Thoughts on Being a Player/Manager from Minnesota Bandits Coach, Tim Doboszenski
I have been a player/manager for about 17 years at the RHWS. It’s a dual role that has a lot of challenges, not the least of which is the task of dealing with people.
A memorable experience for me involved an umpire where I was managing from the bench. After the 1st and 2nd innings, our pitcher and catcher come to the bench complaining about the strike zone.
Since I have a crappy view of the plate from the dugout, I told my catcher I would put the gear on and check it out. I gave the umpire a little grief on the calls I thought he was missing for the next few innings until the he told me he had heard enough about the strike zone. Being the nice guy I am (stop laughing), I stopped harassing him and never let a ball get to him.
In the top of the 8th, I got 3 bottles of Gatorade, 1 for me, 1 for the home plate umpire, and 1 for the base umpire. (it was hot, high 90’s). When I went back out for the bottom of the 8th, the umpire came to me after the warm up pitches and said he didn’t know how to read me.
I asked what you mean. He said you come out here to catch, bust my chops for a few innings and I tell you that’s enough. So, you stop chattering, don’t let any pitches get by you, and then you bring me a Gatorade.
It’s simple, I said, I just need to know my limitations.
In the end we started getting more of the closer calls.
There you go …
-Tim Doboszenski, Minnesota Bandits