Interview with Clyde Wright

MJ: Clyde, thinks for joining us today.

CW: Thank you.

MJ: We're here at the Clyde Wright Pitching School. Tell me what happens

here.

CW: Well, the kids sign up to take pitching lessons from myself, and when

they come in, I teach them how to pitch, and then they have the big batting

cages here, that's owned by Al Paino, so, you know, eventually all the kids

learn how to hit too.

MJ: How many years have you been running the school?

CW: I've been here, I think, oh, somewhere around 15 years.

MJ: And how many... What's the average daily routine. How many kids do you

see in a day, and what are you trying to teach them?

CW: Well, I take four kids in each hour, because two pitch and then two

rest, and then two pitch and two rest. I take four kids an hour, and the

basic thing that I'm trying to teach them, is how they use their legs,

and how to use their body to where they have a less chance of getting hurt

when they get older, and throw the ball harder. It's just the fundamental

technique of pitching. Now, the older kids I've got, you know, we'll go

into the curve ball, the great change ups, the sliders and all these

things. But the young kids in Little League, it's just strictly, you know,

fastball, a little change up.

MJ: What are the age ranges of the kids you work with?

CW: I start the kids at 9 years old. The oldest one I've got is a 48 year

old gentleman. He goes to Baltimore's fantasy camp every year, and he comes

to me to get in shape to go to the Baltimore fantasy camp every year.

MJ: What is it about working with kids in particular that you like?

CW: Well, the biggest thing is to watch the kids grow up, then end up in

college, or like my son, and few other guys, end up, you know, a good

chance to play in professional baseball. Right now, in the 15 years I've

been here, there've been about, I'd say about 50 kids that have signed to

play pro baseball. Some of the kids are already in the big leagues, you

know. But on the other hand, we do have maybe 150 kids in those 15 years

that have gotten full scholarships to go on to college.

MJ: What are you looking for in a young kid? What can you see that will

predict whether he'll make it or not?

CW: Well, there's really not that much that you can teach to predict

whether a kid's going to make it in the big leagues or not. It's like the

parents ask me, "Well, Clyde, is my son going to play in the big leagues?"

And I say, "Well, if you answer my question, I'll answer yours." I said,

"If you take 12 little girls, that are 12 years old, and you tell me which

one's going to be Miss America, then I'll tell you if your kid can, you

know, play in the big leagues.

MJ: What percent is, you know, perspiration, and what percent is

inspiration? How much is raw talent, and how much is really the kid's

willingness to work hard?

CW: Well, you see a lot of kids that didn't have a lot of talent, that

played in the big leagues, because they really want to work at it. That's

really what they want to do. But I found out that the kids that have the

raw talent, nine times out of ten, they're the laziest kids, you know, of

the bunch. But you do have to have some talent to play. And if you've got

the talent, you have to develop it and take it on to another level.

MJ: Let's talk about your career for a minute. How did you get started in

baseball?

CW: Well, when I grew up, I grew up in Tennessee, and my father and mother

lived on a farm. I have five brothers and one sister. So every time we'd

get a chance to play catch, we didn't have to go look for a neighbor to

play catch, because I had the five brothers. If we wanted to fight, we

didn't have to go far to look for a fight. We had, you know, the brothers.

But all the time we grew up, we just had a chance to play catch, and as we

got older, we got a little bit better, and finally, you know, a couple of

the coaches saw us that were from the high school, and you know, I didn't

play Little League. I started when I was in high school, and then

eventually I went to college, and developed from there.

MJ: And when were you signed, and who were you to in the pros?

CW: I signed in 1965 after I graduated from college, and I signed with the

California Angels.

MJ: Right away.

CW: Right away. As quick as I graduated from college, I signed that summer,

and I went off to play A-ball in Quad Cities, Iowa.

MJ: And how long did you play n the minors before you moved up?

CW: I played a total of four months. And people ask me, the say, "Well, you

must have been pretty good." I says, "Well, There were two things that

happened. I was pretty good at the time, and the Angels were pretty bad,"

so it was kind of, you know, a nice little marriage there. They needed

pitchers, and I was the best one they had in the minor league system at the

time.

MJ: Now how different were the salaries back then in the late '60's

compared to today?

