KWSW Ralph Henriquez Part 2

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back, everyone to the Keys weekly sports wrap with
coach mcdonald. The only place to get your Florida Keys, prep,
sports news and history. You can find this podcast every
Thursday at the Keys weekly dot com. Please share and like,
please check it out. Please post it on your Facebook,
send it to your friends, do everything you need to
do to get the word out. And I enjoy doing
this podcast and I was so excited

(00:26):
to talk to Coach Ralph Enriquez. We had part one
last week, this week, we're coming out with part two.
It's another long one and he gets into this state
championship runs. Unbelievable. First year 94 takes the job. Goes
to the state finals, loses one nothing.
The next two years, two state championships. His trips around

(00:47):
as a minor league coach, a major league and major
league camps, a catching instructor working for the Yankees, working
for the Braves, the 2005 state championship team. How did
all of those things happen? Listen to part two. You
will find out it's starting right now.
So coach you start, you start your J V career

(01:09):
there in the late eighties. And in 1994 you get
the chance to be the head coach of the Key
West high school baseball team. Um, you started off at
the bottom but by 1994 I, I feel like you
were probably where you exactly wanted to be. And not

(01:29):
only that in 1994 your first year
you take the team all the way to the state championship.
What was that? And that's really like, that's like your
first baseball varsity job, your base, you're a head coach
at the varsity level of baseball in year one, you
go to the state championship. What was that like?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, it was, it was exactly what I had planned,
to be honest with you. Uh, I remember when I,
you know, there was multiple people that had applied for
the job, uh, to be the head coach and they
had a committee, uh, target selection committee. And, uh, and then,
you know, I had answered their questions and when it
came to the end, uh, they had asked me, ok,

(02:12):
what are your goals?
And I said, well, you know, I have a, a
five year plan, uh, to build this high school program
into a world class program, world class facility here. And also, um,
to be the number one high school team in the country, uh,
in five years. And, uh, and I was very, uh,

(02:33):
and I, and I was very, very, very lucky that in,
in 94 when, when I did get the opportunity, uh,
to be
the, uh, the head baseball coach, I had, uh, a
great group of young men. It was challenging, it was different, uh,
for them, uh, because now they went, um, into playing

(02:58):
for a very, very aggressive, uh, coach that, uh, brought
a lot of, uh, structure and discipline, uh, and, and,
and expected a lot of things from these young men.
Uh, and my first year we go to, I think,
27 5 that year and we go to the state

(03:18):
player off and we lost to a team that we
should have never lost to. Uh, and, uh,
and we, uh, wound up, you know, winning, uh, having
a great season and state runner up that taught me
a lot, uh, you know, and instead of saying, oh, well, well,
look what I did, you know, I was very angry,

(03:41):
very angry, very angry with myself, uh, because there were
things there that I saw that if I would have
done this or, or, or pushed this or did that,
you know, we could have won.
So here comes 95. And, um, you know, I start,

(04:01):
you know, really feeling, you know, more comfortable in doing
what I'm doing and, and really believing in what I'm
doing in. And, um,
and, uh, you know, I remember Mr Archer who was
a very close friend of mine and him and I
Glenn and I had a, you know, many stories that

(04:21):
go way back, but Glenn comes to me one night
and tells me Ralph, don't put no pressure on yourself
now this year because you have a whole new group
of kids. You graduated eight or nine seniors, you lost
Randy Niles. Who was your main pitcher? Uh, don't put
that pressure on you because I know how you are.
We got the,
and I said, Mr Archer,

(04:42):
I'm gonna be fine. We're not, we're not stepping down
if anything, I'm stepping on the pedal even harder. And, uh,
and then he smiled and laughed at me and I
remember he was with, uh with our business manager and almost,
you know, looked at him and told him, I told
you he's like that.

(05:02):
And, uh, and we wound up that year, uh
going 35 2,
uh with, you know, a couple of guys from that team,
not many. Uh and we won, we won 35 games
and lost two and we lost the first two games.
But then the 1st 10, we were eight and two

(05:22):
at the 1st 10 ball games.
Uh We got 10 run by Westminster Christian and, uh, and,
and the kids knew that I was really, really upset,
but I had five guys that I had suspended for
10 ball games to start the year out because of
a disciplinary action.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Were they, were they all major contributors and starters that
year

Speaker 2 (05:43):
have three of them were, yes, three of them was, yes,
three of them were major players. Uh And, uh, but
you know what they, they, they, what what happened happened,
they had to learn a lesson. They did, they all
came back,
uh gradually worked themselves back into the lineup again. Uh Didn't,
they just didn't jump in there like, like, like overnight.

