'63 revisited

It's time for holiday parties, get-togethers, and social gatherings as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the fast-approaching new year. I went to a house party last night and struck up conversations with a handful of sports-minding fellas who especially love the game of baseball. I enjoyed myself immensely. As the evening approached, I shook hands with a man sitting in the corner of the room. We briefly talked about Arizona basketball, and then I asked him his name. "My name is Cliff Myrick," the man said.

I was taken aback. In the spring of 1963, I sat in the outfield grass at my high school with the other tryout hopefuls and listened attentively to my baseball coach as he unleashed words of wisdom about the game. The coach was in his early 30s, tall, slender, and fit, and as he uttered his every word, I could see the man knew what he was talking about.

There were two men during my high school years who I remember the most and gave me a nudge from time to time, trying to push me in the right direction. I was just a kid -- a seventeen-year-old who knew very little about baseball...about life in general. One of the men was my journalism advisor and English teacher, John G. Carlton, and my baseball coach, Cliff Myrick.

I haven't seen John G in 50 years and often wonder what happened to him. And before last night, the last time I saw Pima County Hall of Famer Cliff Myrick was that lazy spring day in 1963.

Coach Myrick is a Tucson sports legend. He coached baseball at Catalina High School for 27 years. Now 84, Myrick is still involved in the Tucson sports scene. He has officiated basketball and football games for 50 years and looks fit enough to run up and down a football field with his whistle.

Myrick was a star baseball player at Tucson High School in 1945. He batted .533 his senior year and led the Badgers to the state title. He went on to play outfield for Frank Sancet at the University of Arizona and finally ended up as the head baseball coach at Catalina, where he won a state title in 1967.

A lot has been written about Coach Myrick over the years, and I'm happy to add this tidbit. I told Coach Myrick my name as we ended our brief conversation. I'm not sure he recognized me; probably not. I was a curly-headed, dark-haired kid back in 1963. Last night, I was a 67-year-old gray-haired man, smiling from ear to ear as I said "hello" to my Catalina High School baseball coach.