CW: Well, there's a couple of dollars difference. I know when I signed, I

got $10,000. And my son signed a year and a half ago with the Cleveland

Indians. He got $1,200,000. So there's a little bit of difference in them

now. It's just like the salaries in Japan. Now, back 20, 25 years ago, the

owners made all the money. Now, the players are making, you know, some, you

know, not pretty good money, they're making super good money. And it's, you

know, carried on over in Japan too now. The big superstars over there make

an awfully good living playing baseball.

MJ: What were some of your highlights with the Angels? I know you had a

no-hitter. What do you remember about your time with them?

CW: You know, it's not the no -hitter, it's no the games I pitched and

stuff. I remember the guys that I played with. Fregosi, Knopp, Bob Rogers.

I remember, you know, going on the road trips, and I'd run into the other

guys on the other teams. Reggie Jackson, Stottlemeyer from the Yankees. You

know, Palmer from Baltimore and Andy Etcherbarren from Baltimore. I'd get

to go out with these guys, and what we'd do, is we'd talk about baseball.

What it's like, you know, to play in the big leagues, playing in the big

leagues.

MJ: Those are the highlights.

CW: Sure. You forget about the number of games you won, the number of games

you lost, and stuff. The only memories you carry, really, are the ones

that, you know, are the guys you went around with.

MJ: Are you the only Angel to have, besides Nolan Ryan, to have a

no-hitter?

CW: Oh no. Mike Witt threw a perfect game in Texas. I'm the first one, in

Angel Stadium to throw a no-hitter, in the new stadium they built in '66.

Now, Bo Bolinsky threw the first no-hitter for the Angels, back in I think

it was '62 or '63. But they weren't in the stadium.

MJ: You're part of a ....sort of an elect, a select club, though, of

no-hitter pitchers.

CW: I'm in a select club. Once you throw a no-hitter, you are in a select

club. The thing about it, I'm in two select groups. I'm in the one for

throwing a no-hitter, I'm in the one for winning 20 games, and I'm also in

the other one for losing 20 games. So I'm in three pretty good categories.

You have to pitch a lot of innings to do either one of them.

MJ: You're also in a select club of people who have played in Japan. Can

you talk about your years in Japan?

CW: Playing in Japan was very, very difficult for me. Because, it wasn't

the people now, the fans, because I got along with the fans, the fans loved

me because I would give them baseballs, I would give them gloves, and all

this. I could not get along with a couple of the people in the front

office. That was my downfall in Japan. But as far as playing with

Nagashima, Oh, Harimoto , Osugi, these guys, Wakamatsu, I'd do it all over

again. I'd love to go back and play. But there's on thing that tells me I

can't go, and that's old age.

MJ: You're not 48, though, are you?

CW: No, I'll be 53 in a week.

MJ: What did you notice about Japanese baseball that was different about

Japanese baseball compared to American ball when you were there?

CW: Well, in Japanese baseball, they play, you know, they play three ways.

They either play to win, not to lose, or they play for a tie. See, a tie

counts a half a win, a half a loss, and it can be big meaning in the

standings toward the end of the year. And the other thing, if you don't

finish so many games a year, you can be playing the games after the season,

when the other two teams are playing in the World Series. But the one big

thing, it's kind of changed now, and it's changed for the better, because,

when I would go over there, and I can understand it, I'm over there, taking

some job away from a Japanese baseball player, and if one of them, you

know, the Japanese came over here, and took my job, I would resent it. And

they would resent it, because I was taking some kid's job over there. And,

you know, that's kind of the way I felt when I was over there, because I

was taking somebody else's job, and they didn't want me there at the time.

MJ: What about the differences in training between the two countries?

CW: Well, there's no comparison to the training. As far as the Americans

are concerned, we're a bunch of... it's almost like nothing compared to the

training they do. I don't think there's been an American go over there,

that can go through the Japanese training program, day after day after day,

and do everything that they do. Because they are tremendously in shape when

it comes to playing the sport. They have a lot pride in it. And it's not

only baseball in Japan, it's everything that Japanese people do. They try

to do it to the best of their ability, and they'll push themselves to the

limit to get there.

MJ: So, were you on a separate, let's say, training program from, let's

say, Horiuchi, or one of the pitchers. Were you on the same program as

them?

CW: Sure. Because I couldn't do all the stuff that Horiuchi'd done. I could

not run all those distances and stuff. I couldn't... You know, I remember

one day we had to throw 300 pitches in a practice session. Well, there's no

way I could throw 300 pitches. But the Japanese players did. The pitchers.

And you have to have an awful lot of respect for the Japanese players over

there, after the training period that they go through, and then, you know,

go out and play 130 games during the year.