(06:05):
Uh They jumped in there. It took a while but
we got there. But, you know, once I got these
guys back and we got beat 10 to nothing by
Westminster Christians, you know, and we're there practice preparing for
the next weekend. These guys are there
saying coach, we ain't losing no more games this year.
And I said, ok, we'll see about that, you know,

(06:25):
and I'll be done, Sean, they, they wound up winning
27 games in a row that then that season, they
played 37 games that year. We won a 35 and
two and we wound up the national runner up that
year and broke through the national polls, uh, that year,
uh, with this, with this group, uh, that still had

(06:46):
another year coming back.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Coach, coach, coach, I, I, I, this is, I just,
I can't, I can't let this slide
going back. And I, and we're gonna talk about 96
in a minute and I got a couple of questions
about that. But, you know, I, we talk a lot
about coaching here on this podcast. And here you are,
you're a second, you're still a second year head coach, right? It's,

(07:08):
you had your first year in 94 in 95 you
open the season and you have to coach. Did you say,
did you say five players or 10 players? You had,
you had five players suspended for 10 games?

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yes, that's correct.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
So, you're going into this year or two, you just
made the state championship and lost by one to Palmetto
and you're opening the season and you have some kind
of issue. The, the, obviously, I would imagine the players
in some sense are testing you because you're still relatively new.
They're coming off a successful season. Something happens. We don't

(07:42):
have to get into what happens. But how difficult was
it for you to make that decision?
Number one and number two,
would that decision be more difficult today? Considering the max
prep power rankings?

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, for me, the answer to that would be no, I, I, I, I,
I live, you know, by the letter of the law
and you know what? And I tell my kids and I,
and I, and I told them last night, you know,
after a 2 to 1 win last night, you know,
uh I gave them, I told them previous before the
game started. Uh, you know, because as you get older,

(08:20):
you coach more, uh, with, uh, experience and stories and
experience
experiences of things that you have happen and, you know,
baseball is a funny game, you know, what happened 10
years ago. Stam's sure gonna happen again at one point
or another while you're still coaching. Ok. And, um, and
I had told our guys last night, I said, you know,
we were 88 to nothing. Last night, we went ahead and, um,

(08:44):
and through a no hitter, uh, the two guys that
pitched for us last night before last, on Friday was
just fantastic. Uh But today is a different story, boys and,
you know, and, and I could tell some of these
young kids, uh couldn't quite get it. And I says,
but I, but here, your old coach has got a
story for you. And in 1996 we played um Archbishop

(09:09):
um
Moore, Bishop Moore out of Orlando. Uh They come down
here on a Friday night. You got 2000 people here
in the, in the bleachers here and, um, and we
win and, and, and, and knock this team out 10
to nothing. Uh which is our 44th straight win in, in,
in a run we're having here. Uh I told them

(09:31):
guys you beat this team 10, nothing. Tomorrow may not
be the same. Baseball is not that way.
And guess what happened Saturday afternoon at two o'clock, we
started hitting balls right at them. They thought they could
play with us. They had a little left hander on
the mound. Uh, up there, we're swinging at pitches out
of the strike zone. We're having to be aggressive and

(09:53):
trying to play catch up and a, and a questionable
call at second base ends the ball game for us
and we lose 8 to 7 and our, and our
win streak ended at 44 games
and we were the number one team in the country. So,
you know, what, don't take this game very lightly and
guess what, Sean last night, it was pretty close two

(10:15):
to

Speaker 1 (10:15):
one. And, you

Speaker 2 (10:16):
know, so, so to answer your question about the max
preps and the, uh
and, and the suspensions, uh the answer to that would
be yes, I mean, I mean, I will never put
myself in a position to say that for a win.
Uh I have to play these guys because without these guys,
I can't win frankly. Um
You know, what if, if you cannot be the type

(10:39):
of player and behavior that I expect and representation of
the game of baseball? Key West High school and your parents,
the way I perceive my players to be, you know,
what
you need to learn that and, uh and you could
sit from the sidelines or, you know, and, and not
that you would like to do that. You, you don't

(11:01):
as a coach, you don't like cutting kids. Uh You
don't like telling kids they can't play or deny opportunities.
Uh But you know what, when you have policies and
you have expectations on behavior off the field, stuff that
comes before any damn win
or anything else in the books. And I don't care
if it's max preps or state championship. You, you know,

(11:23):
you can't follow team policy and procedures. Um, what, what
are you, what are you teaching kids that they could
do what they want because they want to get better
players and they could, you know, do things that they
shouldn't do and, and you know what I'm so, and so,
and I'm gonna play, uh, I, I've never played that
card and, uh, and here is I'm, you know,

(11:43):
getting close to the end of my coaching career. I,
I'm sure how am I gonna start playing it now?

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Absolutely agree with you. And, and sometimes I think that
you have to prove to your players that you are
going to sit them because ultimately, that's the power that
you have as a coach is the ability to, to,
to have kids on the field or not have kids
on the field and you're gonna get tested and I
think they're in 95 they are probably testing you. And
obviously just like in present day, you pass with flying colors,

(12:11):
you go into 96 you win in 95 you're 35 2,
you play in front of 2400 fans against Cardinal Gibbons
in 96. You're the talk of the United States you're
on in USA today. There's an ESPN feature about you,
how like, ok, for our kids in Key West in

(12:32):
1996 how did the players react with that kind of exposure?

