Wednesday, February 22, 2012

David Clyde and My Dad

As I wrote about last week, I recently had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with David Clyde, one of my childhood baseball favorites.  This time, I brought my dad along (but more on that later).
David has been coaching at the Miracles Baseball Academy for over a decade.  He is teaching young players the fundamentals, while molding them into fine adults.  David is positive, genuine and happy.
David is open to being involved with a major league team, but he is not campaigning for such a position.  David is perfectly content with his work at the Miracles Academy.
Major League Baseball could use men like David.  In my 2008 interview, David talked about how he took the pressure off his players and let them play.  He talked of training them to do the right things in baseball and life.  He discussed the importance of baseball, but the balance in life of everything.
I walked away from that interview so impressed.  Quite honestly, he blew me away.  I became more of a fan then when I was a kid collecting his cards.
On my recent trip to Houston, I again had the pleasure of doing an interview with him, chatting a bit before and after the official "interview".  He is still the same guy, full of genuine and infectious positivity.
Since my sister drove and was operating the camera, we also brought our dad along.  After the interview, I asked David for a picture with my dad and me.  He eagerly greeted my dad and took the picture with us.
My dad was very impressed with David, too.  He was excited about being in the picture with a major leaguer and me.  It was one of the highlights of the trip.
It was another wonderful experience thanks to David.  He made my dad very happy.  He also made me very proud to be able to call my former childhood favorite, my friend!
You can learn more about David at MiraclesBaseball.com.
My dad, David Clyde and me in Houston, TX-February 2012.

4 comments:

Anthony Hughes said...

Johngy, you were down here in Houston and you didn't call me? just kidding!

David Clyde, wow, put a Rangers cap on him, and a moustache, and he hasn't changed a bit has he?

PS. the link in your post doesn't work, but http://www.miraclesbaseball.com does.

Fuji said...

I never heard of Clyde growing up... but now that you mention his name, I think I read about him in Wilker's book: Cardboard Gods.

Congratulations on meeting one of your favorite players.

Johngy said...

Anthony-I'll get you next trip! Yeah, I recognized him immediately.
Fuji-I have to check out that book.

Fuji said...

Cardboard Gods is one of those books where you'll either love it or hate it. Have you ever seen Wilker's blog?

http://cardboardgods.net/

It's pretty much written the same way he writes his blog. He tells the story of his life, while relating it to cardboard. It's one of my favorite books. But some people I know couldn't get into it.