It might be the most fatal filtering system in place in high school baseball.
There have been Hollywood films about it. Men have made millions throwing it and others have lost careers because of it. It’s mysterious with its bite and impossible when its bottom falls out. Some call it, “The Kid Killer,” and others know it as the “ole bender.”
IT is the curveball, a breaking pitch most fathers and coaches disallow for players in the younger leagues, but once it’s introduced the “deuce” immediately creates a contest between the cans and the can’ts.
And Joe Myers couldn’t. The curveball was his Kryptonite. Swing and a miss most times.
The Bishop Donahue first baseman was slick at the bag and he played through high school, but that was it. For playing, that is. By the time his younger brother Mike was putting up Hall of Fame careers at John Marshall High and the University of Charleston, Joe had become a local sportswriter and – that’s right – baseball was his beat.
A dedicated husband, father, grandfather, AND community member, Myers was called into coaching, too, and he’s evolved into one of the most dedicated sandlot instructors in Marshall County. Joe has a scout’s eye, so he sees those rare and raw talents most kids don’t even know they have, and he helps those players develop into prospects with legit dreams.
The vast majority of kids on his teams, though, will never be big leaguers let alone college athletes, and many of them come to the ballfield only to escape the troubles that exist outside the foul lines. And that’s just fine and dandy with Coach Joe because he believes every kid should get the chance to take their swings, even when life is slinging those curveballs.
Why, in your opinion, is baseball the greatest game?
I am sure that baseball is the greatest game for me. I could ramble on about its parallels with life itself: Following the rules, working well with others, dealing with failure, etc.
Instead, I’ll share a story:
I still help coach Little Leaguers, and last summer I helped develop pitchers on a team of 9 and 10-year-olds. Mustang League limits pitchers to two innings per game, so you need three guys. But I like to use more than that.
So, I started working with a youngster named Landis Dean, who was extremely raw but willing to learn. He worked hard and at long last got a chance to pitch in our eighth game. My starter had lost the plate, walked two guys, so Landis was debuting with runners and first and second, nobody out in a tight game.
“Go get em, kid,” indeed.
The first batter worked the count full before looping one off the end of the bat into no-man’s land between the mound, first and second base. In Mustang League we call that a single, unless somebody kicks it — then we call it a double. The two runners were off to the races. This one time, though, my second baseman raced in, dove and caught the ball. We threw it smartly around and, sure enough, turned a triple play!
I’ll not forget the look of joy on Landis’ face when he came running to the bench. I doubt he’d ever heard the term triple play before that day, but all of a sudden, we had another pitcher.
There’s just a subtle magic to baseball that I don’t find anywhere else.
If you could suggest one thing for a young player to do daily to become an above-average ball player, what would it be and why?
Catch the ball. If you can catch the ball you’ll be in the lineup of any rec league team. Find a buddy to toss with, or just bounce a ball off a cinder-block wall. Have the ball in your hand at night while watching the Pirates and smack it into your glove. Feel the ball, be the ball.
Should Barry Bonds be in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown? Why or why not?
I wouldn’t vote for him. He’s actually represented in Cooperstown with various artifacts — record-breaking baseballs and bats — but he knew the score when he decided to use performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds basically eliminated himself from induction.
What is your favorite sports movie and why?
Bull Durham. Funny and spot-on from a baseball standpoint, and a love story thrown in for the ladies. The mound visit scene was classic.
What’s the best thing about being a grandfather?
Grandparents have it made. It’s our reward for raising kids that somehow lived to adulthood. My grandson Emmett is the best part of our world right now, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. May he be a pitcher? If only …