Speaker 2 (12:40):
You know, they, they really, uh they gravitated to it.
They loved it. Uh, back then you on a Tuesday
morning could not find a USA today newspaper as newspaper
stand anywhere because by eight o'clock, every single one was
gone because everybody, every Tuesday wanted to see the national

(13:02):
rankings and see Key West high school baseball ranked the
number one team in the country. Uh
You know, with the recruiting that was going on already
at the high school level. Um and here at Key
West with our own homegrown players and, and, and doing
what we do, um you know, we're the number one

(13:24):
team in the damn country. Uh And these kids loved
every minute of it. Uh You know, I had some parents,
you know, ask me,
call me and said, Ralph, do you think this is
too much pressure for kids? And I said, no, ma'am,
it's not pressure these kids thrive off of this, these
kids fuel all of this. This is what motivates these

(13:46):
kids to go out. And I told them, I said,
do you realize that these kids already? And this is
at that time, we had won about 30 some games
in a row already.
And I told him, I said, do you know how
hard it is to win 30 some games in anything?
I mean, in, in men's softball, playing marbles out on
the street, you know, win 30 some games in a row. Um, that's,
that's not easy to do, but these kids get fueled

(14:07):
by this and, and, and they go out and before
the game starts, they know they're running up this game
one just by the time they take infield outfield practice. Um,
that's the
confidence that is breeding in them, but is also breeding,
confidence in them as human beings. Uh to know that
they could go out and accomplish anything that they gotta do.
And that's a life lesson. Um But to, to come

(14:28):
in to say that it's too much for them. Um I,
I don't, I don't think so. I think I put my,
I think I put more pressure on myself as a
coach and what the players did as players.
Um because, you know, I had a responsibility to making
sure that these kids were prepared to play. I had
a responsibility to make sure that their grades were up.
I had a responsibility to make sure that they acted

(14:50):
like uh off the field. I had a responsibility to
put them in college. And you see, and these are
the pressures that I put on myself and the responsibility
of trying to upgrade, you know, a ballpark at Lex
field because at that time, we had wooden bleachers and,
you know, and we wanted to upgrade the facility uh
as well.
And you know, I put all of that on my

(15:12):
shoulders and that was a constant with me just like
it was 24 7 to play baseball and now it
was 24 7 for me to coach and build a program.
And uh so hell, I'm the one that had the
damn pressure and having to go with me, not the kids,
they just went out and played baseball and love winning.
So, so that was so that wasn't, that wasn't a

(15:32):
AAA part in it. But these kids uh thrived off
of that. And uh and they love being known uh
in our little hometown Key West here that we were
the number one team in the country. And when we
took these kids to California to play in a, in a,
in a major national tournament which was used to be

(15:52):
called the upper deck and then they changed the name
sponsors uh changed on it.
Uh And we, we go up there and we pull
into the lobby into uh in, in the L A
uh right there, they have a TV, in the lobby
and for the first time this ESPN scholastics ears on, on,

(16:12):
on TV. And as soon as it did there, it is, there,
it is right there. You know, uh big like these kids,
you couldn't hear a pin drop. These kids saw this
thing for the first time
um with Rob Dum Ham who was the producer and
the uh host of the show. Uh, it was amazing. It, it, it,
I mean, it was just like they were seeing themselves on,

(16:35):
on a national network there in, uh, in L A
for the first time and it was pretty darn special.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
What it just an incredible opportunity for those Key West kids.
But coach, going back to what you were talking about and,
and something that I've noticed, like, I remember reading an
article and I know he didn't play at Key West
High school. But uh Bronson Arroyo, the pitcher, you know,
he was, he was a kid. He lived in, in
Big Pine in Key West and he ends up playing

(17:03):
in the, in the Key West Little League
and, and somebody asked him about pitching and, and having
pressure in the major leagues and he just laughed and
he said, well,
I played as a ten-year-old, you know, in the, in
the Key West Little conch baseball league and you want
to talk about pressure, there's a lot of pressure there,
you know, and, and, and coach, as I, I coached

(17:25):
in that league and my oldest son played in that
league and we were there for, for five years, maybe
there's a lot of pressure on those kids down there.
But it's my belief that that's a good pressure
and it gets you, it gets those kids ready to
go play for you because I, there's sometimes, and I
don't know how the league is now because, you know, my,

(17:46):
my oldest is 22 I'm living in marathon now. But
back then, if you could, if you could thrive under
the pressure there at the little league fields, then I
think it made the transition to high school a lot easier.
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Oh, I, I, I agree with that. I agree with
that because, you know, when you're there trying to win
and play and, uh, and the enthusiasm level is there. Uh, and, and,
you know, and, and it's so hard, you know, we've, you,
you've had players that have, you know, excelled in those
youth leagues and they come to the high school and
they didn't get bigger, they didn't, they didn't grow. Uh,

(18:23):
and then they kind of, and then they lose interest
and they kind of fade out and then you've had
some players that were not
that outstanding and in the youth leagues that come to
Key West High School and then they grow and then
they get better and they get better and they get
better and then they become, you know, you know, one
heck of a high school player and a hell of
a college player and, and even maybe even get a

