by Brett Hodgkins
CGL Staff Writer
July 13, 2004
From clarkgriffithbaseball.com

[Editor's Note: This story appeared as a feature on the Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League web site on July 13, 2004. Brett Hodgkins is a 2004 graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism.]

Michael McKenry was 12-years-old and had been playing and enjoying baseball for some time, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Kent Matthews’ tears.

McKenry’s baseball team, the Knoxville Thunder, had just won the Larry O’Brien Memorial Tournament and Coach Matthews couldn’t control himself.

The late O’Brien was a longtime friend to Matthews and an inspirational story to everyone since O’Brien seemed to beat all the odds to play the game he loved. The Thunder had made an impressive run to win this event and the emotions were all too much for Matthews to hold back.

From that day forward, McKenry’s view on baseball altered drastically.

“Just seeing coach [Matthews] with the trophy in his hands and the tears in his eyes showed me another side to the game,” McKenry said. “Seeing a true love for the game like this forever changed me.”

While this display hooked him on baseball, it’s been dedication and discipline that have helped McKenry, 19, continue to elevate his game.

One should look no farther than McKenry's routine prior to every at bat to see how much discipline matters to him.

Some people may find it annoying or complain that it just makes the game longer, but just like Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox, McKenry has an intricate ritual before every at bat. Ever since his freshman year at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tenn., McKenry does the same thing.

First, he walks to the plate and looks at the third base coach for his signs. He then takes one practice swing, puts his bat down and fixes his batting gloves. Next, he taps himself on the helmet with his bat so that he can see the inspirational message he has written on the bat, draws a cross on the dirt above home plate with his left hand and then taps the plate twice.

Dig in. Deep breath. Focus.

“My mental approach is one of the areas of my game I struggle with the most,” McKenry said. “Following this routine is just my way of telling myself that it’s game time and time to get disciplined.”

In addition to helping him be prepared for the task at hand, this routine expresses another very important aspect in McKenry’s life: religion.

Both in high school and in his first year at Middle Tennessee State University, a school of 21,744 in Murfreesboro, McKenry participated in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Champions for Christ.

“Religion’s a huge thing to me,” McKenry said. “Sometimes I struggle to represent it the way I want to and I let my emotions and competitive nature take over. Religion is really something I take to heart. More than anything, I want to be an example to everybody watching us play, especially all the kids.”

In only his first summer with the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League, McKenry is helping to lead the Bethesda Big Train to an amazing summer.

As of July 12, the Big Train is 21-5 and has yet to lose consecutive games. And for this 5-foot-9-inch slugger who splits time between catcher, third base, designated hitter and outfield, much of the Big Train’s success correlates with the day he showed up on June 13.

Due to MTSU’s attempt to make the College World Series, McKenry missed the first eight games of the CGCBL season as he was playing in the NCAA Athens Regional. Unfortunately for the rest of the CGCBL, he has more than made up for the lost time.

So far this season, he is fourth in the league in batting average at .354, second in slugging percentage, sixth in on-base percentage and tied for second with four home runs.

Additionally, he and Brian LaNinfa have combined to give the Big Train one the league’s best power duos. Few teams can boast of two sluggers with as many combined total bases, runs batted in and home runs this summer.

“It’s great to have a guy like him [LaNinfa] on our team and in our lineup,” McKenry said. “He’s such a great player and has a great knowledge of the game. You really can’t ask for a better guy to be hitting in front of or behind you.”

On July 2, McKenry was also named co-MVP of the Joe Branzell All-Star Game, an award LaNinfa took home last year. Thanks to a 2-for-5 day at the plate with two doubles, one run scored and one RBI, McKenry shared this honor with Fauquier’s Joey Testa. Ironically enough, at Gardner-Webb University, Testa happens to be roommates with Brad Isom, who is one of McKenry’s best friends and who was also the starter at second base for Farragut High School.

While putting up such great numbers for the Big Train this year, McKenry is just continuing with what he’s been doing for quite some time.

In high school, McKenry enjoyed one of the best careers in the history of Tennessee high school baseball. Not only was the Farragut team state champions and ranked No. 2 in the nation during his senior year with an amazing 48-1 record, but McKenry also finished his career with the second most home runs and RBI in Tennessee high school baseball history.

Yes, his 43 career home runs and 189 career RBI are better than both 21-year major league veteran Tim McCarver and Colorado Rockies slugger Todd Helton amassed in their respective days in the Volunteer State.

With all these credentials, it may seem that the Big Train lucked out in landing him. Fortunately, the Bethesda squad had some helpers in getting McKenry to town.

“Shay Horseman and Marcus Taylor from MTSU played here [Bethesda] last year and told me all about it,” McKenry said. “Not even a week into school, Coach [Steve] Patterson came to me and told me about the offer to play for the Big Train. After Shay and Marcus didn’t say one bad thing about their experiences here, I was ready.”

From that first game on June 13, McKenry has enjoyed everything about playing summer ball in the greater-Washington area and is glad that his MTSU teammates sold him on the CGCBL.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better than this,” McKenry said. “Having all the fan support and having 30 kids ask for my autograph after every home game never gets old. It’s like living that baseball fantasy everyone had as a kid. I promised Sal [Colangelo] and a few other coaches, that if I didn’t get invited to the Cape [Cod Baseball League] or the Alaska League, that they could count on me being back next year.”