The Baseball Whisperer by Michael Tackett

Author:Michael Tackett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

8

No Bright Lights

CHUCK KNOBLAUCH PACKED his bags in College Station, Texas. He had completed his freshman season at Texas A&M, where he’d validated his reputation as a player with major league potential, one who could hit for power and average along with being a great fielder. Well known in Texas, Knoblauch had been drafted out of high school, and his reputation was spreading. He carried himself with a confidence on the field that betrayed his youth. That first year at A&M, Knoblauch had played center field as he continued to recover from a broken leg. Now he was headed to Clarinda, Iowa, where he would get back to shortstop, his preferred position, and the one most scouts thought he could play in the majors.

Andy Benes was coming from his sophomore year at the University of Evansville in Indiana; the six-foot-six pitcher was traveling to his summer home with his new wife, a first for the A’s. He was raw but talented, and finally starting to focus on baseball. One of his college teammates at the University of Evansville, Rob Maurer, a first baseman, was making the drive west as well.

Scott Brosius was traveling from the west, from McMinnville, Oregon. He had played at an NAIA school, tiny Linfield College. Brosius was a blue-collar player who ran hard on every play and constantly worked on fundamentals, the kind of player Merl Eberly hoped for every summer. He also conveyed a sense of confidence and maturity that the others instantly noticed.

Cal Eldred’s trip to Clarinda was comparatively short, just under five hours from the tiny Iowa town of Urbana, a place that celebrated things like “Sweet Corn Day.” His family had a hog and cattle farm there. Eldred was a six-foot-four pitcher who also had been drafted out of high school but chose college at the University of Iowa, where he had completed his freshman year. His coach, Duane Banks, knew that his young pitcher would be well cared for and well coached by his friend Merl Eberly.

Then there was the hitter that everyone seemed to be talking about, Nikco Riesgo from California, a player who already seemed fully developed physically and stood out even among a collection of young stars. Riesgo, who had been a high school All-American, played at San Diego State and was named a freshman All-American by Baseball America. He was the player Merl thought had the best shot at the big leagues.

Most of these players had not heard much about their teammates. This was 1987, in the pre-Internet era, when cell phones were rare. Reputations were earned in real time. In many ways, that was an advantage to Merl: the players knew little more about him than what their coaches had told them. He respected the players sent to him, but no matter who they were, they had to earn their playing time with the A’s and avoid running afoul of his rules, which were as clear in 1987 as they were the year the A’s began.

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