(18:45):
chance to go to Pro Bowl, which has happened uh,
multiple times. Um,
but that preparation of the youth leagues and, and, um,
and I mean, like right now, for example, Sean, um, what, um,
you know, the city of Key West and, uh,
and uh Marcus, uh who kind of spearheaded that have

(19:09):
done to the, the renovation of that complex there. Uh,
and Raymond Vasquez, who is the president of the girls
softball league. I mean, when you look at those facilities and,
and I am a big, big believer
that, you know, uh from the, from the movie build
it and they will come, uh, you know, uh but,

(19:32):
but these facilities are, there have given like a, uh
a shot in the arm to these kids where they, they,
they enjoy going out there and playing on that turf
and seeing that beautiful complex. I mean, we, we, we
have world class facilities here now in Key West,
you look at that George Meyer football field uh there
and then you look at, uh, our girls and Little

(19:54):
League softball field, the Rose Hernandez field there for Little
League soft Wall. Uh, and then you look at that
baseball complex there on Kennedy, uh with that turf and,
and the way that place looks, I mean, you as
a kid can not want to be out there and
play every single day and take grand balls on that carpet,
get better and,
and be around something, you know, that, that looks as

(20:17):
good as that looks and, and it's just inviting to say,
you know, what I want to be a part of
this and that helps a lot versus being on a
facility that's dusty and, uh, grass is dead and, you know,
and bugs have gotten in it and it's dry and
blown all over the place. It's just a whole new spectrum. Uh,

(20:38):
and I think that spectrum,
it entices players to want to play. Uh, and I
think we're seeing that in those youth leagues when I
ride by there and I see those fields packed with kids.
I've never seen that many kids, you know, and, and
I think that a lot of it has done that
but it just brings out,
it just brings up the, the, the, the kids wanting

(20:59):
to play and enjoy the facilities. And then of course,
you know, then they start to develop, you know, those
skills and wanting to be players and high school players and,
and then of course, it helps the transition be so
much easier because they know what they have to do. And, uh,
and I do remember that quote from Bronson Roy saying

(21:20):
that about pitching there in, uh in Key West

Speaker 1 (21:24):
as a 10 year old. Um I'm gonna go, I
wanna go, I have two questions about 1996 that I've
been wanting to ask you. First off, I was watching
on youtube, your guys' state championship game against Bishop Kenny and,
and the game was on youtube. And one thing that
really fascinated me as far as you as a coach,
they mentioned
that you placed uh a player Aaron Marn and he,

(21:48):
you put him as designated hitter and he was called
up from the J V program for the postseason is
what they said. And I thought, wow, here you have
a varsity head coach is going into the playoffs and
he's going to put AJ V player into the lineup.
Do you remember that? What was the thought process for
you as far as that went?

Speaker 2 (22:10):
Well, we had, we had a, we had a guy
that was,
that have been, uh, pretty much in that role for
a while and really, you know, the, the, the designated
hitter role is a tough role.
Uh, because, you know, to be a, a DH you
wanna have somebody that's gonna give you, you know, three
quality at bats, uh during the ball game and some,

(22:31):
and you know how baseball is, you know, you're not,
you know, you have a, you're a position player and
you can help a ball club win a ballgame defensively.
You could help a ball club win a ball game
with a bat. Uh, you could help a ball club
win a ballgame, uh, base running, um,
as a position player. Uh, however, you know, the DH

(22:51):
you can only help your, your club one way and that's,
you know, in the batter's box and, you know, and
if you're swinging the bat well, and you're playing well, um,
you know, you're gonna keep getting penciled in the lineup because,
you know, you, you're, you're the guy
uh R DH had uh had kind of cooled off
uh older player and uh and, and Sean, one of

(23:13):
the things about that my players know about me is
I am always every game, every practice session, um
always trying to improve our ball club uh in any
capacity to give ourselves the best chance to win a
ballgame
uh and put us in position to win a ballgame.

(23:34):
And that comes to, you know, preparation and, and, and
management of these kids. And I got to a point where,
you know, I needed someone that could bring, you know,
a little bit more to the table, uh with their bat,
their speed, um and hit, you know, toward the bottom
of the lineup more than not.

(23:57):
And, um, and I said, OK, well, here's what we're
gonna do. Uh I like this Aaron kid on J V.
I'm gonna bring him up here uh at the end
of the J V season and, uh, and take a
look at, take a look at him, but really didn't
have a real thought that this kid was gonna step
in and be an impact player on the number one
team in the country, right? Uh And, uh and I've

(24:20):
seen Aaron uh very, you know, very headstrong kid, very,
uh very tough kid
and um
brought him in um into um
into high school there in the varsity level and this
kid wound up winning, you know, the job as a
designated hitter and being an all line up and, you know, and,

(24:43):
and he just took the job and, and I remember, uh,
if anyone has ever seen the, the ESPN Clips, uh, when, uh,
ESPN was here, we had a really, really, really tight
ball game, uh, against Berlin. We had to come from
behind to win, uh, and part of that win streak

(25:04):
and Aaron got ejected because, uh, here's a little fresh
when he ran over a senior catcher at home plate,
he keep until the land
and, uh, and, and that's what I loved about that kid.
You know, I, I love tough players, tough guys that,
you know, that'll get dirty and guys that will battle
up bats and guys that, you know, won't let the

