Norm DeBriyn panel discussion

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports Podcast. And now here's your host, Matt Jones. Bubba is a buddy of ours. And Bubba and I, we actually do a baseball podcast that we're going to start next week. It's two times a week. It's an hour each time. I have a lot of fun. Bubba acts like he has fun when we're doing this, and we just talk about the games that the Razorbacks have played to that point. Look ahead to the weekend and, and so hope that you'll check that out. There's a QR code for that in your magazine for our podcast. So we're here today because Coach De Brian is going into the College Baseball hall of Fame next week in Overland Park, Kansas. And the hall of Fame is actually, it's kind of a neat deal. It's a. They're, they're building a physical hall of Fame. There's never been a physical hall of Fame that has existed for the College Baseball hall of Fame. And they're really working hard on. There's such a backlog of deserving people who should be in this hall of Fame. And coach is certainly one of them. You just look at some of the names he's going in with this year. Mark McGuire, Steven Strasberg, David Price is going in. Ray Tanner, who was a great coach at the University of South Carolina, going in. And I think there's about 20, 25 people who are going in in this class. And just want to introduce our panel here. Real quick down here at the end, we've got Tom Pagn. Tom played for Coach de Bryan here in 1983, was an All Star with the St. Louis Cardinals, three time Gold Glove Award winner. Done a lot of great things with his Pagnazi charities for the program and the local community. We've got Don White here. Don is Norm's best friend. And Don and I have gotten to know each other pretty well here over the last few years. Don, he actually runs, I would call it an ambassador program. When teams come in here for the NCAA regionals and super regionals, Don and a group of people, they basically help show them around town and make sure that they've got everything they need when they're here in Fayetteville. And that's really unique to the University of Arkansas. We don't know that that really happens anywhere else. Got Coach De Bryan here. His record and his credentials speak for themselves. And then Bill Bakewell here. Bill played for coach in the late 1970s. Actually still holds the school record for the fewest hits and in one season in 1977, he gave up 12 hits in 31 innings. And so he's got that distinction. We'll start with coach, let's start with you. I know you've tried to. And yeah, we'll have to share a microphone right here. Coach, I know the people who know you the best have told me that you've tried to downplay going into the hall of Fame a little bit. But I mean as it gets closer and you look at the things that have happened here recently, they announced yesterday they're going to have a special uniform they're going to wear on Norm to Brian Knight when they play Florida in late March. As it gets closer, I mean, what are your thoughts about going into the hall of Fame? [00:02:59] Speaker B: Well, I. Very humbled and honored. I don't feel I belong with that group at all. It's just because of you all that are out here that this is possible. You got people like Tom Pagnazi, you know, that just carried us. Bill Bakewell was outstanding. I see you all out there and Brad, I appreciate the comments you made and Kyle Adams to see you followed you for so long. I remember and I think the faith based situation here has been just so strong. I remember one time I'm talking to somebody and they gave me an example of coach Hadfield how he stopped on the road to help somebody of a bowl game and one of his coaches in the car thought we're not going to get to the bowl game. And they said, well, he's a Christian first and he just happens to be a football coach but he won more games than anybody would have so it was great. Dave Jordan, just a great example on his faith and what he does and how he's impacted people. And so everybody in here, you know, has made such of a difference that I just feel like I've been blessed by God by having longevity. It's embarrassing how old I am, but it is what it is. I'm 84. I didn't think I'd be here. And you know, and the longevity and then the people, you know, the impact of. Of all the people, I mean, all of you mean so much. And then the people up here on the stand, you know, we've been close and it's just been so helpful and just credit, you know, them for allowing me to have the spotlight and to be there and so I'm thankful. Thank you. [00:05:00] Speaker A: I want to ask Tom and Bill about playing for coach. We'll start with you, Tom. What are your memories of playing For Coach lebrian, you know, he was incredible. [00:05:11] Speaker C: Not only was he a great coach, but, but a mentor in a lot of different ways. You know, you know, it was my first time really leaving Tucson, Arizona, came as my junior