Month: June 2013

They Named the Field After Him

Posted on by Phil Corbett

I wrote this post 9 years ago. I repost it as a memorial to a man who influenced so many lives as a teacher and coach and continued to do so in retirement. 

Reeves passed away.

Just a few short weeks ago, I was fortunate to talk with Reeves at the Staples-Motley Athletic Hall of Fame celebration. His 1983 State Champion baseball team was inducted into the HOF. At the reception held after the program, Reeves was in rare form telling stories and telling jokes. The table he was sitting at was full, as was the standing room around it, by those who were impacted by him. There was a great deal of laughter and joy, and probably feelings of thankfulness for having him as a coach so many decades ago.

I imagine his funeral will be quite full, as well. Maybe more tears than laughter, but still feelings of thankfulness, and maybe some wondering of how we were so fortunate to have Reeves cross our paths in life.

I sure hope everyone has a Reeves in their life

What does it take to get your name on a ball field?

Well, in the current professional and big-time college sports arenas, getting your name on a sports venue takes big-time cash. Just in Minnesota, we have Target Field, Target Center, Xcel Energy Center, TCF Bank Stadium, and – take a deep breath – the Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

In a small town, it takes a lot more than cash – it takes a lifetime of dedication, commitment, passion, and service to the sport you love.

Last week, I took a short daytrip to my hometown of Staples. In addition to visiting my parents, I attended the ceremony naming the high school baseball field after the coach for whom many of the high school baseball players graduating from Staples High School had the pleasure of playing.

From now on, when players and fans step onto the Staples-Motley High School baseball field, they will be walking on Jerry Riewer Field, though they could have also called it “Reeves Field”, because Reeves is what all of us call him.

Reeves was very successful as a coach, with a state championship and a runner up in baseball, and a state championship and a dominant program in cross country. He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame and has a cross country meet named after him. I could list all of his awards and his coaching stats but that information is available to anyone interested in looking for it.

I am more interested in sharing what he accomplished that is not written down in any record book.

I am more interested in the impact he had on those of us who played for him.

What is not written down is the fact that Reeves coached every level of baseball, from Little League to Legion, and sometimes all in the same summer.

What is not written down is the number of sandlot games Reeves organized so we had more opportunities to play baseball.

What is not written down are the countless phone calls Reeves made to us, asking us to show up to the game early, and with a shovel, so we could get the field ready to play a game.

What is not written down is how Reeves modified his van by taking out the back seats and building benches along the sides so he could drive the entire team to away games. (By the way, the benches had removable seats so all the equipment could be stored underneath.)

What is not written down is the memory of Reeves dragging the all-dirt infield at Pine Grove Park with his ’55 Chevy, using the springs of an old mattress as a drag.

What is not written down is the number of his players who teach their kids how to play baseball by saying “Reeves taught us…”

What is not written down is the care he took to prepare the field, no matter if it was for a high school tournament or a Pee Wee game.

Finally, what is not written down is the love of baseball so many of us have and pass on to our kids because of being coached by Reeves.

Twenty years from now, when future generations step onto Jerry Riewer Field, I hope someone takes the time to share with every fan and every ballplayer why the field is named after Reeves and remind them the impact one person with dedication and passion can have.

Congratulations, Reeves, and thank you!

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My Favorite Eulogy

Posted on by Phil Corbett

Throughout my many years of being single, I had the opportunity to have many different roommates (some much more different than others).

Two of the most decent human beings I was fortunate enough to call roommates are Alex and Dan Schleper. The first time I was invited to their parents’ home for dinner I found out why. When people talk about small-town values, they are talking about Alex and Dan’s parents, both of whom grew up in small towns in the central Minnesota area before moving to the bigger city of St. Cloud.

When their dad died, Dan gave the eulogy at the funeral and, I must say, it was the best eulogy I have ever heard. With Father’s Day in mind, I would like to share a slightly shortened version of the eulogy with you today.

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would want it to be at a time of great world events and at the beginning of an era of great innovations and wondrous advancements in all areas.
I would want to live in a time of great baseball players in their prime like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew, and Kirby Puckett.
I would like to live in a time of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, JFK, Martin Luther King, and John the XXIII.

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would expect times of great sorrow to test my faith and character but which would also make me appreciate the joyful times.
I would like to come from modest beginnings to teach me how to make do, but also help me appreciate bountiful times.