(25:26):
umpire take the bat out of their hand and, uh,
go up there and they're gonna, they're gonna get after it.
And that's what, and that's what, uh, this young man did. But,
you know, I've had a lot of, you know, freshman players, uh,
win jobs for me and, and, and start ball game
for me as freshman. And, uh,
and, you know, and I'm not afraid to put them
in the fire and if I do it because I

(25:47):
know they're prepared to do that and, and most of them, I'm,
I'm gonna say 90% of them have, have responded very
well for

Speaker 1 (25:54):
us. No, I, I have followed your, your teams very
closely and I've noticed that about you. You are never
hesitant to give a freshman an opportunity and, you know,
if you have a young player with a lot of potential,
they need that playing time. But also in 96 you
had a sophomore.
Khalil Green was playing shortstop and, you know, we all
have followed his career. He went on to Clemson, he

(26:15):
went on to the major leagues and had a good
career there. But as a sophomore, did you see that
potential in him then?

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Well, we pulled him up from the J V as well. Uh,
you know, he was, uh, I, I had had, uh,
another guy playing shortstop, uh, and I had a senior
playing third base, uh, to start the year out and
the senior, uh, a third base was not performing at

(26:45):
the level that I thought we could. So I moved
the shortstop to third base,
uh, the third baseman to be the designated hitter and
compete for that role and brought Kil in.
And, uh, and then, of course, from that point on, um,
we wound up having a, a young infield because he

(27:06):
was only a sophomore. My third baseman,
uh, I believe was a, uh, a junior only a
junior or maybe a sophomore as well. And, uh, and,
you know, and I had this team ranked number one
in the country and I had, you know, the left
side of the infield with underclassmen in it, uh, which
was not the norm, uh, but it, it, it's what

(27:29):
it was. And, uh, and these guys, you know, on
that left side of the infield really, really excelled and
played extremely, extremely well,
uh, force. And then, of course, I think that was, uh, the, uh,
I guess probably the, uh, the start of, of, uh,
to get to where he got to and he just

(27:52):
kept growing and growing and, and becoming the player that
he wound up being in high school and at Clemson
and then even at the major league level,

Speaker 1 (28:00):
so coach, I know that, you know, you, you're there
at Key West High School. Um I think in 97
then you go on to a, uh, a career also
as a, uh, professional coach, but I really don't want
to touch on that today. I know I've had you
for a long time. I really, you come back and
I really just want to talk about if you don't mind,

(28:22):
coach the 2005 state championship season. Is that ok? Um,
now as someone I've had this, this incredible opportunity to,
to coach my son at the high school level and
it was a, a great thing and I know that
that's something that you did. And how much more special

(28:42):
was it having that experience with, with your son that year?
And how satisfying was it to share that with him?

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Well, it was, it was, it was, it was great, uh, to,
to have that opportunity because I had, I had, came back,
I think, and, uh,
I have, I had went to Atlanta in, in 98
I was with, at the school, uh, as the athletic director,
baseball coach there. Um, and our principal was Miss Olson. Um, and, uh,

(29:18):
in 96 excuse me, in, in, in, in 96 97
she was our, our principal there. I had left in
98
uh, to go to Atlanta, uh, and Brooks took over
the team, uh, that year in 98 I was in
Atlanta for several years. Um, and then, uh,

(29:40):
I had the opportunity which is really insane, uh, to
come home coach the high school baseball team, uh, from February, uh,
till May and then in the end of May go
join the Atlanta Braves and coach until the end of September.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
I, I remember that that was

Speaker 2 (30:02):
really cool that, that was, that was, that was, you know,
that was really something to, to be able to do that,
but it was a great learning experience, uh, to, to
be able to shift gears from high school to pro ball,
you know, with a, with a flip of the switch, right?
But it was a really a great experience for me and,
and a learning one. Um, and as far as, you know,

(30:24):
coaching my son, it was, it was really a, a
neat experience, uh, because I got to see him as
a freshman
as, as a sophomore, you know, grove then, uh, you know, he, uh,
he went and played one summer with Chet Lemon, uh,
which really set him

(30:45):
to a higher level. They're playing with Chad and playing
so many baseball games, uh, over the summer
and then he'd travel with me. Uh, Atlanta was very
good with me and, uh, and my family and, uh,
and he got to travel a lot with me and learn,
you know, pro baseball in the system and how it worked.

