Second of two parts
Re “Everybody’s Favorite Salad: Kids, Baseball and Springtime”
[img]1780|exact|John Nachbar Baseball Boys||no_popup[/img]
Near the top, Vice Mayor Jeff Cooper, Mayor Andy Weissman, City Manager John Nachbar spend a night out with the boys.
As he eagerly strode toward the playing surface at Bill Botts Field a half-hour before the Opening Game a couple of evenings ago, Manager John Lopatto obviously was delighted the off-season was over.
His enthusiasm gave him away.
Last year Mr. Lopatto managed the Westchester Babe Ruth All-Stars to the national World Series and a third place finish.
With an expanded roster and increased opportunities, prospects are golden for the next three months.
“I think we will see a lot of improvement this year,” he said. “Only a few of last year’s players were freshmen. Now, most of them are in high school. They have a whole season of high school coaching and high school baseball.”
One additional season of experience leads Mr. Lopatto to project that “we will see exponential growth. Practicing every day, and their bodies are maturing.”
As a leader of 13-, 14- and 15-year-old boys, does Mr. Lopatto have to compete with the intense competition of rival sports that schools offer?
Does the players’ attention have to compete with other attractions?
Does their manager have to sell them on the unique rewards of baseball?
“Yes, you do, especially nowadays in California where the weather is awesome the year around,” he said. “Always something going on.”
Yes, Mr. Lopatto said, as the boys get older and better, “their high school coaches become a little more protective. They don’t want the outside influences.”
How does Mr. Lopatto persuade them to play Babe Ruth?
There was a pause.
“The kids we had last year were with us from the time they were 13, too, and so they understand what we are about, our philosophy, our coaching, that we want to get them better.
“They reciprocate.”
And that would seem to many youth coaches and managers to be an ideal situation.