MJ: Do you think it's to the extent that it's harmful? Is too much practice

not good, or what?

CW: Who can say. You know, they have the guys over there, Mr. Oh. He's hit

more home runs than anybody in the world. He goes through it. Harimoto

hits .300 for 20 years. He goes through it. You can't say whether one's bad

or one's good. They do it their way, we do it our way, you know. It's

nothing good about it, there's nothing bad about it. It's just their way of

doing it, and that's the way they're going to do it, and that's fine.

MJ: What are your memories of some of the Japanese ball players?

CW: A lot of times we played, you could not pitch inside, because they

would think you were trying to hit them, right? And a couple of times, I

did hit a couple of Japanese players. Because I'd been hit, or Davey

Johnson had been hit, with the Giants. But it was all in the spirit of, you

know, winning. You try to win. I don't like to lose, you know. I never did.

And I'm sure the Japanese players don't like to lose. And we got in a

couple fights, you know, here and there along the road, but I got to tell

you this story. The one big thing I remember is Mr. Osugi, that played with

the Yakult Swallows. He came to bat one night, in our stadium, in Giants

stadium, and he asked me, he said, "Would you "presento" me a nice little

fast ball, where I can hit a home run?" So I told him yes, right? So I

threw it right down the middle, and Osugi hit a home run. And he rounds

third base, and he tipped his hat to me, right? Now, who knows if he's

going to hit the home run, or not, right? I didn't know it, he didn't know

it. But it just so happened that way, and it was real funny that it

actually happened after I told him, you know, I would do that.

CW: You've faced American batters and Japanese batters. Where does an Oh or

a Harimoto or those great players rank in terms of American batters?

CW: Well, over here, they would be in the top ten percent of the batters

here. Oh can hit, and Harimoto can hit. Oh might not hit as many home runs,

but he would still hit for a good average, he would still drive in a lot of

runs, he's a super fielding first baseman. Now, Harimoto, to me, you know,

he can hit. He would probably hit .300 every year, in the American League

or the National League over here. But if you ask Harimoto what he would hit

over here, you know what Harimoto would say, "Maybe 5, .600," right? But

that was the kind of competitor Harimoto was. And Nagashima was the same

way. You know, I think there's only been one time in the Japanese history

that the emperor ever came to watch a baseball player. And that was

Nagashima. And if you remember, he hit a home run in the ninth inning to

win the baseball game in Japan.

MJ: How did your pitching change, or did it change, after being in Japan?

CW: It didn't change. I just got stronger in Japan from throwing all the

time. And eventually, you know, I just couldn't take it any more. My arm

got sore, and I flew home to have it checked, and there wasn't nothing torn

up in it, I was just tired. I'd thrown so many pitches that there was no

more left in it over there. And that was it.

MJ: Are you glad you went over?

CW: Oh sure. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. And right now,

the big thing is I get to go back. I get to go back and see those guys. A

lot of people, a lot of athletes never get a chance to go back and see some

of the people that they grew up with, that they played with and stuff.

That's the one big fault I have with the American baseball program here. We

very seldom get a chance to see guys that we played against, or played

with, you know, 20 years ago. But every time I get invited back to go play

at the Golden Players club, I love to go over there, because I get to see

Oh, Nagashima, Tabuchi, Horiuchi, all the guys, you know, that I played

with, or against. So it's fun to do it.

MJ: Tell us about your last trip over there.

CW: Well, the last trip, we had a bunch of American players that played

over there, Leon, Leron Lee, you know, John Sipin, and you know, a bunch of

us, and we go down in the town of Kobe, where they had the earthquake, and

I had been to Kobe before, and I could not believe that the freeway was

gone, all the roads were washed out, a lot of the buildings were gone, but

yet the Japanese people, now this is all in the period of six months, they

have cleaned away all the debris, and started rebuilding already. They've

all ready got the columns up for the road, they got new houses going in.

You have to go see Japan to see how it's like downtown. It's building,

building, building, building. And in Kobe, we'd see two buildings, one

missing, two buildings, three missing, but all of them were started back

building, already, new. But the thing that really got to us., is all the

players went down to the grammar school. And we had lunch with a lot of the

kids, you know, in the grammar school, then we went outside and played a

baseball game with them. And you'd sit around, and you'd think, now, these

kids are the ones that lost their parents, lost their brothers, you know,

their uncles, aunts, grandma, grandpa, and yet, here they are again, right

back at it again. Go ahead and live on. But we knew that a lot of those

kids had lost a lot of relatives in the earthquake. But it didn't take long

for them to forget - well, they're not going to forget, but I mean to

rebuild it. And their society.