(31:06):
And then, you know, getting into, you know, his junior
year when he really developed, uh, into, uh,
for becoming a potential, uh, the draft pick. Um, and, uh,
and he got to do that and, um, and then
of course, his senior year, which we had a, a
team that, uh, we had developed,

(31:28):
um, that had a lot of good players, you know,
we had Chaz would be through a no hitter, uh,
in the semifinal game. Um, you know, DJ Randolph, uh,
you know, we had Darrell Lewis who pitched the championship game.
We had, uh,
Dey Perez, uh, who was only a junior had 50

(31:49):
some R B I S that year. Clinton store playing
center field hitting lead off my son, Ralphie hitting second
between these two guys. They scored over 100 and some
runs that season hitting 1st and 2nd and quite a,
uh, you know, we, we just had, uh, a team
that we had just built and developed over a couple
of years and I had told them you guys, when the,

(32:11):
when the time is right, you guys will win a
state championship and no one will, will even stick with you. And,
and that's what they did. I mean, they, they just
ran through the state playoffs like drinking a glass of water. Uh,
and of course, you know,
uh, being able to see, you know, my son, um,
be drafted in the second round. He was a 72nd

(32:33):
overall pick with the, with the Astros and, um, and
got to coach him through that and, uh, be there
the day that he got drafted. Uh, unfortunately, I wasn't
there the day that he had to fly to Houston,
my wife and my daughter were able to fly to
Houston because I was in the Dominican Republic,
uh, with Atlanta and he, but he got to, uh,

(32:55):
be there in the draft room and, and go through
the whole thing with his contract and, you know, take
batting practice with the major league team and, uh, and see, uh,
him take the path that he chose. I mean, he
could have went to Oklahoma State, he could have went
to a multitude of number of schools. Um, but he,
he liked the recruiter at the Oklahoma State and, uh,

(33:18):
signed to go to school there.
Um, but, you know, when he got drafted in the
position he got drafted and that was his goal of
his dream, uh, to do that. And, uh, and that's
what he did, which led him to, you know, being 12,
13 years in professional baseball after the, after the fact. Um,
so it was very gratifying, it wasn't the easiest thing

(33:39):
at times.
Um, but, uh, it was a lot of pressure for
him as well, uh, with his father being the head coach, uh,
but you know what it, it, it, you know, pressure
makes people stronger and, uh, and it, and it made him,
you know, stronger, made me stronger. And, uh, but as
far as the fulfillment and the, and the joy of seeing,

(34:01):
you know, a young man and of course, a young
man was my son that to, to achieve goals that
he had set
was a blessing and of course, it was very fulfilling
as well.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
Absolutely. It's, it's such a unique experience to have and,
you know, when you talk about pressure and, and growing
up and dealing with all of those things, you know,
I mean, obviously people are always gonna say, oh, you,
you know, you're playing because your dad is the coach.
But come on. But, you know, because obviously, you know,
I dealt with that in, in my career with my son,

(34:34):
you dealt with that in your career with your son.
But at the end of the day, you know, obviously
when you produce and you make it undeniable, nothing can
be said. And obviously,
you know, if you're drafted in the second round in
the major league baseball draft, you're obviously doing something right? Coach. Um, yes. Yeah,
I mean,

(34:55):
he made it undeniable and had a very good professional career.
So 2005 to like 2014, you're back in profession, you're
back in professional coaching and you spend the one year
at Berlin. Correct.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Correct. Yeah. Correct. Yeah. Yeah, I had, I had, uh when,
when I had left Atlanta, uh I was with Atlanta
for 89 years. Uh we had a great, great career
there and, uh, and you know, and I was managing
there in Atlanta and uh
did very well as a minor league manager, had the

(35:29):
front office, uh people there that uh were very supportive
of me, worked very closely with Dayton Moore who was
the vice president in G M of the,
of the Royals. Uh He just last year had stepped down.
Uh
And uh, but I, I, I was very lucky when
I was uh in Atlanta as a young coach there,

(35:51):
starting out to be around such great teachers of baseball,
you know, Bobby Cox and Chino Cara, uh Jose Martinez,
uh Bill Fisher, uh this guys that, you know, most
people won't even know who they are. Young people won't
know who they are. But these were some of the great, great,
you know,

(36:12):
baseball men of the baseball world. And, uh, and I
had the opportunity to travel with them, to coach, with them,
talk baseball with them. And, and the biggest thing
is to learn from them, uh, learn how to coach baseball,
how to do things in professional baseball. Um, and how
to be a baseball person, uh, and, and still be

(36:34):
a good guy. Uh, and that was the big thing
that I had learned, you know, from them and this
is what I, you know, pass on to our kids
uh today.
But it's just, uh it was just a, just an
amazing opportunity there and then go to the New York Yankees,
uh after, you know, things broke up in Atlanta, uh and,

(36:58):
uh had the opportunity to be with, uh the Yankees
for two years
and, um, and be with, uh, you know, if the
Steinbrenner got to see him, uh there, see how he operated,
uh which was amazing and intimidating until you get to learn,
you know, know him, you know, and then you see
the wonderful person that he is and what he, uh, and,

(37:21):
and the type of business person he was and what
he would do, uh on a daily basis to make
the Yankees the best team for the
people of New York. It's, it's amazing. But, uh I,
I go to, um, after that, um, you know, after
that stint, I had been in Pro Bowl for years and, uh,
and I had my opportunities, I think to, to go

(37:43):
coach at the big league level when the, when the
opportunity was open. But I, I had to make a choice, um, between,
you know, being going more than I have been going and, uh, and,
and coming home
and, and I made that choice and I said, you
know what, that's enough. And, uh, and I stayed home and, uh,
and then the opportunity came about with Berlin. Father Willie