year. And he taught me so much, you know, you know, how to grind it out every day. And the reason why, because if you didn't, he was, he had a foot, you know, but you know, he was incredible. The giving. You know, I always make make fun of him from the standpoint of he's so humble. I mean, the things that he has accomplished in his life way goes way beyond baseball. And you know, people would ask me about Willie McGee and I put him in the same class. If you ever hear anybody say a bad word about Coach Brian, get away from that person because he's the bad one. And you know, the relationships that he's created with his players, former players, even the current players, is, is on, is, is over the chart because these guys constantly, one, we can't say no to him because everything he's done for us, you know, he calls, sure, coach. What is it? You know, you know, the time he gave and the lessons that he taught you went beyond baseball. But then on the baseball side, the amount of hours he spent with me just learning to catch, I was a converted player, never caught a game in my life until I got to the University of Arkansas. In fact, he tells the story that he thought I was going to go catch that summer. And he called the coach and goes, I don't know, he's playing third, he's not catching. Coach D is like, what? You know. But we spent many hours and the giving that he was, we broke every NCAA rule at that time because, you know, you're only allowed to practice so much. I was there at one o' clock every day, but it was me asking him, hey, let's go. And he was always there and we, you know, always been close. [00:07:16] Speaker A: Tom, to follow up on that, his, his coaching catchers, you and Jim Cramers both came here and you converted into catchers and you both made it to Major League Baseball. What do you think that says about his ability coaching that position? [00:07:28] Speaker C: Well, I can tell another story on that. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:31] Speaker C: When I decided to come here to catch, everyone said he's one of the top catching instructors in the country. So first day I go to practice, I see that he's throwing left handed. I call my dad and I'm, I'm like, dada, I screwed up. What does this guy know about catching? He's left handed. He's never caught a game in his life. My dad's like, listen, you know, some of your greatest coaches weren't very good players or maybe didn't play that position, but they've learned it. Give them a chance. And I'm like, man, and you know what? It was incredible. I learned the right way when I got into pro ball, you know, after catching one year, I mean, I sailed through the Cardinals system. If I wouldn't have got hurt, I would have been in the big leagues in two and a half years. And Dave Ricketts, who's known as one of the greatest catching instructors in baseball, you know, when we started working, he's like, man, I can't believe you only been catching for, you know, a year. And, you know, you do everything the right way. You know, maybe it wasn't perfect, but I was attempting to do it the right way. And I. And I said, well, you know, I. I didn't have to break bad habits. I learned from the get go the right way. And that was probably the best thing that happened. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Can I tell a part of that story? You know, a lot of times things just happen, and you don't know if it's chance or it's the Holy Spirit or it's something else. But on Tom Pagnazi, Doug Clark recruited him. I recruited Tom's older brother and didn't get him. And I remember when he said no, he made a comment, he said, well, maybe you'll get our youngest brother. He's the best in the family. I'll never forget that he said that. So Doug's recruiting and he's in Arizona, and he comes back, what's Pags name? Well, I look it up, we go around, everybody is recruiting him. And I did the best job I've ever done in my life, and I didn't even know it. They all told him, you know, you. Because scouts told him, if you want to get to the big leagues, you got to learn to catch. And he wasn't catching. And so they said, hey, you, we'll give you a chance to catch. And if you don't catch, you'll hit third. You'll hit third in our lineup and you'll play every day. And I told him, I said, and we put all our eggs in that basket. And so I was being. This is the way I saw it. I told Pags on the recruiting visit, I said, if you don't catch at Arkansas, you're going to be sitting next to me on the bench. [00:10:23] Speaker C: And he believed it, honest to God. I mean, I looked at him and. [00:10:27] Speaker B: So anyway, that was the story and that's how we got him. He thought, you know, they are going to give me that chance. [00:10:34] Speaker C: You know, I wanted to go to Arizona State. Arizona State, you know, because it was in my backyard. I didn't want to go to the other U of A, University of Arizona because Arizona State at that time