The ‘best’ coaches ever …

When I was reading Paul Young’s obituary recently, there was mention that some who played for Paul in the Wallace Little League viewed him as the best coach they ever had.

Include me on that list. Paul had an incredible influence on my life while growing up in Osburn in the early 1960s. As far as being the best … well, I’ll put him in a tie with several others. I was fortunate to have excellent coaches during those glorious years.

More on them later. First, I’d like to discuss Paul, who passed in May. If he ever had a bad day, he certainly didn’t show it on the ball field. Always cheerful and always had encouraging words, even to the least talented players on the team. Paul made me, a scrawny little second baseman, feel like the best player on the field (even though I wasn’t).

For whatever the reason, I caught Paul’s eye during a Little League tryout in 1960. I was nine years old at the time and never faced live pitching. It was a bit harrowing knowing there were adult coaches watching my every move. I was hoping — if not praying — just to make a team. Any team.

Then, one evening, I received a call. It was from Paul Young, who greeted me with a “Hi, Buddy” and delivered the good news that I had been selected for Gene’s TV — a onetime dominant force in Wallace Little League.

I couldn’t have been happier if Paul told me that I was drafted by the Dodgers.

I found out later that Paul was not the only coach on the team. The other coach was an older fellow named Clyde Dunlap, who knew baseball like the back of his hand and made sure that the kids learned the fundamentals. On occasion, we’d have “chalk talks” at Clyde’s home, where he would discuss various baseball scenarios and the responsibilities of each player on the field. He drilled it into us to have our heads in the game and think about what we should do if the ball is hit to us. We also did some fun things, with “team meetings” at his house, which included baseball trivia contests. Being an avid baseball card collector, and a memory bank for stats on the back of those cards, I usually won those trivia contests.

At least once a year, the coaches would make arrangements for the team to attend a Spokane Indians game — which were highlights of my life in otherwise boring summer days. But Clyde didn’t want us to settle for merely watching the game. He told us to study what the players were doing, with a focus on the players in the positions we played. From those outings, I learned quite a bit about playing second base.

On Gene’s TV, Paul was the “good guy” — always building up the players. Clyde could be a little gruff. “Malloy, if you ever run the bases like that again, I’m going to paddle your butt.”

Yes, sir.

And thank you, Clyde — and Paul — for everything you did for me. I read in Paul’s obit that he worked at one of the Boise golf courses, which haven’t played in many years. If I knew Paul was there, I would have thanked him personally.

A couple other coaches rank on the list of “best ever” in my book. One was Jim McPherson, who coached me in grade school basketball and taught the sixth grade. He taught me a lot about basketball, but I’ll also put him in the category of “best teacher ever.”

Another of the “best ever” coaches was Charlie Flood, who coached me for two years in Babe Ruth baseball. I regret not being able to play for Charlie in my third year (our family moved to Coeur d’Alene). I developed into a decent catcher and fairly strong hitter in the Coeur d’Alene city league — something that Charlie never saw from me in Wallace. But being the great coach that he was, Charlie never gave up on me as a player, or a person. I am forever grateful.

So here I am, almost 60 years later, thinking about these great mentors and role models. They had other jobs and life responsibilities, of course, but they took the time to be a combination of fathers, favorite uncles, big brothers and — most of all — best friends.

The Paul Youngs of my day, and those who have followed over the last 60 years in all sports, have made their communities a better place.

One kid at a time.

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Chuck Malloy, a longtime Idaho journalist and Silver Valley native, is a columnist with Idaho Politics Weekly. He may be reached at ctmalloy@outlook.com.