Stan the Man!

Since I have been in Paderborn I have constantly wondered about one thing. How did I really end up here?  I had not played ball for four years, and although I have remained in good shape and learned a lot more about baseball from being a coach, I still wondered, how it was remotely possible that Red would find me, and ASK me to come to Europe to play. He is from Paderborn, Germany. Where is the connection to Portland?? I never connected the dots as to how and why I was in the same place as Red when he was looking for a pitcher and catcher duo this past February.

It had only been seven days before this event occured that Erin and I were planning a new life together in the Northwest. Honestly, I had been looking forward to coaching my returning players in Moraga, California and I was enjoying some epic powder snow with some of my best friends in Lake Tahoe the weekend before. I had planned to finish my teaching duties at the elementary school I was a part of as well as coach my youth team to another championship. I was going to move to Portland to be with Erin in early June. Seven days later, I was trying out for a baseball team in German Budesliga.

When I was asked to be the everyday catcher in Paderborn I realized I was fulfilling a childhood dream and getting the Gorilla off my back that had been with me since the last line drive I hit in my last college at-bat. I felt I could still play and I wanted to play, however, I never took the leap of faith to ensure it. When this opportunity came up I had a deep gut check. I realized I would be leaving behind an amazing life with a wonderful person whom I admired and respected so much. She encouraged me to take this opportunity and she was with me 100%! I would also be leaving behind my close family and friends with so many new things to come in the near future. Still, I took the opportunity with amazement and wondered how it happened.

On a Tuesday afternoon way back in mid-June a man with workout clothes doused with the MLB (Major League Baseball) logo walked onto our field. He had a fungo-bat and a duffel bag and I could immediately tell he was American. He walked near our dugout and I thought to myself he must be an umpire doing a clinic or he must be a scout who is here for some reason. It was just minutes before that our Serbian grounds keeper, Mischa, was trying to explain something to me in both German and Serbian. (Mischa will speak both languages to me at the same time because I am a Serb in Germany. It is funny, but I never understand) It was something about a new trainer being Croatian so I should look out. Historically the Serbs and the Croatians never get along, and for an old Serb like Mischa who has seen civil war between the two cultures I guess it never leaves you.
I said hello to the man and I asked for his name. "Stan Luketich, pleased to meet you." I introduced myself, as did Danny and I asked him where he was from. Stan is a high school baseball coach from Phoenix Arizona and he was working for MLB Envoy, which is a program that major League Baseball has for baseball organizations around the world that want help organizing and teaching baseball within their program. Wow! I thought that he had a pretty cool gig. He is a teacher who coaches baseball for his high school at Desert Vista in the Spring, and every summer he goes to new places around Europe to teach the game of baseball for 8 weeks or so. He has also been the national team coach for Spain and the Czech Republic. I asked him what nationality "Luketich" was and he told me it was Croatian. It finally occurred to me that Mischa was trying to "warn" me about the new Coratian coach. I laughed as I told Stan I had some Serbian/Montenegro blood in me and he laughed at the warning I was given.
As the conversation went on, I learned that Stan was good friends with the coach who helped out Paderborn the season before I arrived. Only the previous coach was from Vancouver Washington, just 5 miles from Portland, Oregon.

Like a light switch, I said, "I get it now!" Red was staying in the northwest with the envoy coach from last year when I met him in Portland. Red was in the US learning about American baseball and he was getting as many coaching tools as possible. While he was in the Northwest he found two players, Danny and myself.

As I explained to Danny and Stan that I finally realized how we ended up in Germany, Stan told me that the coaches usually are assigned to a different place each year. "How cool!" I told Stan.
Stan was with us for about a month and it was a breath of fresh air. He hustled everywhere, taught with knowledge and helped everyone who asked for it. He was more interested in making a difference for the game of baseball than most people I have encountered. He is truly a selfless dude! As our weeks with Stan came to an end, he helped me realize once again that baseball can literally take you anywhere on this earth if you want it to. His motivation and his knowledge for the game was second to none and I know we all appreciated having him as a coach for the short period of time.

I thought to myself, I may not have ever signed with a Major League Baseball team like I wanted, but MLB got me to Germany. If it weren't for the Envoy program, the two roads may have never been connected, and I may have never received this experience of a lifetime.

As we watched the World Cup Finale we thanked him for all he had done. I gave him one of my old SMC Baesball shirts from when I coached and promised him we would get him a Portland Pilots baseball shirt in the near future.