was better. And Jim Brock, I mean, looked right at me and said, you know, look, coming as a catcher, if it doesn't work out, you'll play third and bat third. I'm like, oh man, I'm going to end up being a third baseman. Coach D looked at me, goes, you'd be standing right next to me dhing. I'm like, he's going to give me every opportunity. And he did. And I wasn't very good in the beginning. I mean, I worked hard, but he gave me every chance. He could have easily slid me away and put me at 30. [00:11:15] Speaker B: He was such a great example on the field work ethic and you know what we're there for and it impacts other players. I mean, you can talk to the team and not much is said. But like Brad and Kyle, you know, we know that when a player steps up and says something, it means something and usually they don't. Pags was one of those that would say, hey, let's leave in the morning because we've got all weekend to prepare. We don't have to stay home for that basketball game I'm talking about. We played Houston and all the players had tickets and we were discussing we're going to Oklahoma for the weekend. And I thought, should we leave after the game? Or the players were coming up to me, what are we going to do? Do I sell my tick? Can we go to the game? Blah, blah, blah. Peg stands up in a team meeting and he said, hey, we came here to play baseball. I would say we leave that morning, get another day's rest. We got a big series. My face turned red and I thought, okay, we're going to Oklahoma, you know, and Bubba Carpenter was here. I see him out here and he was like that. And so you got those guys that will do that, Bakewell. I mean it carries a lot of weight and it really gets you going down the road in the right way for a team. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Speaking of Oklahoma, Bill, you were from Oklahoma, grew up in Tulsa, went to Hale, which was a great baseball high school at that time. And I was talking to Doug Clark and he said that he thought if you grab the microphone right there, he said, that he thought that whenever you guys started recruiting, Tulsa was when the program really began to take off, being able to get some of those great players from Tulsa. What was the feeling about Razorback baseball and why you wanted to come? [00:13:05] Speaker D: Well, I mean, we all wanted to be part of the University of Arkansas. There were five of us off my high school team that played here on that 79 team. And, I mean, the facilities were great. Norm, his opening statement there is a perfect definition of the person he is. He gave all the credit to everybody that's out here for where he is, and he's been a tremendous mentor on the field as a family man and not so much as a teacher. That's at school. That's at school. But I admire this man more than anyone outside of my family, and he's done so much for me. We've created friendships. We've got six guys that. We went to South Dakota for 32 years with Norm, hunting for ducks and pheasants. Some of the greatest memories I'll ever have. But great man, great coach, but a greater person. [00:14:24] Speaker A: I met norm about 20 years ago when I got here to cover the team. And I thought, this nice man, gentleman, I hear about him in the Catholic Church and all the work he's doing, and I started hearing these stories about Stormin Norman, and they tell me that he really calmed down later in his coaching career. You played for him early on. What was that like? [00:14:46] Speaker D: I don't think you want to hear all that talk. [00:14:50] Speaker C: They wouldn't believe that you were talking about him. [00:14:53] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I mean, this guy, if. If you knew him 45 years ago, you wouldn't recognize him today. [00:15:03] Speaker E: Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I have to tell you, you should sit in a living room and watch a basketball game with this guy. He sits there, he's as quiet as a church mouse. And then the next thing you know, there'll be a call that he doesn't agree with, and he comes off that chair and it's. You know how they. How he bellows. He still has it in him. [00:15:28] Speaker C: You know, I always tell people about. When they ask you, oh, he's the nicest guy. Said, you know, he'll chew your butt real quick. But I patterned myself a lot after him when I was coaching. He would chew you out, upside. But then 10 minutes later, hey, do you know what we were talking about? You understand it? There was never. There was never any anger or being mad at you. It was a lesson. And coaches today, they don't have those type of relationships. They chew your butt. It may be a week before they talk to you, a lot of them. He went 10 minutes because he couldn't live any longer. Going any longer than that probably is why he came and put his arm around us. But. But that was his style. You got his point. He made his point. But then he also let you know that he loved you 