MJ: So you're back there once or twice a year?

CW: Once or twice a year, we go back and we do something. One year, we went

over and played a celebrity softball game, which is a lot of fun, with, you

know, some guys on television. I talked to Harimoto this year when I was

over there. I wanted him to get together a golf tour, a golf tournament.

Have one American player and one Japanese player as partners, see, and then

invite business people, you see, to join the group, and just stay over

there and play golf for, you know, a week, you know, which would, I think

would be fun. It's really nice to go back and do things with these guys.

And I found out, you know, playing golf in Japan, it's just like playing

golf here. They got phony handicaps too, see. Some of them are pretty good

golfers.

MJ: Tell us about your family. They're pretty athletic, I understand.

CW: My son signed with the Cleveland Indians a year and a half ago. I have

a 17 year old daughter who runs track in high school, she plays on the

volleyball team, she's the captain of the drill team, and she plays soccer.

And I asked her, I said, "Well, I never see you anymore." It's every time

she gets up in the morning, "I need money for this, money for that," then

she's gone, right? But she's a good kid. Now, I have a 13 year old daughter

who's... Well, she doesn't play baseball, basketball or anything right now.

She's a straight A student. So, you know, she likes to go around to

different places like Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, all these places, you

know. And then I have an 11 year old son who's now just starting to get

into baseball. So he's going to be a lot faster than dad was, running.

MJ: How's your son, your oldest son, doing now in the big leagues?

CW: My oldest son will probably end up at Canton, Ohio this year, which is

Double A for the Indians. And people ask me, "Can he throw harder than you

can?" He sure can. He can get it up around 96, 97 miles an hour. He's a big

kid. He's 6'2", about 225. And I think he's a little bit on the crazy side

too, when it comes to pitching.

MJ: So he's at Double A, from there Triple A, and then the majors?

CW: Well, you can't tell. He might go from Double A to the majors. You

can't tell. It all depends on who gets hurt in front of him, you know, what

they need, and what they're looking for. You can't tell.

MJ: Now, how did you ever get that nickname, "Crazy?" You're sitting here,

you're a normal person. Why would they call you "Crazy Clyde Wright?"

CW: Oh, there was a lot of things that happened in Japan, you know, where I

got the name. Let me tell you a little story. My son, when we were in

Japan, was a year old. And the neatest thing they ever did, was they made a

Giant uniform up for him. And put on the back of it, "Crazy one half." And

my son, we kept it all this time, and I have it as a trophy in my trophy

case, right? Crazy one half. Now, some of the things I did over there were

dumb on my part, right? But I did them for a reason. It's like, when they

would take me out of a game in the fifth inning. I would get mad because I

wanted to win, because I had a contract that would pay me so much money if

I won so many games, see. And I didn't want to come out. I wanted to win.

That's what they paid me for . That's why I went over there. To win. Some

of the other things, just like, it all started with the things from the

front office with the Giants over there. It wasn't Shoriki. Shoriki's been

super to me, you know. It was just the one of the general managers over

there who's now passed away. That's what got it all started. But if I had

to do it over again, I'd go over there again and play. Because I got to see

how the Japanese people lived. I got to see how they worked. And it's

amazing how they take care of each other. You know, I've seen the women in

the rice fields, and, you know, the fruit and all this built on the sides

of the hills, the fruit trees, and the tea farms and all this, and it's

amazing how hard the Japanese people work to make a living.

MJ: So when you would, like throw helmets, or knock over a water cooler,

you wanted to win...

CW: Oh sure...

MJ: You were upset about that.

CW:That's the winning attitude, the fight that's put inside of you. I think

there was a couple of people over there that understood, you know, Clyde

Wright inside very well. And that was Mr. Oh and Nagashima. I think

Nagashima understood very well. And sometimes I would holler at another

batter, and then I would turn around and I'd kind of wink at Mr. Oh, right,

and he says, you know, "I understand." You want to try to scare him, to

make him afraid of you, to where he don't hit you hard. And sometimes I

did, and sometimes I didn't. But that's where all the crazy things started,

and all that. And another one is we got in a couple of fights in bars at

night over there and stuff, so crazy wasn't a bad word.

MJ: Who were the greatest ball players you saw over there?

