WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Tucker
Tucker arrived in Sweden in 1995 and said the experience was unique in that he was brought on to be a coach, but was young enough that he played on the team as well.
SPORTS
"I'm lacing them up, and playing center field, and then barking out first-to-third plays from center and calling the signs at third base when I wasn't playing." Tucker said.
Tucker's first coaching gig in the States came in 1997 at San Luis Obispo High School as an assistant coach.
Two years later coaching job at Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif., where he played from 1990 to 1991.
Two years later, Tucker took an as-
For three straight summers from 1999 to 2001, Tucker coachedabroad as a MLB Envoy Coach.
As an Envoy coach, his duty was to help baseball grow in Europe, where baseball was about as popular as cricket in America.
He doesn't try to hammer too much stuff in your brain. He lets you make your choices, make your decisions at what you want to do. If we want to come down here and hit at one in the morning, that guy will be down here to hit with us. He'll do anything for us."
What made his job easy was that everyone he coached was eager to soak up everything there was to learn about the snort.
America. Tucker said the experience was difficult because baseball was new to so many of the players he coached.
Erik Morrison Sophomore third baseman
His most memorable moment abroad came during his time in Africa. He said the country's baseball resources were so terrible, his teams often practiced on old soccer fields with a limited amount of baseballs.
But before he left, a catcher he coached in the All Africa Games was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. Tucker said he not only felt good
for getting the player out of a third world country to make something of himself in America, but also for the country, which revolved around the hopes and dreams of this single baseball player.
"To see a guy that came from nothing, but had the pure ability and the heart to finally get a shot for someone to take him was — I can't even describe it." Tucker said.
As much as Tucker enjoyed his travels as a coach, he said that when he moved to Kansas to coach alongside Kansas coach Ritch Price, he had moments of doubt as to whether Kansas was the place for him.
Tucker said the offseason was the
hardest on him because he was so far away from the people he usually spent time with outside of baseball.
To make matters worse, he could no longer take part in his favorite hobby — surfing. But during the season, he felt right at home.
"Once baseball season got going, it was where I wanted to be, and I knew that's what I wanted to do and I can't ask for any better coaches to be around," Tucker said.
As an assistant coach at Kansas, Tucker's responsibilities are coaching hitters and outfielders.
His maxim is that he will help any player, at any time. And when he works
with them, he combines his coaching theories with what the player is comfortable with.
On several occasions after games this season, Kansas hitters gave Tucker credit for their performances. Senior outfielder Matt Baty said once the team started taking his advice, it saw results.
Sophomore third baseman Erik Morrison batted .221 as a freshman with just three runs and a 319 slugging percentage. Fifty games into his sophomore season, Morrison is experiencing anything but a sophomore slump.
Instead, with Tucker's help, Morrison's batting average is up to .285, including 11 home runs and a slugging percentage of .536.
"He doesn't really try to hammer too much stuff in your brain," Morrison said. "He lets you make your choices, make your decisions at what you want to do, what you think you need to do. If we want to come down here and hit at one in the morning, that guy will be down here to hit with us. He'll do anything for us."
Tucker said success stories like Morrison were the most rewarding part of the job.
"When they flourish in a game and they get it done, they might give you a little wink or point at you to kind of say, 'Hey, thanks,' it makes it all worth it," Tucker said.
Price has known Tucker for years and praised his dedication to his job.
Price said he thought of Tucker, 35, as one of the best young coaches in America. He pointed to Tucker's ability to get the most out of his players.
"He has a great personality for teaching hitting." Price said. "He's not overly intense, he's not overbearing. He's very calm in his demeanor and his approach. I think he's a really good teacher."
Tucker's coaching days abroad appear to be over, but with the connections Tucker has made along with his lengthy résumé, he's already considered where his next step up the coaching ladder might take him.
Tucker would be reunited with family, friends and beaches. However, the chance to remove "assistant" from his job title might be the deciding factor.
Price gave Tucker permission to coach Little Falls of the New York Collegiate Baseball League this summer and return to Kansas in the fall, but Tucker said he would ultimately like to return to the west coast to coach someday.
"I know, wherever I go, it's not going to be as good as it is here, but at the same time, I want to find my own identity at one point," Tucker said. "Every coach wants to move on and be a head guy somewhere and that's kind of my goal."
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
Assistant coach Kevin Tucker is in his second season under head coach Ritch Price. Before joining the Jayhawks, Tucker served in a myriad of coaching positions around the country and the world.
— Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
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