10 minutes later. [00:16:20] Speaker B: You know what, Pags? That's an interesting comment. Because I learned that, you know, I learned from everybody. And I remember early on when I was coaching here, I'm just such a big fan. When I came here from Colorado, I saw Arkansas football and Bobby Fields was on that team and Ken and I never seen football on that level. And so I would always hang around and I'd always try to get next to watch practice and try to find a coach and see if I could talk to him and all of that. And one time Coach Matthews told me, you can chew a player up and down. He says, but make sure at the end of practice or sometime that day that you say something to him. Positive. I remember him pointing his finger. I remember him saying that. I remember digesting that. And I thought, you know what? And I would. I'm kind of like a knee jerk reaction kind of guy. I'm not any good. And so I'd get all over somebody for some stupid reason that, that I thought. But I remember Coach Matthews and that night, I mean, I would think, boy, I better go and see Pags. I better say a couple things to him. And I would do that. And. But, but thanks, Pags. That was. Coach Matthews said that. I remember that. [00:17:38] Speaker C: I. I never heard that part of the story, you know, so. But I'm still going to give you all the credit on that because it. [00:17:45] Speaker B: Meant, it meant the world to me. [00:17:47] Speaker C: And it meant the world to everybody that's ever played for him, you know. You know that he's given you a lesson, but. But he's right there every single day. [00:17:56] Speaker B: Afterwards, you know, you remember things. I'm glad Coach Hatfield is here. One night on a Friday night, we got beat by Texas. Bubba was on that team. And it was a close ball game and we lost a one run ball game or two run ball game, a home run late in the game or something like that. And I ran into. We were all in the Broyle center, we're all in the north end zone. And Coach Hatfield was our head football coach. And I ran into him on Saturday morning, you know, just before getting out to the field. And he looked at me and he said something like, boy, it was a tough loss last night, he said. But I'll tell you what, he says, the good thing is you're going to be able to play them today. He says, in football we got to wait a whole year. I'll never forget that. And bubble went off. We won a doubleheader the next day on Saturday. And so thanks, Coach Hatfield. That was good inspiration. [00:18:54] Speaker D: Coach. [00:18:54] Speaker A: I remember that this is the 30 year anniversary of Baum Walker Stadium opening. I've talked to you about this multiple times before. But the story for people who haven't heard this, tell people the story about how Charlie Baum became involved with you and gave you the seed money for. [00:19:09] Speaker B: The stadium yet to begin with, that was trying to, you know, just do something to improve the facilities. In fact, I applied for insurance jobs. I mean, we weren't going anywhere, we weren't doing anything. And I had one insurance offer and I. And I almost took it. It was like in the middle 70s. And I don't know, I like coaching and yet we're not in the Southwest Conference. We're trying to get in the Southwest Conference, all this stuff. So, trying to raise some money and I got a phone call and said, norm, there's a guy at your church, I think he goes to your church, and we need some money for our Little League ballpark. And I think he's loaded, you know. So instead of making an appointment, I called him. Name is Charlie Bong. I said, charlie, this is Norm Dubrine, blah, blah, blah. And he hardly answered. And I said, the Little League is trying to finish their lighting project at Bomb Walk at Walker Park. He didn't say a thing. When I got off the phone. I'll never forget it. I thought I should have made an appointment with him. I should at least saw him face to face. I forgot about it. About a week later, the Legion commander called me and he said, norman, we want to thank you. I said, why? He said, charlie Baum walked in here and said, I hear you boys need lights for your Little League part. And he said he wrote us a check for like 50,000 or whatever it was dollars to do it. I said, oh, my God, did he really? I'm back on the phone, Charlie. [00:20:54] Speaker C: Did he drive up there this time? [00:20:57] Speaker B: So anyway, I said, do you ever drink coffee? And I'll never forget it. He called it a coffee clutch. He says, we have a coffee clutch. And they were meeting at the Clarion back when that was there. And so I met them and I don't know if something inspired him or whatever. But when we sat down, I told him I had something that Ron Polk used for raising money at Mississippi State, and I had that. So I had that with me, and I was gonna present. Present it to Charlie. And he said. And so this was like 1991 or something. And he said, well, what are you going to do