Sunday Morning Chat: Flanagan Manager Ray Evans, Part II
Today we continue our discussion with Flanagan Manager Ray Evans. In Part II, Evans talks about the state title game experience, a personal goal he still wants to accomplish, reaching a milestone in wins and making time away from the field to spend with family. Enjoy!
Anthony: Your intensity and focus on game day is, really, for lack of a better word, insane. Where do you get that from?
Coach Evans: From him! [laughing while pointing to Coach Greenwood] Honestly, My father, my college coaches, I had two coaches. Kenny Litman when he was young. I also had Mainieri (Paul), I still to this day talk to him. I just talked to him the other day at the dedication at St. Thomas University. Their intensity and game day stuff, how they went about their job, it was awesome.
My dad, for how hard he was on me. I’m as hard on these kids and my son as my dad was on me. I look at it like this, baseball is a job, and it is a game, but it can do a lot of things for a kid’s life. It’s a life lesson, it really is. Its like golf, it’s so hard. In golf, you’re putting a little ball in a hole 415 yards [away]. And this game, it knocks you down. When you get a kid hitting .100, he’s battling himself, he’s struggling. You have to get through to him, you still have three at bats tomorrow night. You’ve got to go and make your plays defensively and figure something out offensively. Hitting is a very difficult thing in baseball. It’s the toughest thing in sports to do is to hit a baseball on a regular basis. And if you’re successful in this sport, you’re still a failure in anything else. If you’re successful and you’re hitting .300/.400, or even in high school .500, whatever it may be, if you take that into the classroom you fail. You fail at anything else you do with these percentages, that’s how hard it is.
The intensity I have is something…I try to make it very difficult here. Not just on game day. I try to make it so difficult for them to go through here that when they leave here, everything else should be easier. That college should not be a shock to them. That, for the most part, is where I think we’ve done a very good job. The majority of the kids that have gone through here have gone on to college. Not all, but for the most part a majority of them, have gone on and been successful at getting a degree, playing baseball and getting through their college life thinking, “It was a lot harder playing for you, coach.” Good! My intensity is not only on game day; it’s like all the time. I go crazy when we can’t do PFPs right. When we are constantly doing things wrong over and over again, well, we’ve got to get that right. It’s an anal retentiveness and I’ve learned that from some books that I’ve read. You do it until you get it right. Get it right and we can stop. If you don’t get it right let’s continue to do it until we get it right.
Anthony: That brings me to my next question. One of the fun parts of my job is I get to talk to dozens of coaches on a yearly basis and pick their brains. One of the things when your name comes up that I tell other coaches is I am amazed by your precision in your organization in every aspect of your program. How important is that to your success?
Coach Evans: Well you know what? It’s the most important thing as far as I’m concerned. When you have people like Pete (Greenwood) and Howard (Stein) that are constantly thinking about what we’re going to do at practice, that makes organization a little easier. Every single day we have a practice schedule. And everyday, it’s not the same. We’re working on our bunt defenses, or first and thirds. We’re doing PFP’s over here, we’re doing individual drills over here. We’re working on base running, we’re working on the bunt game, we’re working on ground balls, and running scrimmages. It’s so important to be organized. When you read, here, I’ve got something for you [reaching for the bookshelf]. When you read books like this, (Nick) Saban; you read books like this, Skip Bertman; you read books like this Mike Krzyzewski. These guys are successful people. These guys are successful coaches. This guy was one of the most successful coaches in Indiana’s history (pointing to another book), I’ve met him personally when he went into the Hall of Fame, Ken Schreiber. You know what’s scary is, when he did it, and how I coach, and how different in the years we are, yet how identical I am to this guy. With some of the thought processes that go through my mind, which I never knew until I read his book.
I guess I’m doing something right because I’m trying to follow some type of map and I’m looking like, “Well these guys did this and look how successful they are.” And when you sit there and you go though that process and are very organized and surround yourself with really good people, you’re going to be good. You can’t surround yourself with people who are just followers. You have to surround yourself with other leaders. And I’ve got other leaders on this coaching staff. I could have the title of Manager, but any one of these guys could take over at any time and probably have the same success. They may not want to deal with all the other stuff that we have to deal with, like the parents and all the other peripheral things, but they could all do it because they are all very structured, very organized and know what has to be accomplished. And I think that has everything to do with it. The coaching staff, the organizational material we use, and how we go about our business. And of course the kids have to buy in, I think all that has to do with our success.
Anthony: Shifting gears, you have won three state titles. Explain to coaches, players, and fans, the feeling you have when your team makes that last out to win a title and your team ends up on a pile on the mound.
