07/25/2021
Sad news for us, Thursday was Coach Jacob’s last practice this season, he’s on his way back to Boise State, but he shared this picture/message with me yesterday.
Thank you Jacob for working with these ballplayers. You’ll be missed! Appreciate you hustling home from your 8-5 in Hayward as often as you could to help these kids out.
Good luck in the Fall at school and glad we could help you get some new leather, pretty great feeling!
Some back story on Jacob, this post, and a tie in to a neat loop that was created here unintentionally. Doubt the two brothers are even aware of what I’m going to share.
Jacob’s older brother, Andrew, was one of the original Gaucho players and subsequently coaches when we started this program.
Jacob was probably only 6 or 7 at that time. Andrew was playing and coaching for me, working camps and as a reward for some of the kids in that group I took them to an A’s game one afternoon.
After the game, we stopped in at West Coast Sporting Goods so they could check out some gear. The place occasionally blows out items that aren’t moving. They had a bin full off Lefty A2K gloves, hot ticket items as far as the name, but they were the pitcher models: finger protection, full web, not really good for use in other positions. Niche market.
Andrew and I struck a deal and he went home with the glove, working off the debt the rest of the summer. That was well over a decade ago. Haven’t seen Andrew in quite a few years, he’s been all over the world serving in the Air Force. Thursday he came out and visited before practice with Jacob. Was great to catch up quickly with a kid, friend, and young man I miss and respect, but the message tagged here sent me reeling.
Andrew said “it’s funny how some things never change” Thursday night. I’m proud to be part of that for him, something he can come home to, and as many kids as we can create that for, a piece of their childhood they can return to and feel proud to be part of when they look back.