now that you're going in the Southeastern Conference? And I said, well, Charlie, that's why I'm here. That day, he gave $250,000 to baseball. About three weeks later, he gives another 250,000 to baseball. Frank Broyles gets wind of it. So, Frank, Coach Broyles and Coach Richardson brought Charlie to Pinnacle for lunch. And on the way back, Coach Boyles told me this himself. That afternoon, I came in from practice, he said, you're not going to believe what happened today. And I said, what's that? He said, well, we took Charlie Baum out for lunch, and on the way back, he said, I know you boys want some money for basketball. I don't have any money for basketball, but I got another half million for baseball. And that made it a William A million, straight up. So that's what happened on that beginning. It was amazing. [00:22:32] Speaker A: That's an amazing story for you guys. Well, first off, Norm, one more for you before we pass the mic. Tell people about the fairgrounds and what it was like playing at the fairgrounds. [00:22:43] Speaker B: You know, it was so. It was unreal. I mean, I came from Northern Colorado, and the baseball program was okay. I mean, nothing great. And so when I came to Arkansas and I saw the facilities and where they were practicing and what was going on, I thought, oh, my gosh. And you looked around and it was like there was one sport here, you know, maybe two. But. So we were at the fairgrounds, and we used to have to drag the field, and, you know, it was all dirt field. And then in the fall, when the band came to practice in the outfield and make the ruts in the outfield and so forth, we'd have to leave the field, you know, because the band's practicing. So we did that. And then in the spring, we dragged the field. I remember a small school from up north playing, you know, early in the spring. And the guy looked at me and he said, norm, we don't have to play here today, do we? Are we playing here? This is the University of Arkansas. And I thought, oh, my gosh. Yeah. So after that year, I asked the Legion people if we could play at the Legion Field, you know, and they didn't care what we did. Just don't get anybody in trouble, you know, keep your nose clean. [00:24:00] Speaker A: Don, there's a good story about how you and Norm met. And you met through baseball and your sons, right? [00:24:05] Speaker B: Pardon? [00:24:05] Speaker A: For Don, you met through. You met through baseball and your sons. [00:24:09] Speaker E: Yeah. T ball. First I want to say, Matt, I want to tell you I feel kind of bad up here. I really do. And first I felt bad when you talked about how many rings were in the room. And I thought about that before I ever came up here. I had a ring and unfortunately my ex wife took it during the settlement. [00:24:31] Speaker B: I was going to bring it, but. [00:24:33] Speaker E: I couldn't find it. So that was horrib. And then the other thing that really, I'm serious about this. Norm and I spend, I think maybe you tell me, more time together than he and Caroline, and at least as much. Maybe not at night, but, you know. And can you imagine the stories that you haven't heard? I mean, I'm serious. We spend three, four days evenings together or afternoons, whatever. And he's full of these stories. And I mean, you can mention a date during a season and he can tell you what the game was, who the star was and what he did. I mean, it's phenomenal. You heard it this evening. Well, I'll tell you how we met. And this always defined Norm for me, and it gave me grace, I guess. We were on a T ball. I was on a T ball field. I was coaching, and Norm's son was playing on the other team, and my son was in the infield. And many of you have been part of tee ball, I'm sure, and you know that the coaches can be out in the field. And you also know that every now and then, it's rare, but every now and then somebody actually pops one off that tee and it's pretty hard. Well, my son was right next to me. The ball hit in front of him. He went down to field it and he brought it up and it hit him right in the face. And I looked over and there was nothing. He had that silent scream thing going for him. He hadn't cried yet. Blood everywhere. And I said, greg, pick up the ball and throw him out. I know I was terrible. And he did. And after the game, we're picking up the bats and this guy comes walking up to the fence and I kind of look and it's Norm De Bryan, the head coach of the Razorbacks. I wish I could do a Wisconsin, you know, accent, but I've never been hit in the head by that many fastballs. And he said, I Don't know if you know who I am. And I said, I asked her, you're Norm de Bruyne. You're the Razorback coach. And he said, I saw what happened out there, and I thought, I deserve it. You know, I did a horrible thing, and I deserve whatever he's going to tell me. He said it was the single greatest display of discipline I've ever seen on the field. And that's a true story, I