Post
by Michael K. » Thu May 02, 2019 4:33 pm
My name is Michael (Duh), and I grew up in a small Eastern Washington town, so athletics were a big part of my life. There is nothing like playing sports in a small town, when we went to District and State tournaments the entire town would follow! My HS was always one of the best in the State in Basketball, so of course football and baseball were my best sports!
My dreams of college washed up along with my shoulder, but I played slowpitch softball from 18 to 44, when two knee surgeries and a traumatic foot injury sidelined me, for good. Along the way I played in Tourneys in California, Texas and Florida, and loved every minute of it. Was great to be a part of a team and to still be able to compete, at a somewhat High Level. David Gee will understand, but we even played some C Ball, so I saw some amazing stuff. Played against Ryan Doumit, Chris Chandler, Matt Barnes and Lawyer Milloy. It is very impressive to watch a guy that is a professional athlete play a sport. Doumit was a Professional Catcher and 1st Baseman, and was one of the best softball SS I ever saw! Milloy? Basically covered the entire OF, and his only out when he played us was a Homerun when they no longer had Homeruns left. Yep, a strange softball rule! The dreaded DBO, dead ball out.
About 6 or 7 years ago I started coaching fastpitch softball at the HS here. I did it as a favor to a friend, but don't see how I can ever quit now, I just love it. It has changed the way I view baseball though, as I would now rather watch the Husky woman play softball than the Mariners! This coaching makes the Spring very eventful, fortunately I can work mostly from home (I manage the Life Insurance department at a local agency), because between my real job, my true love of coaching and following my son and his baseball team all over the State? Well, the days fly by. (I guess if that was true I wouldn't be typing this right now, but you get what I mean. Plus, I am on hold!)
As mentioned my son plays travel baseball. It has put a halt to my travel softball coaching, but it is so much fun. Proud dad moment, in his first travel ball game as a 9 year old he hit for the cycle with a walk off HR, and last year in the State Semi Finals as an 11 year old he threw a 2 hitter! He is also a damn good football player, and was a Pop Warner All American and his team MVP at QB last year. He even somehow manages to get great grades. My oldest son is a Freshman in HS, and was also a damn fine football player. His team hasn't lost a game since going 7 and 1 as 5th graders, but despite the success and the bright future, he has decided that he doesn't enjoy it. Unlike his father, sports are not his greatest love, and somehow this kid is a welder and auto mechanic! Me? Not so much!
I met my now wife as a Freshman in college here at Wenatchee Valley, and have long joked that if not for a shoulder injury my life would be much different, and not for the better. That being said, my wife also attended Central Washington, which was one of the schools I was hoping to play for, so maybe we just would have met a couple years later? We will have been married for 18 years this June....I met her almost ten years prior to that....so something tells me it would have happened anyway!
My contributions to this forum will more than likely be much like the Times. Mostly Seahawk and Husky, and usually in spurts! I am either real busy or very bored, so when I post it can go fast and furious for awhile and then I may go dormant!
In my spare time, I keep my blood pressure up by watching Mariner broadcasts. Finally, like all of us, hope to see the M's in the World Series before I die.