(38:06):
had called me and told me, Ralph, I want you
to come here if you're not coaching and, uh, and, and,
and help me with this baseball program. So I did,
I went to Berlin and I enjoyed it very much.
I loved, um I have a very strong Catholic faith,
uh and uh loved the school, loved
the discipline that structure as all Jesuit schools have

(38:29):
and uh had a great young group of men there,
very young, very young team and we did, we did
very well there. We won the district, we won about
20 some ball games that year there. Um Actually a
couple of players in my team are in the big
leagues today. Um Alex, uh he's an infield and he
was with Boston and, uh

(38:50):
but what have you? And then one of the front
office people for the Boston Red Sox. Alex was one
of my uh uh extra players in the dugout and
he wound up having his career where he's a, as a,
he's an executive for the Boston Red Sox today. But
the thing is that, uh, at Berlin, it really, uh,
gave me a whole new perspective and, um, and then unfortunately,

(39:13):
my wife got very ill and, uh, and I had
to come back home and I had to leave Berlin
after one year.
But, um, and then, of course, you know, with that
led me back to, you know, with, with, with time,
it led me back to being here at Key West
High School.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
I remember thinking when I had read the article about
you going to Berlin, I thought what a perfect fit,
you know, and I really, I really thought that that's
gonna be the best thing that Berlin ever did. But,
you know, you know, you have a religious background. I
do also and you talk about like fate and I
think your place is in Key West. You know what

(39:52):
I mean? And I think that
you're supposed to be back here and, and you're in
the place where you're supposed to be and, and that's
at the helm of, of Key West high school baseball and,
and I was reading through some of your interviews coach and,
and this really resonated with me where you were talking
about and you talked a little bit about it here,
the business side of, of creating your brand, but also

(40:19):
bringing money into the program. And I was reading a
couple of articles you did with some dade county guys
about the importance that you saw in fundraising and that
your team has a big crowd and that you have
money coming in. So you could put that, is that
so you could put that back into the facilities and
continue that cycle.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Absolutely. Uh This is, this was the thing with, uh,
you know, for me, when we started here, when we
started the program in 94 you know, we only averaged
about maybe 200 people a night, 100 and 50 people
a night. And, and of course, the, the, the brand, uh, the,
the program, the winning, uh, the structure, the discipline, uh,

(41:05):
the work ethic that these kids,
uh created, uh for themselves through my example, um,
brought life to the baseball community, uh which Key West
has always been a great baseball town. Um, but it,
it kind of gave him a boost and, uh, and
then we started, you know, creating programs, uh, through the

(41:30):
first program we created many, many years ago, was with
the assistance and help of, uh Bill Spotswood and Andrea
Spots with the Key West Winter League. You know, I
told him, I said, you know, we don't, we don't
play baseball enough down here, Bill.
Uh, you know, when I lived in homestead, these kids
are playing baseball year round, uh, they're getting better. Our
kids are limited. We're not, we're not doing the things that, uh,

(41:53):
we need to do to help these kids be successful.
So I, um, you know, elaborated with them a little
bit on what we needed to do. And, uh,
and we started the birth of the Key West Winter
League and, and, and along with that, the kids got
to play baseball more. We started fundraising as a group, uh,
doing these things and, uh, and then as we needed

(42:15):
things to upgrade the facilities and a, a batting cage met,
we needed another batting cage. We needed weights. We needed
to bring down uh instructors from the bigger, faster, stronger program.
You know, those things are not for free. These are
people that have businesses and, and they have a brand
of their own and you want to bring these people
down to teach your kids how to get bigger, faster

(42:36):
and stronger, you gotta pay them, they ain't coming here
for free, right? So, so this is what these programs
uh did and then you start bringing, you know, the
gate money in, coming in the concession money coming in,
uh supporters of the program. So giving money because they like,
you know, they like the product.

(42:57):
Um and before you know it, you know, you, you, you,
you're building not only a baseball team, but you're building
a little um
revenue stream into your program because of the type of
program you run and what you're doing and, and you know,
put it at the end of the day, everybody loves
to be with winners, I mean, winning promotes success and, and,

(43:17):
and it wasn't hard once the program got to where
we got it to, to start doing this and, uh, and, and,
and it, and, and the program, you know, fast forward
to today, um has, um, has really, um
skyrocketed as far as the, the programs. Uh, we have
two programs. We have the Key West Winter League which

(43:40):
runs from effective from August till January during the offseason.
And then in the summer we have, which is,
uh, a development travel, uh, teams where they have two
or three teams. And, um, and Jack Niles, uh, and
my son Ralphie run those programs and, and through these programs, they, they, they,

(44:03):
they raise money and, and the money goes back into
the facilities, uh, every penny of it does. And here,
for example, we have
a turf in field that was put in four or
five years ago when he recognized that it was impossible
to maintain a natural infield at the, at the level

(44:23):
and standards that, you know, that I wanted for our kids.
Um, and then, you know, we go and with the proceeds,
we build a weight, an outdoor weight room for it.
We do a training center. We add, uh, a backstop,
take a rusty fence down and put, you know, a modern, uh,
fence back there. Um, the things that we buy for the,