swear. And, yeah, this guy is my best friend. And I'll tell you every day, and I'm dead serious, every day, something arises where I say, what would Norm do? And that's kind of a guiding light for me. And I mean, that, Don, you shared. [00:27:29] Speaker A: With me before, and I hope you're okay with me saying this in public. But you've said that you think what he's done with the church has been so much more gratifying to him than anything he ever did through baseball. [00:27:38] Speaker E: I do believe that. And Norm and I, we have some light discussions. We have some sports discussions, but we also have some rather deep discussions. And he has told me on more than one occasion that the church is where his life is. And this has been going on for not the last three years or five years or 10 years, but well over 20 years. And, I mean, I'm sorry, I can't remember much further back than that. But, yeah, he is totally dedicated. Totally dedicated. And I'm going to add something, and he's going to really be upset with me. So I'll just say it. You know that they've just built the new church on campus, and St. Thomas Aquinas. I'm a Presbyterian. I apologize to the Catholics. I have contributed, but that church wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Norm de Bruyne. I absolutely promise you that. [00:28:40] Speaker B: Bill. [00:28:41] Speaker A: 1979, you guys made it to the College World Series. National runner up to Cal State Fullerton. What was the impact of that season on you and your teammates and the program, you think? [00:28:52] Speaker D: Well, it was like I said earlier, we've all remained close. There's six of us that traveled to South Dakota every year. I got a phone call this morning from John Hennell, who is our first baseman that wants to come down and go fishing. And we all are still very, very close. And, you know, Norm. We all think the same about Norm. Great human being. That's the best way I can put it. [00:29:29] Speaker B: You know, I remember when we lost that game 2 to 1 for the national championship, and it was so devastating. I mean, it was like, and I'll never forget, Bill Bakewell was the first person that talked to me. I remember. I remember I was in a daze. We were walking around, walking out of there or something, and Bill came over and he said, you know what? He said, we'll just forget about tonight. I mean, we've had a great year. We got to be thankful for that. That was. Those are great words. But I remember that. I just. Honestly, I just. Because, you know, I was young then, but, you know, I thought, well, we'll win one will never happen. 1985, we were pretty good, but we didn't win it. It was kind of like Arkansas last year, you know, was pretty good. We weren't as good as them, but, you know, you gotta have a little luck involved and you gotta be good. And so Arkansas will win one maybe this year. [00:30:31] Speaker A: When I think about your career, coach, I mean, I think 33 years, the number of players you coach, you're literally talking about thousands of lives that you've touched just in terms of the players. And then you go beyond that and the number of people who have watched your teams and found enjoyment and from your teams. It's really a remarkable number of people. And that's even before you get into the work that you've done with your church. And I think that's such a great legacy. Tom, one thing I want to ask you is I'm working on something right now about Norm going into the hall of Fame, and every player I reach out to is, when do you want to talk? I mean, they want to talk about the impact that he had on their lives and. And the time that they spent with him. Just as you talk to the, you know, your teammates and the people that you've met, you know, the players that you coach. Stephen, kind of, what has this been like in terms of maybe the excitement level and just the level of happiness that people have for him going into the hall of Fame. And just, you know, maybe if you could share what the feelings are among the players about him. [00:31:35] Speaker C: Well, you know, like I said earlier, not only was he was our coach, but he was also our father. You know, we're all young when we're here, we're very impressionable, and you couldn't have a better role model to follow. He's joining a club that is very, very exclusive. If you think about all the coaches, anytime, you know, there's a Hall of Fame at a national level, you're talking about less than one of the people in there. And, you know, like. Like Matt said earlier, he downplays it. There's. There's not a lot of other guys that are more deserving going into this club than him. You know, it's. [00:32:23] Speaker A: It's. [00:32:24] Speaker B: It's incredible. [00:32:25] Speaker C: Like I said, nobody can ever say no to him because of everything that he's done for us. He always checked in on us. You know, I could be struggling when I was playing pro ball, I could be struggling. And, you