Sunday Morning Chat: Killian’s Angel Herrera Part II

Rick: Give me the one fellow manager that you’ve learned the most from and why.

Coach Herrera: Does he have to be a current manager?

Rick: No.

Coach Herrera: Well, there’s quite a few for me. The first one is the former coach Carlos Martin, who also happens to be my best friend, he’s a current scout for the New York Yankees. He’s the big brother I’ve never had. I think it’s safe to say It’s pretty known how I feel about him. Nasarea Yonis is currently a scout, a professional baseball scout, he works for the Marlins. We have Pepe Ortega who is, kinda like the head of the baseball community if you will. He’s someone I look to, who is tremendously influential, inspirational and someone I look up to tremendously that has helped my career out at times. And other coaches…to me, in our district in particular there is a ton of great baseball minds and thankfully we all have a great relationship and they all have something about them that I respect and that I try to learn from. So, from my own colleagues to the three gentlemen that I’ve mentioned there, I think those are the ones I look up to tremendously.

Rick: Funny you say the three gentlemen, I talked to Jerry Albert a few weeks back for a chat and I believe he said the same three same guys. It seems like they are almost the Knights of the Round Table of Miami Baseball.

Coach Herrera: Yeah, sure, sure. And at the head is probably Pepe Ortega.

Rick: Yeah exactly. It’s almost like the Godfather of Miami high school baseball.

Coach Herrera: That’s exactly what we call him, that’s interesting.

Rick: Really?

Coach Herrera: Yeah!

Rick: If you had the chance to re-do any one coaching decision you have ever made in the middle of a game, what decision would that be and what change would that be?

Coach Herrera: I mean I can sit here and tell you a bunch of coaching decisions I would have made different in hindsight that I could change. But to be honest with you, yes, there are decisions I have made that I realized after, ‘gosh, if I would do it again I would do it different.’ But I don’t have any regrets because those decisions both good and bad and those successes or failures both good and bad is what has gotten me to be who I am today. So I can’t regret that. If you were to force me to give you one, I would say it was not starting Julian Santos as a freshman. I’ve always said that was one. I think over the course of the last five or six years I think I’ve shown I haven’t been afraid of playing young guys. Whether it be ninth or tenth. And I got that from Julian Santos, after the fact. I would say that would be one if you forced me to choose.

Rick: What’s your biggest pet peeve on the baseball field?

Coach Herrera: Pouting. Negative energy.

Rick: I know you really don’t let your guys do much of that. I’ve seen whenever guys try to do that, you wipe that off of them pretty quickly.

Coach Herrera: I do. I do. Because this game is a game where, it’s a game of failure. And we’re in a pursuit of a goal and a pursuit of a win. But in the course of that win, somebody’s going to strike out at some point most likely. Somebody might boot a baseball. The other team probably will get a hit. It might be a double, imagine that. It’s part of the game. It’s all in context. It happens every game. Short of throwing a no hitter and winning ten to zero and scoring ten runs in the first inning, every game has got it’s adversity. I always tell my players that a game is like a movie. In every movie, regardless of what it’s about or anything, in a nutshell, it’s got a protagonist, a villain, a moment of adversity, a moment of crisis and at the end it has a happy ending, most of the time. Baseball games, that’s what we try to make it. We have a protagonist if you will and it’s us trying to win a game. The villain is the opponent I guess. And I use the term villain loosely. Usually in the course of a baseball game, even if you won, there was that moment where that other team had you on the ropes and you dealt with adversity. Can you press on and overcome that and move forward in the pursuit of success, or not? And that usually is the difference of winning or losing. I preach that a lot here. Playing good baseball, moving on to the next play and I guys have bought into that in the last couple of years. I think that’s been a good reason for our success.

Rick: Did you ever think about doing any screen writing because I’ve dabbled in it and I’ll tell you what, that’s the basic formula screen writing they teach from the first day.

Coach Herrera: Absolutely.

Rick: When you look back on your career, what would be the biggest thing that you judge your success as a coach on?

Coach Herrera: What kind of citizens and people my players were when they’re thirty or they’re forty. What kind of careers did they lead? What kind of families do they run? What kind of households do they have? What kind of impact did they make on the world? How many of them were able to use Killian baseball or baseball in general to go out and get a college opportunity, or get a degree and make something of themselves. That wall is what I base it off. On one side you’ve got the district championship trophy; the GMAC trophy; these two humongous trophies that are the Flanagan opening week and the Hall of Fame Classic trophy. But to me the pride and joy are the flags of the colleges for the players and the college they went to because that is, the end of the day, the end game. There is a method to the madness. The end game and the goal is to have them come through here, get better as people, get better as baseball players, help us win a ton of games but use this to get out of here. Go play college baseball and go to school and get a degree in something, and be a professional. So I would measure it on those things.