CW: Over there? Oh, it'd have to be Oh. Because, see, I didn't see

Nagashima play. Now, they had some players over there that could play. You

know, Tabuchi, played in Hanshin. You know, and then, you know, I could sit

here, I could see their faces, I can't remember all of the names and stuff.

The big first baseman, Matsubara that played with the Taiyo Whales. They're

all good players. Harimoto. You know, they could play. We had some super

pitchers, you know, over there. They had the two big pitchers from the

Hankyu Braves. I can't... Yamada and Yamaguchi or something.

MJ: The sidewinder....

CW: Yeah. The underarm. They were just super.

MJ: What about Oh in particular. Why was he so great?

CW: Because, when I was over there, Oh was probably the oldest player on

the club. He did the same thing that all the rookie guys did, or the guys

that had been there two or three years. He didn't back out of the running,

he didn't back out of going to get up to take a walk with them at 7:00

o'clock in in the morning. He did everything they did. And I know that that

guy was a superstar. Now, if you notice, over here in America, the

superstars don't do all that. They let somebody else do it for them. All

the time. But I noticed Oh. You know, he would be the first one in, the

last one to leave, all the time. The same way with Nagashima and Harimoto,

you know. They were there. They didn't slack off on any of the running, or

anything. They went through it just like all of the other guys.

MJ: What are the chances of your son playing ball in Japan?

CW: In Japan? There's a possibility. And, you know, I would love for him to

play in Japan, maybe for a year, or maybe for two years, just to see what

it's like. To have an idea of how of how other people live. The Japanese

culture and all this stuff. It would be super for him. It would make him

stronger. I know some of the things that, you know, I've taken from there.

Maybe a lot stronger. You, know, the Japanese people, they take care of

each other. They don't worry too much about what's happening over here, or

over there, you know. They want to take care of each other. And you've got

to respect them for taking care of their own.

MJ: Now, aside from your pitching school, you also travel around the

country giving lectures and speeches? What is that about?

CW: Well, I still work for the California Angels. I do a lot of speaking

engagements on drugs and alcohol. And most of the people know that when I

was in Japan, you know, I could drink. I ran into a few bars while I was in

Japan. But I don't drink anymore. It's been 18 years since I've had a

drink. And I talk to kids about staying in school. You know, about drinking

and all this stuff. And I try to help them stay in school.

MJ: So mainly at schools.

CW: Well, a lot of them are at schools. The most of them. I go and speak

to, you know, groups like the Rotary Club, and all of these different

organizations, but I still work for the California Angels.

MJ: Do people still recognize you in the States or in Japan on the street?

CW: Oh sure. You know, it's like sometimes...

MJ: What's that like?

CW: Well, sure you like it. If they don't recognize you, you say, "That guy

don't know who I am, huh?" I've got this guy the other guy that called me,

and they just voted me into the Orange County Hall of Fame, which is the

one here, you know, in southern California. And I'm proud of that. Now, the

thing about it now, is I used to be Clyde Wright the baseball player. Now

I'm Clyde Wright, I'm Jarret's father, see. So it all comes around in time.

It's just like Ken Griffey and his dad, right? It's like Mel Stottlemyer

and his son. it all changes around. Hal McRae and his son. We're the

fathers now, of the baseball players. We're not baseball players anymore.

We're the fathers.

MJ: Back in Japan, talk about the strike zone. What was that like for you?

CW: I don't know. I never found the strike zone in Japan. It would change

every day. Every inning. Every hitter. Because, they used to kid me about

Mr. Oh's strike zone, right? A normal strike zone is like this. Mr. Oh's

strike zone was like this. You know, the other players on the other teams

used to tell me, Mr. Oh's strike zone. Well, they had, you know, superstars

on the other teams too, and their strike zones were the same way. But I

was very fortunate, because I played with the Giants, and if I played with

another club over there, I don't think I would have been too successful.

But I played with the Giants, who you know, are very, very popular.

MJ: Was it lower in general, or it just depended on the player, is

that what you're saying?

CW: Depends on the player. It all depends on some of the umpires you get

too. It's just like here in the States, if an umpire's had a bad day, he'll

have a bad game. If he's had a good day, he'll have a good game. You know,

it all depends. You just have to figure out in the first couple of innings

which way it's going to go, then you kind of have to adjust. But, I noticed

over there the strike zone was a lot bigger, you know, on the American

players. Because, not because they were trying to hurt the Americans, but I

think because the umpires think the American players are a lot bigger- they

should have a bigger strike zone, you know. I know, when I'd pitch to

American guys over there, I'd throw a pitch that far outside, a strike, you

know. But, you know, that's the way it was. You learn to live with it.