know, this is before the cell phones and all this, how he kept up with all of us. You know, I'd get home and, you know, hey, coach, you gotta call Coach D tomorrow. You know, he called. You know, he's just checking in on you. You know, he never lost touch. And you talk about the number of players he coached over his time, man, so many are still in touch with him. And I think coaches today have lost that to a certain point. You know, you don't have that relationship that these guys had, and it's unbelievable. [00:33:15] Speaker B: You know, I think it just, you know, for me personally, I mean, I tell a story about Johnny Mike White Walker. We talked about Charlie Baum giving money for Bomb Stadium, and now it's called Bomb Walker. And rightfully so. The Walkers have given so much more. And I appreciate Charlie so much and his wife and their family, but Johnny Mike, the Walkers, just incredible. And I tell people that, and this is true, I wasn't any good. I played like small college baseball. And I remember one game, I thought I had a decent game. And the guy says, that scout wants to talk to you after the game. And I was feeling pretty good. And he said, son, how big are you? I said, well, I'm 6 foot 185. He said, you know, for as big as you are, you think you'd hit with a little power. That's a true story. I have never forgotten it, but that's what it is. And I always tell people, people that I'm like, Johnny Mike Walker. I wasn't any good. But I told Johnny Mike, I'm so glad that you were on our team. And so Coach Barls comes up to me again and he said, no, do you think the Walkers would help us again? So here I go back to Johnny Mike, honest, this is a true story. He looks at me and he said, wouldn't it have been interesting if you would have cut me? I didn't know if I should laugh. [00:34:46] Speaker C: We, as players, we tell that story all the time. [00:34:50] Speaker B: I just happened to. To be in the right place at the right time with some great people around to accomplish anything because it's because of the impact of others, honestly, and especially in my case, I didn't do anything. I mean, you look at Strasburg and McGuire and I mean, Ray Tanner, he won two national championships. I mean, a great, you know, a great coach. And I'm kind of hoping Les Murakami is going in. And Les was that whole Hawaii. And we would go over there and play them in spring break. We did that two different times while I was coaching. And he's had real serious health issues. And I just hope he's there next week. It'd be nice to see him. [00:35:33] Speaker A: A little tie to him. I think Rick Nomura, his father played for him at Hawaii. And then the Nomura's are. They're very instrumental in this Hawaiian pipeline. The Loy's and Sousa and those players that have come to Arkansas. Before we get out of here, Norm, I want you to tell a few stories and I'll set you up here. Some stories that I've heard and maybe some that I have heard about. Number one, I was talking to somebody today and he said that you guys were going to Missouri State. This would have been probably late 80s, early 90s. And the team forgot the baseball bats. [00:36:06] Speaker B: Yeah, we're about halfway up there and we're driving in vans and so we check a van or whatever. And I'm thinking, you know, because I usually had the equipment in the van I was in and I didn't have it. And we have things on the wall, on the bulletin board, you know, the freshman carry this ball bag, bat bag, you know, extra whatever. And so we stop all three vans. There's no equipment. And was just fortunate. Keith Gutton, the coach of Missouri State, I knew Keith pretty well. So we go up there and they're taking BP already. We roll in and Keith, how are you? I said, can we borrow a bat? True story. Well, I wasn't a happy camper. That was so embarrassing. I don't know if I ever. Dave Jones. Jorn was great at pickoff plays and stuff. And he would tell me what to call and I would call it. And sure enough, it would work. And I'd say, how do you know that? So in this game, the only time I ever think I ever called a pickoff play that worked, and it did. And we won a close ball game with no bats or balls or anything. So that's the story. True story. