“We eat a lot of hot dogs during the summer,” he said with a laugh.
MORE: ‘We’re not walking away’ from Hamilton, says developer of massive sports complex
He and his brothers played baseball in their youth. For 25 years, he has been managing, coaching or umpiring one of the sports. In addition, he also watches games played by his family’s next generation — grandchildren and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
While even many crazed baseball fans would find it a grind to watch so much baseball each week, he explains: “We start in March with practices, and it’s so cold. And we just have March, April, May, and then the first two weeks of June. So it’s only about 1oo days.”
“I just watch the progression, and you’d be surprised how far they can come in three months,” Cook said. “By the end of the three months, they’re hitting the balls, they’re making plays. We had some kids last year that actually made double plays in T-ball. That’s not something I taught them — we would try and make outs, and I would tell them, ‘You get the ball, you run, step on the base,and then you throw it to first.’ And by gosh, some of these kids, they actually listened?”
“It just clicked in their heads,” he said.
MORE: Hamilton honors veteran from trailblazing group of Marines
Cook, 63, a 1973 Garfield High School graduate, is living with severe back and neck pain. He does work on people’s homes, and also installs and takes apart swimming pools. He’s an enthusiastic gardener, and recently took up beekeeping.
“I try to keep so busy, I call it ‘distraction therapy’ — I keep myself so busy, I don’t have time to feel the pain,” he said.
Dean Langevin of Fairfield, one of Cook’s customers, says Cook is always smiling as he talks, and is one of the most interesting people he knows. Also, “He loves these kids. When you talk to him, you can always tell he just loves kids.”
MORE: 7 things to know about Hamilton’s downtown
Cook and his wife, Debi, have three daughters, Denise Thomas, 36; Lindsey Cook, 34; and Sarah Hahn, 32, who attended Hamilton High School. He coached his daughters from T-ball through instructional league and girls softball for 17 years, took eight years off, “and now I’m doing the grandkids in T-ball. It’s my eighth consecutive year managing the grandkids’ team,” he said.
Cook uses some practical and human touches when it comes to coaching. For example, “I watch the progression of the kids throughout the year, because in T-ball, we have 4-and-5-year-old girls and boys,” he said. “I have three girls on the team this year, and I’ll put them on the same side of the field, because girls like to talk.”
“And then, other innings, I’ll switch them around, because they need to learn to relate to boys their age, too,” he said.
MORE: Therapy dog a first for Butler County school
His oldest grandson, Luke Thomas, is one of several pitchers for his 11-12 team, recording seven strikeouts recently in a four-and-a-half-inning appearance.
Because everyone on the team had to try out as a pitcher, and Luke had never pitched before, Cook in March got a two-foot-by-four-foot piece of plywood and put it near the garage.
“I said, ‘Luke, you throw a bunch of pitches, and if you hit the plywood every time, that’s a strike,’” Cook said. “He threw about 80 pitches, and only hit the garage twice.”
About the Author