TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

It's Like Father, Like Son In This Citrus Park Family

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Levi Gilcrease, left, and manager Joe McGuire hang the 2008 Southeast Region championship banner at the Citrus Park Little League.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOEY JOHNSTON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 15, 2008

TAMPA - It would be a breathtaking and nerve-racking occasion for anyone - let alone a team of 12- and 13-year-old boys. But players for Tampa's Citrus Park All-Stars say they will be calm, collected and prepared when the Little League World Series begins today at Williamsport, Pa.

Citrus Park opens the tournament against the Midwest Region champion, Canyon Lake Little League of Rapid City, S.D., in a 2 p.m. game being televised on ESPN.

How do kids rise to such a moment?

"We listen to our coaches," Citrus Park catcher Ryan McCullers said. "They know the game. They know what they're doing."

They do, indeed.

Citrus Park's support staff, a core group of team fathers, is steeped in baseball knowledge.

Lance McCullers, who once helped Tampa Catholic High School to a state championship and served as a major league reliever for seven seasons, works with the pitchers. Doug Gilcrease, chaplain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a former minor league player for the Kansas City Royals, works with the outfielders. Ken Reid, who played in the Chicago White Sox organization, handles the infielders.

Additionally, Bud Merrell, former head baseball coach at Chamberlain High School, has a son on Citrus Park's team.

"We are very fortunate to be surrounded by people like this," Citrus Park manager Joe McGuire said. "They know how to impart their knowledge and their experience. These kids just soak it all in.

"You've heard of the gym rats in basketball? Well, we have a team of field rats. They get mad when we don't practice, when we want them to take a day off. They want to play the game and learn all about the game. We've got a great situation."

Just like most Little League teams, it's a story of fathers and sons.

In this case, though, many of the fathers know exactly how it feels to perform at the game's highest levels.

In 1985, Lance McCullers was a rookie relief pitcher with the San Diego Padres. In front of a sellout crowd at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, McCullers faced Reds legend Pete Rose, who needed one hit to set the all-time career record.

McCullers retired Rose on a line-drive out.

"I became the answer to a trivia question: the last guy to get Pete Rose out before he got the hits record" the next night, said McCullers, a member of the Padres, Yankees, Tigers and Rangers, who still receives a handful of letters at his home each day from autograph-seeking baseball collectors.

Those days seem long ago.

But McCullers, the father of fraternal twins Ryan and Austin, stalwarts in the Citrus Park lineup, is very much involved in his current baseball moment.

"You never know how long many of these kids are going to play ball, so you want them to enjoy this," he said. "Since I played ball, maybe I have a different outlook. I can understand what some of them might be going through. Even more than pitching mechanics, I might tell them something to help them settle down or understand how to approach the game."

Reid, whose son Wyatt was the hitting star of the Southeast Region championship game (two home runs, seven RBI), said he's impressed with how the entire team takes to instruction. That is reflected in Citrus Park's attention to detail with defense and fundamentals - some nonglamorous aspects of the game, compared with hitting a home run or striking out an opposing batter.

"We don't have the big kid who's going to throw the ball through the wall," said Gilcrease, whose son, Levi, is an outfielder. "What we do have are kids who can play multiple positions, who pitch well and play defense, and who don't beat themselves. When the bats come alive, it's a really tough team.

"You might think we've got too many coaches giving advice on this team. But just like the players, everybody is filling a role and we try not to overlap. Most of all, we want them to have fun because it's so rare to even experience a moment like this."

Lance McCullers knows about that.

In 1975, he played for Lutz Little League, which was tied with powerful Belmont Heights in the final inning of a district championship game. McCullers, the shortstop, had what appeared to be a routine grounder, but it glanced off a high sprinkler head along the infield, bounded over his shoulder and allowed the winning run to score.

Belmont Heights eventually advanced to Williamsport, finishing runner-up in the world.

"What might have been, huh?" McCullers said. "Had we beaten Belmont Heights, maybe it could've been us.

"You always hear about Williamsport. There's a mystique about the place. When you're 11, 12, 13 years old, that's like making it to the big leagues. I never got to go. I always wondered what it would be like."

Thirty-three years later, McCullers finally has made that trip. Now he's in the background. His sons - and the entire Citrus Park team - have the stage.

"I wouldn't trade this experience for the world," McCullers said. "This is something all the families can share. It means a lot to all of us."

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at jjohnston@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7353.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT