam-Bam” Cain, Soph- Terry Sanford, for winning the HR Derby. I’m looking forward to my interview with him. Grant is a very interesting player. I also want to mention Tyler Tewell, Butler, as well. Tyler came up to his last at bat with the money ball (awarded an extra HR) in play. With a HR, he would have won the event. With the pressure on, Tyler crushed it! I mean he hit a towering HR that landed on top of the net in deep RF. Unfortunately, like John Kasey’s field goal, the wind carried it foul. It was disputed and Tyler may be right, but just like a good umpire, I conferred with my assistant, Bonsway, and she stated it was foul, too.

I’m waiting on some pictures to post to discuss the event and the players.

 

Well done Tom...

 

Braves,

Great job....first class event, I enjoyed seeing a lot of players I hadn't seen for a while. I also enjoyed meeting some people that we talk to on the board all the time but rarely get a chance to meet.

Hope we do more of these in the area...thanks to everyone that gave their time to help our these players.

 

Congrats to all that were involved in making this event come together. The amount of people that attended especially on short notice was terrific! I spent the whole day there and had a great time. The food was terrific and getting to talk baseball again to people that care about the game like I do was my a blast. I needed that fix ..... thanks guys for a job well done!

 

Random thoughts

We had a fantastic time! Freddy and Tom put on one of the best camps we have ever been to. You guys looked like you had been doing this camp for years. The food was out of this world, I couldn't eat again until Sunday morning. I enjoyed my conversations with the TBR faithful, as well as many other parents and players. Everyone was smiling, joking, laughing, and telling baseball stories while in the Christmas spirit, I can't think of a better way of spending last Saturday. All the instructors did a great job and a special thanks to Brandon and the catching instructors. My son said those guys were "off the chain," I think that means really good. It was nice to finally meet Coach Suggs, thanks for the encouraging words on my son. The HR Derby was a blast (literally). As the rain began to increase, wet bat grips, Freddy's pitching???, I didn't think these guys had a chance of hitting any out. I was wrong. Many of these talented players were able to connect under the worst of conditions. It was fun for the players, parents, and coaches; what a way to end the day.

Braves, thanks for putting this together with the help of your friends. It was just what we needed, a little baseball in December.

 

Thanks for an early Christmas!!!

Wow, what a gift this event was. I don't know who enjoyed it more, the kids or the parents. As a parent, I know I enjoyed it from start to finish. If this is, or becomes an annual event, my son and I will be there ready to help out in any way we can. Of course, he will be more involved with the baseball side of things and I can help out with the food or something. I did get pretty good at chopping the pork.

This was a great experience for the kids and it was for a great cause. The ride from Clayton, NC was well worth the trip. By the way, my son Josh just wants to say that the rain made the ball heavier and that's why he didn't "show" in the home run derby. He says he is ready for next year though, "rain or shine."

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless you all.

My son Josh and I would like to thank everyone that made this great day great!!!

 

Bring them...I found out it makes everything more competetave; the boys will then work harder and "show off".