OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 11, 2019) – The Oklahoma Christian baseball team picked up more than a bit of wisdom on Friday night from someone who has been there and done that.
Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who guided his team to the 2017 World Series title after an honor-filled playing career, spoke at the Eagles' annual preseason banquet at the Gaylord University Center. Hinch's nephew,
Garrett Wages, is a senior infielder for OC.
During a wide-ranging 50-minute presentation, Hinch talked about principles of baseball success, which he summarized in three key points.
"You've got to believe it before you see it," he said. "You've got to prepare like you've never prepared before and you've got to play games like an elimination game."
Holding up his right hand – on which he was wearing his World Series championship ring, Hinch continued: "That, to me, sets you up to … not necessarily win one of these – this is as lucky as I could get. I was in the right place at the right time. We've had four winning seasons in a row and I have a ring. That's in the world of fortunate. I want a second one this year. But if you can do those three things, you'll be the best version of yourself as a team."
Hinch told stories about how the Astros slowly built from what had been a moribund losing team into a franchise that, in the last four years, has ranked among the best in Major League Baseball. He spoke about the emotions involved during their run to the World Series, which came in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated the Houston area that August.
"The city rallied around us while we rallied around them," Hinch said. "We were really the only sense of hope at that time. We were playing games, and there was a guilty feeling. … The guilty feeling of playing a baseball game, while we know that a block away, there's a building under water – but the city wanted us to. The mayor wanted us to. The governor of Texas wanted us to. This was the first step of rebuilding a city that was under water.
"The World Series championship was the first ever in Houston and was really cool. The story of having it surrounding that storm will last forever."
He also talked about coming home to Oklahoma, where he first made a name for himself as
The Oklahoman's state prep player of the year and the Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player of the Year in 1992 after a standout career as a catcher at Midwest City High School under head coach Jerry Long, who introduced Hinch at the banquet.
Also at Midwest City, Hinch worked with Chuck White, an assistant coach for the Bombers who later became OC's head coach. Hinch credited White, who attended the banquet, with teaching him how to be a catcher.
Hinch went on to star at Stanford (receiving induction into that university's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014) and played for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1996, earning a bronze medal.
He played parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball with the Oakland A's (1998-2000), Kansas City Royals (2001-2002), Detroit Tigers (2003) and Philadelphia Phillies (2004). He was named as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 and served parts of two seasons in that role.
The Astros named Hinch as their manager on Sept. 29, 2014. In his four seasons, Houston has qualified for the postseason three times (2015, 2017, 2018) and won the franchise's first World Series title in 2017, beating the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers along the way and prevailing in Game 7 in the latter two postseason series.
A.J. Hinch interview with OC President John deSteiguer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAlKYc2DYWU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR38SSFA_4Hz-Q6AaU6sIGX6L9Xt-gK-A8__monr8c2Ymi-iT9kmE_Q7Vww
A.J. Hinch speech:
