Local coaches influenced some of nation’s top players

Published 9:26 am Thursday, July 31, 2008

It’s not like Grady Sizemore has all these voices in his head.

The Cleveland Indians’ All-Star center fielder doesn’t hear Lou Stevenson telling him to keep his weight distributed. Bob Smithson’s voice isn’t reminding Sizemore that he does not have to hit a home run every time up. And the advice of Kirk Nicholson isn’t floating around as Cleveland’s 25-year-old leadoff hitter stares down Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning.

It’s not like that, exactly.

But for Sizemore, and many other of Snohomish County’s young athletes who have gone on to the big time, the effects of their high school coaches remain with them today.

“As a high school player, you lean on those guys to help show you how to play the game,” Sizemore said earlier this month. “You’re taught how to play hard, and stuff like that carries over into how I play now.”

Sizemore, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton, Atlanta Braves shortstop Brent Lillibridge, University of Washington basketball star Jon Brockman and former Major League Soccer standout Chris Henderson represent the latest generation of local stars who have gone on to the big time. Each of them had special athletic ability when they arrived at the high school level, but they were also the beneficiaries of coaches who helped them harness it.

“High school coaches only have the best interest of the players, and their bodies, in mind,” said Eaton, who is in his ninth season in the m ajors. “… They have that intensity of the game, that love of the game, and it becomes ingrained in all the athletes. It gives us the desire to be good at what we do.”

Henderson, a former Cascade soccer star who now works as technical director for the Seattle Sounders FC, still remembers the mantra of his father/coach. Dick Henderson, who led Chris and the Bruins to state championships in 1987 and ‘89, liked to tell his players to finish strong.

“Late in seasons, I would think of that,” said Chris Henderson, a former MLS all-star who retired from professional soccer in 2006. “I was fortunate to go to the playoffs for most of my career, but I remember one year when we weren’t good enough and got eliminated from playoff contention with a few games left. I thought, OK, finish strong because this is what you get paid to do. And that came from my father.”

Nicholson, who coaches baseball at Jackson High School and also coached Sizemore in American Legion ball, has probably had his hand in mo re professional careers than anyone else in the county. At Jackson High, he coached Lillibridge, current minor leaguer Travis Snider and Cal-bound baseball star Danny Oh. He also watched Sizemore blossom into a star during summer Legion ball.

“When you watch them on TV, it really hits home how little you had to do with it,” Nicholson said. “You watch them, and they’re just so good. They do things other people can’t do. That’s why they’re playing at that level, not because of anything we did.

“Did we know they would go that far? No. But we knew they were good.”

Nicholson added that, most of the time, he let the players do “whatever they want.” He admitted that Snider spent more time studying the art of hitting than anyone on Jackson’s coaching staff. The only time he admits to giving Lillibridge advice was before the infielder’s senior season, when he told the future star to stop working so hard because he was in danger of aggravating an arm injury that might affect his college and professional career.

And as for Sizemore? Nicholson laughs at the notion that he had something to do with the All-Star’s sweet swing.

What he does remember was how quickly Sizemore could pick things up. As an example, he pointed toward an episode from before Sizemore’s year at Cascade High School. Sizemore, who was a scrappy little slap hitter, had mentioned that he wanted to be more of a pull hitter. Stevenson, the hitting coach at Cascade and in Legion ball, took Sizemore into the batting cage.

“And he became a pull hitter in a couple hours,” Nicholson said. “That night, he pulled two pitches down the line for hits, and one of them was a home run.”

Smithson, who spent a few minutes with Sizemore before an Indians-Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field earlier this month, was just as modest about his effects on the superstar.

“I don’t know that any high school coach can say he had an influence on the breakout of a kid like Grady,” Smithson said. 0He was an incredible talent, and he did a lot of things for us.”

Snohomish High School basketball coach Len Bone admitted that, when it came to Brockman, he might not have helped him enough.

“Maybe I made the mistake of treating Jon like the rest of the guys when _ for sure _ he wasn’t,” Bone said last month. “I didn’t take him aside and try to treat him like a star.

“… It was real obvious he was special. For a guy to be that good and to be that coachable, I wish I would’ve done more. Not that we didn’t do anything, but I just wish we did more.”

Brockman, an all-Pac-10 player at UW, certainly turned out all right. Bone gives credits to his father Gordy, older brother Paul, summer coach Jim Marsh and Snohomish assistants Steve Cotterill and Gary Doty for helping bring him along.

“I wish I could say Jon couldn’t play at all, and I made him what he is,” Bone said. “But that just isn’t the case.”

Snohomish’s other current star is Eaton, who has played for San Diego, Texas and Philadelphia during a nine-year career in baseball. He’s one of several players who learned from longtime Snohomish baseball coach Kim Hammons and pitching coach Mark Doidge.

“They helped in terms of fine-tuning the fundamentals of the game and getting people to do things correctly,” Eaton said.

Hammons said that he still keeps close tabs on Eaton’s career, much like the other coaches who helped turn Snohomish County’s young athletes into stars.

