Raised by a single mother, Chuck McElroy was heavily influenced growing up by his high school baseball coach in Port Arthur, Texas -- a man named Cordell Lindsey. McElroy wound up getting drafted out of Lincoln High School in Port Arthur and played 13 seasons in the big leagues, and he's used his experience and knowledge to try to mentor as many young players as he can. McElroy has coached hundreds of kids in the Houston area since his playing career ended and takes pride in saying he's helped 99 percent of them get scholarships, using his deep connections with scouts and coaches. None of those players had reached the Major Leagues, though, prior to this year, when Astros outfielder Corey Julks made Houston's Opening Day roster. Julks, who grew up in the Houston area and attended the University of Houston, played for one of McElroy's select summer travel teams when he was 9 years old. Julks played second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield, and McElroy knew immediately that Julks had something special. "He was a good athlete," McElroy said. "He was playing with my youngest son, Satchel, at the time. He and Satchel bonded and he and Satchel fed off each other." (Chuck's father-in-law, Sylvester Cooper, is the brother of former big leaguer/Astros manager Cecil Cooper and played with Satchel Paige in the Negro Leagues.) McElroy remembers Julks as a good athlete, a good student of the game. "You could just tell during that time," he said. "You could tell some kids got it, and some kids don't. And he had it from the beginning I saw him." McElroy, 55, was a lefty relief pitcher who made 654 career appearances (seven starts) with nine teams, with most of his time coming with the Cubs (192 games from 1991-93). He began coaching youth baseball when Satchel was little, and now has both his sons -- Satchel and C.J. -- helping him coach 11 youth teams. "Honestly, at that age, he was kind of putting me on the game within the game," said Julks, who's slashing .317/.323/.476 with two homers and eight RBIs in 18 games played. "He was showing me the little things that I needed to learn and fine tune. He was awesome. His son, Satchel, was also on that team and I played with him and we became friends. Chuck was awesome." |
McElroy is blunt. He's into coaching for the kids and nothing else. He doesn't put up with players who aren't motivated and doesn't allow pushy parents to be part of his organization, which is called the "Truth Express." And McElroy certainly talks the truth. "I teach the game," he said. "Even in youth sports, you don't see too many kids or too many parents that listen. Everybody is about winning and rankings and all that. I tell the kids that play for me, 'I'm not here to win, I'm not here to lose, I'm here to teach you the game and how to play through failures of this game. At a young age, stop putting pressure on yourself and play the game you love. You're not going to do good every single day, and even I had to [learn] that at the highest level." McElroy said he learned baseball is a game of failure from teammates like Hall of Famers Barry Larkin in Cincinnati and Cal Ripken Jr. in Baltimore. "I listened to them on how to play the game, how to love the game, how to play through failures of this game," he said. "Corey did a lot of that. He was a good student of the game." McElroy was part of a group of former Major League players who were at Minute Maid Park on Jackie Robinson Day earlier this month. Julks, Astros manager Dusty Baker and teammate Alex Bregman talked to dozens of high school players and took questions about what it takes to be a big leaguer. McElroy admitted he was a little "starstruck" seeing one of his former players in a big league uniform. "I told him to be quiet, stay humble, play the game hard and ask questions," he said. "I said, You've got a good manager, a manager that I would have loved to play for and that manager is going to have your back. Just play hard and respect the game and you're going to have a lot of people respect you, and it's going to take you a long way.'" So far, so good. |
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Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubón, filling in for the injured Jose Altuve, extended his hitting streak to 19 games Tuesday with two doubles, which were only the sixth and seventh extra-base hits he's had during the streak. Dubón went 0-for-3 on Opening Day and has a hit in every subsequent game he's played, including six doubles and a triple. Only seven times during the streak has he had multiple hits.
That's reminiscent of the club-record 30-game hitting streak set by speedy center fielder Willy Taveras from July 27-Aug. 27, 2006, which broke Jeff Kent's previous club record of 25 set in 2004. Taveras hit .349 during his streak, which included 38 singles, five doubles, one triple, and one homer. The most amazing aspect of Taveras' streak, though, is that he had an 0-for-11 slump in the middle of it.
Wait, how's that possible?
Taveras singled in his first at-bat in an 8–6, 18-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 15, 2006, and went 0-for-8 the rest of the game (1-for-9 in the game). The next game, he was hitless in his first three at-bats before beating out a bunt single in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak. That hitting streak wasn't as unusual as Tony Eusebio's during the 2000 season. Eusebio, a burly backup catcher for the Astros, set a club record with a 24-game hitting streak accomplished over 45 games (and 51 days) because he didn't play every day. |
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"I remember I had my first Chick-Fil-A when they first opened in the '70s out here. ... I remember me and [teammate] Ralph [Garr] wanted some Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday and I found out it wasn't open on Sunday. So I had to go to Burger King." -- Baker while reminiscing about the start of his playing career with the Braves while in Atlanta on Sunday. |
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As an annual tradition, Major League Baseball and each club celebrated Earth Day, which was April 22. There was a particular focus on highlighting everyday environmental sustainability practices that can be applied to everyone in ballparks, offices, homes, and beyond. The Astros hosted two tree distributions in the greater Houston area in partnership with Trees for Houston. The Astros also gave a portion of the proceeds from the 50/50 Share2Care raffle during the game the April 19 game against the Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park to Trees for Houston in honor of Earth Day. |
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