Coach Evans: Oh gosh, after we won the first year, it was elation for us. I remember watching Coach McQuaid and Nova win; I congratulated them. Then we had to play our semi-final the next day. We always try to go up early so we could watch. I remember Coach McQuaid telling me that would be the thing to do and I did. I asked him because he was the guy that had done it before anybody else that I had contact with. The first year was total elation! We couldn’t believe it because we came from nowhere. We thought we would be good, but then we went into a rut, and then we went on a run. It was crazy. It was something that none of us had experienced as a coaching staff. The school, it was the first state title ever, in any sport. It was really, really a special moment. The one thing I totally regret, was my wife has been with me for 20 years and at that point in time she wasn’t there. The funniest thing was her father had put together a cruise package for the family including me and I said, “There’s one thing that might happen when you put this together, that date could be the State Championship but the odds are slim. But you never know because last year we were a game away.” And at one point we were playing poorly and I thought, we’ll I guess I’ll be going on that cruise. Then we got our run and made the final four. “Well, I guess I’m not going cruising.” And my wife, they went on the cruise. It was the coolest thing; they were listening to it on the ship.
That second year Pat (McQuaid) said, “Look, you did it. Now you have a shot at going back because you have a really good team. Try to slow things down this year. It all came up on you fast. Slow it down this year and try to enjoy it more and watch. Watch it.” And I told the coaches that. We were able to not only enjoy it, but we sat back. We knew it was going to happen. We were so far out in front; the first one (semifinal) was 5-0 the second one (final) was 7-1. The game was under control. We needed three outs and we were just like, “It’s going to happen.” I told my coaches before the last inning, “Let’s watch this time. Let’s just watch them.” And we watched the kids and their faces and the way they jumped around and how they piled up and that was, that was better for me than anything else. Watching these kids that went back-to-back go berserk and really enjoy it. Then the coaches, yeah we got together but what a feeling of euphoria. You end it where, everyone tries to end. It’s just one of those things you never forget.
In 2010, what a group of kids we had. That group of kids and the type of season we had, man that was special. Another one that was over early, against American. And we were able to just sit there and enjoy the game. We wanted it to be over, but it was one of those game where ok, we’re going to win this game, we’re going to win another one. And we were able to sit there any watch and we’re sort of smiling and enjoying it a little bit during the game instead of being tense. And it was so much fun and then at the end… To be able to do it three times; Some people don’t get to win a District title three times. We’ve been very blessed here, very lucky. [We’ve got] great coaches that stick together through thick and thin and some of the kids stick together through thick and thin.
It’s a culmination of all the stuff that’s accumulated over the course of a year. You just have a sigh of relief and say, “We did it.” Then you you’re already thinking, as soon as it’s all over and you’ve given yourself a week, “What about next year?” [laughing]
Anthony: In your career you’ve accomplished a lot as a manager, state titles, a national title. Is there anything left you have yet to cross off your goals list?
Coach Evans: Yes, there are a few things. One of the main things that I really want to do is coach my son. I’ve lost a lot time with my kids, and my family because of what I do. My son is coming in. I don’t know how good a baseball player he’s going to be but I know what type of person he is. I know what type of heart he has. And that’s gonna be one of my things. Figgy (Figueroa) got to coach his son and that was pretty cool for him. Now I’m looking at being able to do the same thing. A lot of coaches have told me, “You’ve got to do it.” It’s a different thing, you’ve got to be able to, Coach Bumbales just did it. So I’m looking forward to that.
You’re not in this for all the accolades, but there are times you start looking over your career and you start getting deep into it. Twenty-five years of doing it. I used to be at one point, the youngest guy doing it, and now I’m not they youngest guy any more. I’m in the middle to older guys doing it. I start looking at what I’ve done and who I’ve done it with and how may wins and all of that. I talked to my wife a little bit about how much longer I can do it. I don’t know, there’s milestones. People sometimes look at the milestones that you’ve done and the kids that you’ve sent to college. I want to continue to send kids to college. I would like my kid to be one of the kids I send somewhere; I don’t care where, just go somewhere and play baseball somewhere.
Four-hundred is coming up this year, it’s around the corner. With the amount of games you get to play each year now you see less and less of those type win numbers. It would be pretty cool if I were able to get to 500 before I retire. I never would have thought in a million years when I started back in ’89 at Miami Beach High School that I would be anywhere close to what I’ve accomplished, and not as just a coach. The amount of friends that I’ve made, the amount of coaches I’ve had coach with me that are now scouts or coaching college baseball. Or the coaches that have coached me that are now big time coaches. There’s different things to that I’d like to keep doing this for. Those milestones, those are pretty cool in my book.
Anthony: You just mentioned 400 this year and you want to get to 500. How much does that put into perspective, guys like Coach Hoffman with 1000 and Coach McQuaid with 800.