(44:46):
for the kids. Uh, I mean, it's, it's like
the perception is, oh, well, baseball gets everything. Well, they,
they don't, they get, nothing, might be different than nobody
else does. The only thing is that we go out and, and,
and through the winter leagues and through the business community
and through the money that we make, we, we raise
a lot of money and, and we spend money but

(45:07):
when the money goes back into the program, so if
you're from the outside looking in and you don't really
know what goes on. Well, they get everything. No, no,
we don't. We, we, we, we get the same as
everybody else gets,
but we go out and earn it and, and, and,
and the boosters and, and, and the community and, and
winning and playing, of course, two Sean, we play 20

(45:30):
plus ball games a year in Key West, there's no
other program plays that many ballgames.
And if you're playing well and people like your product
and they like the way the kids are playing and
you're winning, you, your gate numbers go up and when
your gate numbers go up, that's more money at the
gate and more money in the concession stand, more season
tickets are sold. So, you know, it, that's the business

(45:52):
side too that, that coaches have to learn if you're
gonna build a program and take it to a certain level.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
Absolutely. And you guys, and I think we are too,
we're starting to reach us also. And, and I'm getting
ready to wrap up coach. You've been, you've been so great,
but like
you, you get to have 20 game, 20 home games. Right?
Key West football had like eight home games this year
is because I, in my opinion, you have this proliferation
of the charter schools and the private schools, there's so

(46:21):
many schools, schools want to come down to Key West
and experience that small town game with Pack stands because
you might have a great team in Miami and they
might have 58 people at the game because it's just
some random school

Speaker 2 (46:35):
somewhere.
Correct. We, you know, we, we, we, we have every
year for years, nothing new uh for years. Uh and
then recently since, you know, uh putting our infield in
and Key West high school baseball and the players that
we're putting into college and, and of course, social media

(46:59):
uh has impacted it as well. Uh because remember when
we started building this,
this program, there was no social media, it was just
done on one thing winning and word of mouth. Ok.
Uh Today, uh things are being built overnight with social
media which is, you know, it's, it's relatively easier.

(47:21):
So back then it was harder than it is today
because it's, it's made that kind of impact. But with us,
uh today, uh in years, we turned down 567 teams
a year because here high school baseball is going on
and I would say that come,

(47:42):
um, by the end of our season wrapping up and
end of April getting ready to go to the playoffs. Uh,
I already probably can, I already, probably on, on, as
a norm would have about 18 home games already scheduled. Uh,
and then now here comes August and I only have,

(48:03):
you know, three or four home games left, which is
means only two or three teams do, could come into
the schedule
because, you know, I do like to play, you know,
two or three games on the road to teach the
kids how to get on the bus and get off
the play like they do Tuesday against Columbus. Um but
I could play every single game at home. Uh And
uh with the exception of, you know, going out of

(48:24):
town for spring break to play two or three games,
I could play every game in Key West.
Uh They love coming to Key West to enjoy the facility,
they enjoy coming to, to play in front of, you know,
good crowds of people, supportive communities. They like coming to
Key West because it's Key West and going down do
Wall Street. They like doing excursions and going out on

(48:47):
jet skis and spending the day. And um hell, that's
why we have four million tourists coming to the Keys
every year, you know, and, and, and, and this is
what they want to experience. But, you know, the thing
is you
that you just have to go about, you know, knowing
these people marketing these people and, uh, and, and, and,
and of course, in, in essence, it helps the community

(49:10):
as well because these people come to Key West and, um,
spend 405 $100 a night on motel rooms and they
bring their, their families and relatives and, hey, let's make
it a weekend, you know, and so, you know, for
two or three months of the year and of course, it's,
you know, somewhat season time on Key West when these
people come here,
you know, they're, they're adding to that pot of money

(49:32):
with these motels and restaurants and, and of course, Rex
Shield and coming to the ballpark

Speaker 1 (49:38):
and from the beginning of this conversation to the end,
you know, you realize how far that you've grown. But fortunately,
you guys in a lot of ways have stayed the
same and coach Enriquez, it, it's been a pleasure. At
least two hours have flown by quickly. I feel like
there's so much more we can talk about and maybe,
maybe one day you could come back on and we

(49:58):
could break down a bunch of other things, but this
has really been great. Thank you so much for coming
on and good luck in search of your next state
championship coach.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Thank you, Sean. Thank

Speaker 1 (50:09):
you. All right. Have a great day. Ok.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
Thank you. You too. Bye bye.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
And that's the end of part two with Coach Ray Enriquez.
Thank you guys for listening to the Keys Weekly sports
wrap with Coach mcdonald. It was such a pleasure to
have him on. I'd love to have him on again.
Hopefully he will come back on again. Please. Please please
share this podcast. Let everybody know
um what's going on with the Keys Weekly. Please please

(50:37):
check out the Keys weekly because this week, once again,
you'll be able to get your schedule, you'll be able
to get your results. You'll be able to get all the,
all the stories going on in Monroe County at the
Keys Weekly newspaper. Thank you guys for listening.