MJ: What do you think of Nomo? You've seen some of his pitching.

CW: Nomo? He's not the only Japanese player that could play here in the

States. They've got quite a few players that can play over here. You know,

the pitchers. Oh, they have some hitters that could play over there. Nomo

happened to come along at the right time for the Dodgers, because as you

know, we have a huge Japanese population up in L.A. He's a Japanese player.

He's playing in the big leagues. He's on television all the time. And to

the Japanese people here, to him, it's just like when I grew up as a kid in

my little old town in Tennessee. I was their hero. Nomo's their hero here.

Plus, back in Japan. Now, I've seen tapes of Nomo's picture all over Japan,

you know, doing commercials and stuff. And it's just super. We're not that

far apart, you know, the Americans, the Japanese, you know, the Puerto

Ricans and all this, as far as playing baseball. One of these years, it's

going to get close, and they're going to have really, a World Series.

They're going to have 5 or 6 different teams from 5 or 6 different nations.

Mexico, you know, Japan, you know, China's starting baseball now.

Australia's starting baseball. So one of these days, I hope I live long

enough to where I can see about 8 or 10 teams play in the the truly World

Series.

MJ: What are the strengths of American baseball, and the strengths of

Japanese baseball?

CW: Well, the strengths for American baseball is they're bigger and

stronger. The Japanese players, they have better technique. Because they've

practiced it a lot more. Over here, you can see a guy go out at shortstop

and take 15 ground balls, right? He's finished. He'll go in and take a

shower, right? In Japan, 100, 200, 300. Doesn't matter. They stay there

until the coach tells them that's enough. And very seldom, they don't get

enough. They just keep practicing.

MJ: Tell us about the project you have going in Tennessee.

CW: We have a project that we're trying to put together. It should be

finished in, oh, the middle of '97 or '98. We're building a complete

baseball academy. It's for kids to fly in and spend a couple weeks, and

learn how to play baseball. And there's everything to do about baseball.

You know, we're going to have instructors there, paid instructors, and

we're building a housing park, we're building a cafeteria, to feed them. So

it's nothing but baseball, you know, from the time you get up, til you go

to bed. Now, we are putting in one more little thing, and this was my idea;

we're putting in a golf driving range. See, I love to play golf, so we're

going to put in a driving range. We're going to have I think five or six

fields. They're all going to have lights on them, and one of them's going

to be Clyde Wright Stadium, that's where we're going to play all the

championship, you know, games. But I've got three partners with me in

Tennessee, and you know, right now we're just advertising for it here in

California, Florida, and I want to get the brochures out in Japan and

stuff, because I would love to have, you know, we can hold 250, 300 kids.

And if we could get somebody to put us together a group of kids from Japan,

it'd start from 9 years old to 17. Somewhere in that range. We can take

care of them. We can house them. I would, you know, if we could get a group

of Japanese kids to come over, I would over hire, you know, some of the

Japanese players to come over and help us teach them. You know, or also,

you know, be an interpreter with us. But I think it's going to be a super

project once we get it all together. It's in my little hometown, where I

grew up, you know, down in Tennessee, and I'd like to tell Harimoto I'm

still an old country boy, Harimoto, I haven't changed. And we bought 55

acres back there, and we're building this big complex on it, just for kids,

to help the kids and stuff.

MJ: How much fun is it to see a young player, and watch him pitch, whether

in Japan or in the States and know that you've had influence on him?

CW: It's super. It's super. It's just like, you know, I can go watch my son

play. And OK, Tony's my son. That's not the big deal. The big deal is I'm

the one that helped to put him there. I can go see a guy that Houston

drafted, Eric Ireland, you'll meet him in a few minutes. I helped him. he

got signed by Houston. Between my son and Ireland, they got about $2

million. So that's not too bad, you know, for two kids, that are just right

out of high school, you know. I'm going over, well today's Friday. I'm

going over tonight, and watch one of my students pitch at Cal State

Fullerton. Kirk Irvine. You know, Cal State Fullerton played in the College

World Series last year. I've got kids spread out all over the United

States, you know, playing baseball, that I've had here in my school. I like

to watch them, and I like to see where they end up.

MJ: Thanks for joining us today, Clyde.

CW: Thank you.