Coach Evans: Its ridiculous. I think it’s ridiculous just the amount of games that they’ve been around for to get that amount of wins. When you go to coaching conventions and these guys show up with 1100 wins and 1000 wins and you’re going, “When did you start coaching and how long did you coach for?” I love doing it and I want to continue to do it but there is absolutely no way I would be able to even come close to those numbers unless I’m coaching until I’m like 70, 75 years old. And I don’t plan on dealing with that.
Anthony: Family is obviously big for you. I’ve seen how you get away from the field on Sundays to focus solely on family time. Some coaches can’t do that and can’t make that separation even for one day a week. When did you decide that that was mandatory for you to do?
Coach Evans: I learned that at one point when it was putting a lot of stress on my wife and myself. I wasn’t getting to see my kids or my wife enough. Even now, I help coach my son’s team. There are times that I leave here and I go right to another field. There are times when I was leaving and I go right to a volleyball practice to watch my daughter. Then on Saturdays and Sundays she’s usually at tournaments or practicing volleyball late in the afternoons. So there is only so much time I have. I don’t get time; I don’t care about time for myself. I have very little time for my wife and I; in fact tonight is actually a date night for us (smiling). We don’t get a lot of time to ourselves. Our lives revolve around our kids and that’s how it should be.
I think our parents were parents that never got divorced, and that taught us both the meaning of family. That is a great foundation for us and our kids. It was always all about the kids. She had three, her and two siblings in her family, and I had three siblings and myself, that’s four in my family. It was all about the family. It was a family atmosphere and that’s what I try to bring into our baseball. It’s a family thing, it’s a family thing. We’ve got to be close knit.
As for Sundays, it was very important to distance myself for a day. Even over the summer, I try to get away. I’ll go see the kids and watch them play here and there but I’ll get away from it. I let the other coaches do their thing with them. And it gives me some time to be away, ten months straight, to me, is a lot. I can take those two months in the summer and do my thing to make some money with driver’s education, and go spend the time and take our family trips. I also use that time to watch my son play, or help coach his team, and watch my daughter play volleyball. It means the world to me because you can blink an eye and I’m not going to be able to do that anymore. They are going to be somewhere else, they’re going to be older, and they’re not going to care if I’m there anymore. Right now they’re still in the stage where they care if Daddy is there and I want to make sure I take advantage of it.
Anthony: You hit on this a little bit before. Do you ever get thoughts as you get older that you’re spending too much of your time coaching baseball? And is there ever a time you think about hanging it up?
Coach Evans: Yes there is. You know, here’s the thing. I know that all coaches will agree when they see this; the times you think about hanging it up are the times when the amount of work and the time that we put into this aren’t appreciated. And not only not appreciated by maybe the players, or the administration, but also the parents. They think that we’re not doing the best thing for the team because it’s not the best thing for their individual kid. It’s always about the program or the team before it’s about the individual. There are always time, when I think, I don’t need this. I put too much time and effort into this to not be appreciated. I put too much time and effort into it for you guys not to go ahead and understand what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to accomplish.
There are more off the field things now than there are on the field things going on. There are times when you just don’t feel its all appreciated by people. And that’s when some of the coaches feel, “You know what, I can walk away from this today. I’ll go do this and I’ll contact this guy and I’ll start bird dogging or scouting.” If it’s a single young guy, sometimes I ask him, “Why are you doing this? If you’re smart and you’re good enough and you know baseball good enough, you’re not married, why don’t you go coach small college and work your way up? Start there.”
So, sometimes I think about it and I’m like, “Is it worth it?” And I think it’s always worth it because of the kids. There will be kids anywhere to coach, but we’ve built something special here. And some days it’s hard to think, “Can I leave this place or would I want to leave this place?” The only thing that sometimes gets you is the off the field stuff. Sometimes it just eats at you and gets to you. You find out people aren’t appreciative, they talk behind you. You have to have tough skin, you’ve got have snake skin. You have to. Because you can’t go into the stands; you’ve got to stay out of it. As long as you have a good administration; when you have an athletic director which we do, that will back you to the hill, then that’s good. As long as you have an administration that will back the AD when he backs you, you’re good. And so far, so good. Those are the things that will make you think twice about, “How long can I do this? How long do I want to stay?” And a young guy might not handle it as well. A guy that’s new to it might just say, “I’m out of here, I don’t need this.”
Anthony: Alright, last question. My team this season will surprise me if…
Coach Evans: My team will surprise me if?
Anthony: This year’s team.
Coach Evans: This year’s team would surprise me if….I would say our main focus right now is if we hit .330 or above as a team. If they do that, it’s going to be a very successful year because of our arms. Right now, we had a good game last night. We’ve had some good games against some decent teams. Our hitting is suspect. My team would surprise me if we hit .330 as a team or higher, and then we’ll be a good team. I think we’d be a very good team.
Anthony: Alright, thank you.
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