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Thread: DeShields excited to get back into game

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    DeShields excited to get back into game

    DeShields excited to get back into game
    Former baserunning threat to be Minor League hitting coach

    By Lisa Winston / MLB.com

    For Delino DeShields, it was just a matter of time.

    Time to be spent at home with his five kids.

    Time being "Mr. Dad," coaching their baseball and basketball teams.

    Time enough to miss the game of baseball and be ready to return to it.

    The 13-year-veteran second baseman, who retired in 2003 as one of the top 50 basestealers in Major League history, was announced as the hitting coach of the Billings Mustangs, the Cincinnati Reds' entry in the short-season Pioneer League.

    "I just felt at the time I was way behind as far as my kids and my family and what was going on at home, so I wanted to take some time off and get everything back up to speed, catch up with them," said DeShields, who turned 40 this past January. "Now I've had a chance to do that. I had a long talk with my family about going back and everybody thought it was good time. I'm in a good place."

    When DeShields retired in 2003, he took the time to unwind and be a stay-at-home dad to what would eventually be the quintet of sons Delino Jr. and DeAngelo and daughters Diamond, Denim and Delaney.

    "I've been watching a lot of youth baseball and working with kids at home in Atlanta," he said. "Just trying to catch up because we miss a lot of time when we're playing."

    Ironically, a future in coaching was not something DeShields ever thought about during his playing days. It wasn't until he retired that he started to think this might be something he'd like to do down the road.

    "I actually caught the bug first when I started coaching my kids," he laughed. "It's been a learning process but I feel like I'm ready to get back on the field."

    So when June comes and the Reds send their Mustangs off to Montana, DeShields will make his pro debut in that capacity.

    He certainly has the credentials.

    Originally a first-round Draft selection in 1987 by Montreal out of high school in Delaware, the world-class athlete turned down a scholarship to play basketball at Villanova to sign with the Expos.

    By 1990, he was in the Majors and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that year.

    Over 13 seasons with Montreal, the Los Angeles Dodgers (to whom he was traded even up in 1993 for Pedro Martinez), St. Louis, Baltimore and the Chicago Cubs, DeShields hit .268 with 80 homers, 561 RBIs and 463 career steals.

    "He's got a world of experience," said Terry Reynolds, the Reds' director of player development. "As an athlete originally better known for his basketball, he had to develop his baseball skills and I think he can translate that to our kids. And he had a long Major League career which is always nice to have on your resume when you're talking to a kid who wants to get there."

    DeShields has also always been known as a thoughtful player, one who respects the game and its history -- he was known for being the first player to wear high socks in honor of the Negro Leagues -- and that is something that will no doubt add further to his coaching ability.

    "When you get to pro ball, all those kids have talent and everyone knows how to play the game at that point so what separates someone is the mental part," DeShields said. "Coaches who could get in my head and make me think were the best ones I had. Jerry Manuel, for example, was one of my early instructors and he's always been a really deep, thoughtful person who made me think. He and [former big league coach] Gene Glynn in particular were instrumental to me in the Minors."

    http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/...=.jsp&c_id=cin


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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshields of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    Last edited by mth123; 02-21-2009 at 06:00 PM.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshield of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    I love alliteration

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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshield of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    You should win something for this display of alliteration.

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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshield of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    Post of the day for sure.

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    Member corkedbat's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshields of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    Devious display of devilshly daring diction

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    Member camisadelgolf's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    I could be wrong, but I believe MLB Network has a report on this. I think it aired tonight, but I'm not sure.

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    Member tommycash's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    I thought Delino was good in Montreal. I liked his style of play. I hope he works out for us as a coach.
    Jack Eliot: I'm a World Series MVP!
    Skip: That was four years ago, Jack. Last season, you hit .235.
    Jack Eliot: LAST SEASON, I led this team in ninth-inning doubles in the month of August!

    ---Mr. Baseball 1992

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    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    In summary:

    Displaced Dodger Delino Deshields of Delaware, desperate for a day job, defers dad duties for Delino, DeAngelo, Diamond, Denim and Delaney and discovers that developing draftees for Dusty in a dinger delight diamond is a duty he definitely desires.

    dats dat.
    Sublime post.

    Always was a big Deshields fan too. Smarter player than he got credit for being, did a nice job of staying within his game, had a habit of playing on winning teams. Would have liked to see him hitting at the top of the Reds lineup in the '90s.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    DeShields was one of those guys who I always thought would be a Red.

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    Member 15fan's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by nate View Post
    DeShields was one of those guys who I always thought would be a Red.
    Anyone from the fastball.com days remember when McCoy told us that DeShields was going to be signed by the Reds to play 2b? It was a done deal?

    Hal was a decade ahead of himself on that one.

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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Quote Originally Posted by 15fan View Post
    Hal was a decade ahead of himself on that one.


  14. #13
    Member kaldaniels's Avatar
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    Re: DeShields excited to get back into game

    Glad I finally read this topic...good story.

    I purposely was avoiding it b/c I really thought it was going to be about DD attempting a comeback with the Reds.


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