[情報] Coach:McGrady's First Love Was Basebal
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/coach-mcgradys-first-love-was-baseball/
Coach: McGrady’s First Love Was Baseball
February 6, 2014 by Vince Lara-Cinisomo
Tracy McGrady is serious about pursuing baseball as a second career, a former
high school coach of the seven-time NBA all-star said.
Eric Robinson, the basketball coach of Auburndale (Fla.) High for 12 years
and an assistant during McGrady’s three years there, said there was no doubt
about McGrady’s favorite pastime.
“Baseball was always his first love,” Robinson said. “I still think, if he
hadn’t have continued growing (to 6-foot-8), baseball was what he was going
to do.”
McGrady grew from 6-3 to 6-8 from his sophomore to junior year at Auburndale,
Robinson said, and that got him noticed on the basketball courts.
But he was already dominant on the diamond.
“He was already 6-foot-tall at 12-years-old, and he looked like a giant on
the mound,” Robinson said. “He threw the ball so fast, and then he’d come
back with a knuckleball. The other kids didn’t have a chance.”
McGrady turned to hoops because of his growth spurt.
“Basketball always came easy to him (and) he grew into basketball,”
Robinson said. McGrady left Auburndale after his junior year to play
basketball for Mount Zion Academy in Durham, N.C.
Robinson said the move was a “blessing” for McGrady and for Auburndale and
its population of just over 11,000, as it brought a modicum of fame to the
small town in Polk County.
But Robinson admitted the multi-sport star’s decision to leave for North
Carolina was crushing to then-head coach Ty Willis and surprised him, too.
“He was going to be our starting quarterback and play baseball and
basketball, but he got noticed on the basketball court and said he was going
off to North Carolina,” Robinson said. “I was surprised because he was
always a homebody. He still comes back three-to-four times a year here.”
As for baseball, Robinson, who spoke recently with McGrady, said it’s not a
fleeting thought.
“I asked him about it,” Robinson said. “And he told me he’s training five
days a week. He said, ‘Eric, I’m not playing with this thing. I’m not
going out to just swing a bat. I’m going and giving it my all.’ ”
For his part, Robinson said he thought when McGrady, then struggling with
injuries in his NBA career, hit 30 that he’d retire and pursue baseball.
“During his time in the NBA, in the offseason, he was always out hitting and
throwing,” Robinson said.
Robinson said McGrady recently worked with Roger Clemens and that he was
showing velocity of 85 mph.
Asked how far McGrady would pursue his dream, Robinson said, “This is not
one of those, ‘I’m an athlete, I’m going to go play.’ He’s had some
injuries, some back injuries and stuff, but (baseball) doesn’t have a whole
lot of wear and tear. It’s not a whole lot of jumping around.”
Still, will McGrady, who reportedly has drawn interest from the Sugar Land
Skeeters, commit to riding the buses in the Atlantic League beyond this
season?
“He really hasn’t said,” Robinson said. “He’s just kind of living in the
moment. He’s going to go give it everything he’s got.”
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