Back to College Isn't So Bad, In Fact, It's Great According to Holliday and Ventura
FRISCO, Texas -- The cat calls on the first base side don't ever come out of the other team's dugout. Most of those opposing players either asked for a picture with Robin Ventura during batting practice or they are hoping to ask for one after the game. Now, the first base stands, that's different. There are always a wise guy or two.
"Hey Ventura, aren't you a little old for college?"
"What happened Ventura? Did you get demoted?"
Those are just some of the very occasional wise cracks coming out of the stands. You know there were plenty of Aggies, Texas Aggies fans in Frisco last weekend for the Frisco College Baseball Classic.
"That's part of it and I have had enough of that through my entire life," Ventura said about serving his duty coaching first base as the most experienced and decorated student coach in all of college baseball. "That isn’t going to bother me. I’m not concerned about that. You’re concerned about the kids and what they are doing. You are paying attention to their swings and what is going on in the game. That other stuff is always going to happen, you know, you just deal with it when you are there. Hey, I’ve been in New York. Nobody is going to say anything that is going to shock me."
That's true. Ventura and his fellow All-Star coaching mate, the younger brother of head coach Josh Holliday, Matt Holliday could be considered overqualified for their jobs.
Ventura is a three-time All-American in college baseball, won the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in college baseball. The year before he hit safely in 58-straight games, the major college record and had a .428 batting average with 21 home runs and 110 RBIs.
At Oklahoma State he set the career record in batting average (.428), hits (329) and runs (300) while being second all-time in doubles (71), home runs (68), total bases (608), RBIs (302), and slugging percentage (.792).
In 16 seasons in he Major Leagues, he was a six-time Gold Glover at third base and a two-time American League All-Star.
Holliday signed with Oklahoma State to play quarterback in football and baseball, but the Colorado Rockies came up with an offer that Holliday couldn't refuse. It worked out well.
Holliday played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues for Colorado, St.Louis, Oakland, and the New York Yankees. He was a seven-time Major League All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger Award, and the 2007 National League Championship Series MVP as he led the Rockies to their first ever World Series appearance. He also led St. Louis to a pair of World Series appearances.
I told both Ventura and Holliday this story, which has gained a lot of attention nationwide, reminds me of the movie, The Rookie, only in reverse. In the movie Dennis Quaid, playing former Tampa Bay pitcher Jim Morris, is shown in the minor leagues and thinking about calling it quits and going home. Then he has an epiphany watching a story about himself being a former high school coach and teacher playing in "that wonder world of minor league baseball." Later in the same scene in the movie he is watching a little league game from the outfield when he exchanges a look with an outfielder. That look of loving baseball.
"It's kind of like that," said Ventura, the student coach. "Pretty much (baseball), the school part, I don’t know."
Ventura lives in Edmond and a lot of his classes are on-line, so he commutes for baseball practice and games. He id definitely doing this out of love and enjoyment.
"It has been a lot of fun. The guys I work with are guys that I know and enjoy and that part of it has been great," said the father of an Oklahoma State graduate. "This place is special so that is very comfortable to me. People around town and people that are around the program are people that I’ve known pretty much my whole adult life. That part is very comfortable and what I expected."
Same goes for Holliday, who has a son that is tearing it up as a standout for the Stillwater High School baseball program. Holliday was working on a pregame salad while we spoke and you might be surprised. One area where the Cowboys may get fed better, at least by what is paid for by the school, than in the major leagues is before and after games. On the road and at home.
The going rate for per diem in the big leagues when Ventura and Holliday finished up was $100.50 a day. The last collective bargaining agreement cut that per diem down to $30 a day. On that accord, Ventura and Holliday came out ahead as the state per diem, which takes into account where the team is on the road, is generally now a little better than the big leagues. Plus the team eats good healthy meals together.
"Yeah, I like salad," Holliday said.
He likes his job too, even if it is volunteer.
"It's fun, it's baseball, and it's with people that I like and care about," Holliday affirmed. "I love being around these players. Robin's knowledge and expertise is tremendous, and Josh is one (person) that coached me and taught me a lot about hitting, so we have plenty of hitting minds on this staff."
Honestly, it was often his brother than Matt went to when he would go into a slump. Josh knows him and his swing so well that he was able to be his swing doctor.
Now, can Matt and Robin be that for Cowboy players and have they made an impact. There is no doubt about it. The players will tell you and so will the head coach. Ventura said he feels like he is playing a little catch up.
"I got here in January and they’ve been here since last semester," Ventura said of the whole team and staff being together. "That part is going to take awhile to get to know everybody. To know the hitters that is going to take less time, because I am around them a lot more.
"It is fun getting to know them, getting to know their personality, and having fun with them," he continued. "You know, you have to take time to build trust and that was really something that I had to try to do in a hurry. Matt had already been here the first semester. For me it was a learning process of trying to do that as fast as I could."
The coaching staff talks a lot to each other and the set up each day for batting practice is so all three are involved. Josh is up at the cage watching the players as they go through their drills. Matt and Robin work the field and have time to go one-on-one with players during BP.
"It helps because sometimes something you might say, if it is said and comes from somebody different, then it might be easier to understand for a kid," explained Matt Holliday of having multiple coaches that teach the same thing, but each has a different approach or way of expressing it. "A lot of times we will bounce things off each other and it is the same thing, but then when we present it to the kid we do it in different ways and one may be easier for them to pick up on and understand. It might be a different verbiage or a different way that might make more sense to them. I’ve always thought about hitting and how it clicks in different ways and different times for kids, different angles, and different viewpoints."
Another part of it, I didn't think of this, but I wished I had. Holliday and Ventura come at this (hitting) from different sides of the plate.
"Obviously, I’m a right-handed hitter and he’s (Ventura) a left-hander hitter and there is an advantage of having guys from both sides of the plate," Holliday explained. "Robin is so easy going and the kids love him. He’s fun and has tremendous experience and his playing career, both college and pro speaks for itself. Like I said, the more ways you can say the same thing, the better it is for the kids. You can here the same thing different ways and maybe what I’m saying Carson McCusker is not getting through and then Robin will say it slightly different and get a better result."
For both Ventura, the student and Holliday, the volunteer they are having a blast hanging out and talking baseball.
"That is part of the success of having a great coaching staff. Marty and Rob (Walton) know hitting too," added Holliday. "You have a staff that gets along really well and is knowledgeable and we have fun sitting around after a game and just talk the game. Talk baseball and how we can help these kids."
Plus the uniforms are pretty cool as well and the food.