The athletes have not forgotten their former coaches, either. No matter how far their careers have taken them, local stars will always have their Snohomish County20roots.

“At this level, the opportunities are so small that you’re not only playing for yourself but also for where you came from,” Eaton said. “When you see (professional) players fall out of favor, you wonder: where did he come from?

“So one thing I appreciate from my coaches is that pride and love of the game that was instilled in me.”

Sizemore, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton, Atlanta Braves shortstop Brent Lillibridge, University of Washington basketball star Jon Brockman and former Major League Soccer standout Chris Henderson represent the latest generation of local stars who have gone on to the big time. Each of them had special athletic ability when he arrived at the high school level, but they were also the beneficiaries of coaches who helped them harness it.

“High school coaches only have the best interest of the players, and their bodies, in mind,” said Eaton, who began his ninth season in the majors this spring. “… They have that intensity of the game, that love of the game, and it becomes ingrained in all the athletes. It gives us the desire to be good at what we do.”

Henderson, a former Cascade soccer star who now works as technical director for the Seattle Sounders FC, still remembers the mantra his father/coach, Dick Henderson, who led Chris and the Bruins to state championships in 1987 and ‘89, liked to tell his players: finish strong.

“Late in seasons, I would think of that,” said Chris Henderson, a former MLS all-star who retired from professional soccer in 2006. “I was fortunate to go to the playoffs for most of my career, but I remember one year when we weren’t good enough and got eliminated from playoff contention with a few games left. I thought, OK, finish strong because this is what you get paid to do. And that came from my father.”

Nicholson, who coaches baseball at Jackson High School and also coached Sizemore in American Legion ball, has probably had his hand in more professional careers than anyone else in the county. At Jackson High, he coached Lillibridge, current minor leaguer Travis Snider and Cal-bound baseball star Danny Oh. He also watched Sizemore blossom into a star during summer Legion ball.

“When you watch them on TV, it really hits home how little you had to do with it,” Nicholson said. “You watch them, and they’re just so good. They do things other people can’t do. That’s why they’re playing at that level, not because of anything we did.

“Did we know they would go that far? No. But we knew they were good.”

Nicholson added that, most of the time, he let the players do “whatever they want.” He admitted that Snider spent more time studying the art of hitting than anyone on Jackson’s coaching staff. The only time he admits to giving Lillibridge advice was before the infielder’s senior season, when he told the future star to stop working so hard because he was in danger of aggravating an arm injury that might affect his college and professional career.

And as for Sizemore? Nicholson laughs at the notion that he had something to do with the All-Star’s sweet swing.

What he does remember was how quickly Sizemore picked things up. As an example, he pointed toward an episode from Sizemore’s sophomore year at Cascade High School. Sizemore, who was a scrappy little slap hitter, had mentioned that he wanted to be more of a pull hitter. Stevenson, the hitting coach at Cascade and in Legion ball, took Sizemore into the batting cage.

“And he became a pull hitter in a couple hours,” Nicholson said. “That night, he pulled two pitches down the line for hits, and one of them was a home run.”

Smithson, who spent a few minutes with Sizemore before an Indians-Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field earlier this month, was just as modest about his effects on the superstar.

“I don’t know that any high school coach can say he had an influence on the breakout of a kid like Grady,” Smithson said. “He was an incredible talent, and he did a lot of things for us.”

Snohomish High School basketball coach Len Bone admitted that, when it came to Brockman, he might not have helped him enough.

“Maybe I made the mistake of treating Jon like the rest of the guys when — for sure — he wasn’t,” Bone said last month. “I didn’t take him aside and try to treat him like a star.

“… It was real obvious he was special. For a guy to be that good and to be that coachable, I wish I would’ve done more. Not that we didn’t do anything, but I just wish we did more.”

Brockman, an All-Pac-10 player at UW, certainly turned out all right. Bone gives credits to Brockman’s father, Gordy, older brother, Paul, summer coach Jim Marsh and Snohomish assistants Steve Cotterill and Gary Doty for helping bring him along.

“I wish I could say Jon couldn’t play at all, and I made him what he is,” Bone said. “But that just isn’t the case.”

Snohomish’s other current star is Eaton, who has played for San Diego, Texas and Philadelphia during a nine-year career in baseball. He’s one of several players who learned from longtime Snohomish baseball coach Kim Hammons and pitching coach Mark Doidge.

“They helped in terms of fine-tuning the fundamentals of the game and getting people to do things correctly,” Eaton said.

Hammons said that he still keeps close tabs on Eaton’s career, much like the other coaches who helped turn Snohomish County’s young athletes into stars.

The athletes have not forgotten their former coaches, either. No matter how far their careers take them, local stars will always have their Snohomish County roots.

“At this level, the opportunities are so small that you’re not only playing for yourself but also for where you came from,” Eaton said. “When you see (professional) players fall out of favor, you wonder: Where did he come from?

“So one thing I appreciate from my coaches is that pride and love of the game that was instilled in me.”