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would like to grow up with a large family that has Christian values which would provide a moral compass and purpose to my life that would stand the test of time, rather than that of dissipation and aimlessness.
I would like to play baseball with my brothers.
I would like to learn an instrument… maybe an accordion.
I would like to help create something enduring, like a baseball field, or a baseball team.

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would thank God every day for the opportunity to do so.
I would carry a rosary.
I would like to serve my country and see some of the world.
I would like to be married by about 30 to a more worldly woman from a much larger metropolitan area… like Richmond.
Waiting till my later 30’s would be ok but it would have to be someone 9 or 10 years younger than me, smart, good looking, a card player and an award winning baker that makes the best pies in the world. Ok, maybe, that’s asking too much. Who could be that lucky?

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would like to have 4, or maybe 5, kids. It would be nice if at least one was a boy. I would make the commitment to send them to catholic schools no matter what. We would get on our knees and pray every night, and if the neighbor kids were still around, they would be welcome to join us.
I would want the respect of my coworkers and good friends.
I would want to dance with my daughter and play golf with my sons, brothers, nephews and nieces.
I would like to have a hole in one.
I would like to watch my sons, grandsons and nephews play baseball. Who am I kidding? I would like to watch ANY local high school, college or amateur team play ANY sport.

If I KNEW I would live to be 90, I would like to go to Casinos every once in a while with my wife and maybe some family or friends just for the fun of it.
I would like to bowl until I can’t break 150. I would like to golf until I can’t hit it 150.
I would like 8 grandkids to be proud of and to visit me often.
Yea, that would be a pretty good life.

If I live to be 90, I would love it if someone said at my funeral “He was a lot like his father.”

I would say I had lived a good life if the same could be said about me at my funeral. More importantly, I hope the same can be said of my two sons when they pass. I can think of no better testament to my job as a father.

I know the reality is not always as positive. There are many men who would consider it an insult, and rightly so, to be compared to their fathers.

Still, though the specifics of the eulogy would be different, the character, integrity and goodness Alex and Dan’s father displayed throughout his life should be emulated by all men, whether they are fathers or not.

Responding to Tragedy

Posted on by Phil Corbett

Sometimes, the most opportune time to find reasons to celebrate humanity is after a tragedy. It may be difficult to do so – and then again, maybe it isn’t so difficult.

Last Sunday, my neighbor’s brother was seriously injured in an accident in his shop at home. Saying he is lucky to be alive is an understatement.

Instead of taking the space to go into more detail of what happened, I will just encourage you to check out his CaringBridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jayzierden.

What you will find there, as you would on most CaringBridge sites, is an outpouring of support, through prayers, kind wishes and offers of assistance.

You will find, amid some words of worry and trepidation of what the future might hold, many words spreading a theme of hope, of perseverance, of faith.

You will find a testament to the impact a person can have, that, for many, will only be fully realized by their loved ones at their funerals.

From my experience knowing my neighbor and her siblings, I would say they are a family who grew up valuing hard work and helping out. That has definitely carried on into adulthood for them. If a job needs to get done, they get it done. Better yet, if a job needs to get done for someone else, that probably gets done first.

For a man who is used to helping out others, it may not always be easy accepting the help from others, but when you are laid up in a hospital bed, struggling to move, you have little choice.

You have little choice but to find out the kind of structure others build on the foundation you have laid.

You have little choice but to find out the fruits that are harvested from the seeds you have sown.

You have little choice but to find out the numerous lives you have touched and the significant impact you have made on others because of the outpouring they give back.

There is still a long road of recovery for the family to travel. Lost work time, mounting medical bills, changes in family routines, and physical and emotional stresses, among many other things, will be obstacles on that road. Times like these, though, reveal character and build it, not only in the family going through the difficult times, but in the rest of us, as well.

I am not a believer in things happening for a reason. I believe things happen and how we choose to respond to those things gives meaning to those things. Our humanity will show itself no matter what. We get to choose whether it is the best parts of our humanity or the not-so-good parts.

I am blessed and honored to know a family such as my neighbor’s family and I am even more hopeful for humanity because of how they, and those who know them, are responding to this accident.

One final thought – though kind words at funerals and wakes are comforting to the families, why do we wait till it is too late to let people know the difference they have made?

Hopefully, the people who have touched us will not need to be lying in a coffin, or in a hospital bed, before they fully understand the value they have added to our lives.

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