Rick: Your current team is the top ranked team in the county. What does that feel like as a coach?

Coach Herrera: Humbling, rewarding, scary. It’s humbling because it’s a great honor. Whenever you get the chance to be ranked number one in a county filled with so many great teams, with so many great programs and so many great coaches, to be able to be on top is a humbling distinction. It’s rewarding because that just means that we’re executing our plan. The kids are getting it. And the kids are getting it done. At the end of the day the credit goes to them. It’s rewarding because that just means that we’re able to do what we set out to do. And these young men are executing that. It’s scary because when you’re on the top of the mound everyone is gunning for you. That just means that there are a lot of very good teams gunning for us. I guess in that way it’s a blessing in disguise because it will keep us sharp. It will keep us motivated if it continues to work and continue to strive. To strive for what we’re striving for. To get over that hump of the regional semi-final and to get over that hump as a program and getting to state, that’s the goal. That’s what we want to set out to do. It’s not going to be easy but they’re going to pursue it.

Rick: Especially with you guys too. I mean just to even be considered number one in the district of death that you play in is a great enough honor. And then to be ranked that way in the entire county, I can only imagine, you know, like you said, both sides of it. The honor and also the recognition that now everybody’s got their sights eye on you.

Coach Herrera: Sure. Sure, I mean, at the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is how you’re ranked at the end. And we want to try and be there at the end; be ranked. Our district is so very tough. So very tough. I think that’s one of the other things that very rewarding is to be able to have won a district title in three of the last four years here in this district. That truly is phenomenal. A phenomenal accomplishment because there’s a lot of very capable teams here in our district in the last four or five years here. Any one of three or four of them could have easily made a run at states. To be able to have won the district championship is truly an accomplishment.

Rick: Okay, lets finish with a little game. I’ll give you a question and you tell me which of your fellow Miami managers fits each question. The coach I respect the most…

Coach Herrera: The first one that popped into my head was Fred Burnside. He’s stood the test of time. He has coached and produced teams that have played at a high level for a long time. And there is something to be said for his consistency. I would say Fred Burnside.

Rick: The coach I would want to go to dinner with because I know he will pick up the check.

Coach Herrera: The coach I would want to go to dinner with because I know he would pick up the check… Definitely not Eddie Doskow. [laughing] Oh man. Coach I would want to go to dinner with because he would pick up the check…

Rick: Sounds like you would have picked up the check a few times.

Coach Herrera: Yeah. Yeah, I have. But I also have been fortunate enough to be taken out. I think Joe Weber. He’s got a very good program there and he’s doing ok for himself over there. So I would probably say Joe Weber.

Rick: The coach that you do not want to see across the field with a trip to states on the line.

Coach Herrera: Wow. The coach I would not want to see across the field with a trip to states on the line… I would say Richard Bielski. For him to win four state titles; to have the program that he’s had there for the last four years, he’s truly been blessed with success and excellence over there. The four state titles in four years just means he’s won that game, so I would say him.

Rick: The coach I like to beat the most.

Coach Herrera: Oh!! You’re trying to get me in trouble here! I want to win. I love winning. So I don’t think I would…

Rick: Yeah, with you guys, it’s whoever you’re playing next.

Coach Herrera: Yeah, I don’t want to discriminate. I would say whoever it is across the field. I want to win so it doesn’t matter.

Rick: The coach that I’d invite to go to a family dinner.

Coach Herrera: There’s a lot of them. I would have to say Julio Andrade, who is now At Westwood Christian.

Rick: What would be the biggest reason?

Coach Herrera: He was my assistant coach at Killian for years and he is a tremendous and dear friend who I respect very much.

Rick: Alright, last one. The coach I would want to have in a foxhole with my life on the line.

Coach Herrera: Again, does it have to be a current coach?

Rick: Not necessarily.

Coach Herrera: Well, if it’s not necessarily, then it’s Carlos Martin. He’s gone above friendship, he’s family. If I’m going to be in a foxhole with somebody, it would be with him.

Rick: Well coach, that is all the questions. I thank you very much, I really enjoyed this and again, we wish you guys the best of luck. Hopefully this will be that year you guys can get over the hump and we’ll see you guys over there in Fort Myers.

Coach Herrera: From your mouth to God’s ears. Thank you so much.

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