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Person I was talking to said that you were telling jokes and you were happy until the van pulled over to the side of the road and it turned pretty quick. There's a great story that you like to tell about when you got ejected and you couldn't get the rule book out of your pocket. Was this Wichita State? [00:37:46] Speaker B: Yeah, Wichita State. They had two colored sleeves, and you couldn't have that. And the week before, it's early spring, we're playing, and the umpire comes out and he said, coach, you. You gotta get that picture. He's gotta wear one color on his sleeve. And so we did. We changed or whatever. So the next week we're playing Wichita State in Fayetteville, and we're getting our butts beat. And they changed pictures, and sure enough, the guys got two colored. And I. So I go to the umpire and I. You know, typically, I don't think I do that, but we're getting beat bad, and I'm not in a good mood. And I go to the umpire and I said, have him change his sleeves. He says, just go back in the dugout and play baseball. So the manager was really good. I get to the dugout and I said, here it is. What? Whatever. On the sleeves. He finds it right away. So I fold it up, put it in my pocket. I go back out there, I said, have him change his sleeves. And he looks at me and I go. He said, don't you pull that rule book out. I couldn't get it out of my pocket. I ended up covering up home plate. I got kicked out. The team came back and won the game. It was amazing. But that's the truth. I always felt I got kicked out a lot. Not extremely a lot, but a few times. But I'd never have the presence. I'd be so upset at times. Call to cover up home plate. And when Earl Weaver did that, I always thought that was so cool. I said, why didn't I do that? [00:39:27] Speaker E: Hey, listen, we had a mutual friend down in Little Rock. Remember the group that used to follow the team and they had their big campers and they would park across from the state? Bud and Susie. Well, Buddy had an album that he made for everybody, and he's got a picture. And I always remember, I wish I had it. But they've both since passed. It's a picture of Norm standing in front of the umpire at home plate. But you can't see anything from about the umpire's knees on down. There's just nothing but dust because Norman's just kicking that dirt all over. [00:40:06] Speaker A: One more for you. I guess I'm going back and forth between two stories. You pick which one you want to tell. 1999, you guys win the SEC championship at South Carolina, and you're taking the bus to Hoover, and the players see Turner Field out the window, and you turn the bus around and you take them to an Atlanta Braves game. Or do you want to tell the story about when you chased a player out of the stadium with the baseball bat? [00:40:32] Speaker B: I think we'll talk about that bus. [00:40:36] Speaker C: We'll tell the other one. [00:40:38] Speaker B: Yeah, we'd be on the road for a long time. I remember going from Austin, Texas, Southwest Conference tournament and busing to, like, Huntsville, Alabama. A regional was held one year there, and we were in that one. I think you remember that day, wasn't it Huntsville? And you told the players to settle down because we're up all night on the bus, you know, driving or whatever. But we won that. Instead of coming home, we were going to the conference tournament, and they kind of started hollering for that Atlanta Braves chop, you know. Yeah, exactly. And so we turned the bus around and went to the game. It was a good experience. [00:41:24] Speaker C: You know, talking about him getting upset in the day where you had to go to class. We had a guy named Les Lancaster was one of our best pitchers. He wasn't going to class. And the old racer, you know, the old field sat on the hill and Coach D pulls up and we're out stretching, and he's yelling for Lancaster. Where's Lancaster? Well, he forgot to put his truck in park. So it is going backwards, and we're yelling, coach, coach, coach. You look at it, where's Lancaster? Need to say, Lancaster wasn't there much longer with the Dallas Baptist. The next year. [00:42:14] Speaker A: That story about Huntsville, we'll wrap up with this. Dave Van Horn tells the story that when they went to Huntsville that year, I don't know if Norm suggested this to Dave or if Dave just asked if he could go, but Dave tagged along with Norm to the priority press conference that day because he wanted to see how Norm would handle himself with the media before the regional. And I think that that's a great illustration to show that the program right now is such a direct reflection of all the things that Norm did and the groundwork that he laid. And, Coates, we're very happy for you, for your hall of Fame induction. Congratulations to you. [00:42:49] Speaker B: Can I add one thing? [00:42:50] Speaker D: One thing, you know, 1500 wins or however many, many it was. He's certainly very deserving of being in the National Coaches hall of Fame or National Baseball hall of Fame, but they ought to have a statue of Caroline de Bryan out in front of George Cole field for the 800 losses that she had to put up with. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Thank you, Bill. [00:43:17] Speaker C: Okay. [00:43:19] Speaker B: Dean Weber. Everybody in here knows Dean Weber. I don't know, there was a plaque or something for wins and Dean Weber. We had like 300 or 400 losses, and Dean Weber gave me a plaque, and it was for the number of losses. [00:43:35] Speaker A: That's coach Tom, Don, Bill, we appreciate you guys being here. [00:43:39] Speaker C: Thank you, thank you, thank you.