Sleeping On the Job

With all the recent reports about Ken Griffey Jr. sleeping in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse, it reminded me of my freshman baseball coach from high school.

We were in the field as the other team batted. Once the third out was made, we gingerly made our way back to the dugout....to find our coach sleeping. The brim of his hat shielded his eyes and he had his arms crossed over his chest, but he was definitely in the midst of a peaceful slumber. A couple of my teammates called out his name, but no response.

Half the team was laughing, while the other half was a bit stunned that the coach had somehow dozed off DURING A GAME. This wasn't exactly a shock to me. This was the same coach who, earlier in the season, spent an entire half-inning tearing paint chips off the dugout wall instead of giving signals to the catcher.

Oh, the memories. Some kids grow up with coaches who pass on invaluable life lessons while teaching them the importance of character and sportsmanship. And....some kids had coaches who slept or played with paint chips.

I suppose there were some unintentional lessons taught by my freshman baseball coach: 1. If you're tired, drink a coffee. 2. If you have a dire, uncontrollable interest in the inner workings of a dugout, so much that you can't focus on the game, perhaps coaching a baseball team isn't the right fit.