After Championship Little League Season, White Sox Coach Set to Retire

To find the last year Gary Cafara was not involved in Manchester Little League, you would have to go as far back as 1987. 

"I didn't coach during my son's first year," Cafara said. "I was leary of dealing with the parents."

Now set to retire from coaching, Cafara can look back with delight that in those 24 years, not once was there ever a problem with a parent of a player.

"As far as 'leary with the parents goes', it never was an issue" he said. "I believe it never became an issue because we always treated the kids fairly and are up front about with what we expect from the parents and kids,"he said.

His dedication to kids has finally paid off, as the longtime coach of the Major League division White Sox and his team earned their first World Series championship this past season.

The story of the 2011 White Sox' season was quite a roller coaster. In 2010, the team played quality baseball but fell in numerous close games. 

"I wanted to see if my six returning players, a year older and wiser, could find a way to win the close games," Cafara said. "And they did." 

After starting 0-3 in 2011 that mirrored the disappointment of 2010, many of the returners struggle to erase memories from the prior season.

"The returning players easily could have tanked thinking, 'here we go again,'" Cafara said. "Instead, they matured and played ball like we knew they could. Since then we went 12-7, including the playoffs."

The White Sox finished the regular season at 8-10 but on a hot streak, winning a couple of key games before heading to the playoffs. As much of a believer in the team as Cafara was, two players' effort stood out, especially in the playoffs.

Jake Byrnes started three playoff games for the Sox, totaling 16 innings, with 23 strikeouts, 12 of which came in the championship game. He walked just two players in those 16 innings.

"As you know, walks can kill you and if you don't walk anybody you can get away with a hit here or an error there," the coach said.

Cafra said that he knew Byrnes was a "good ball player" when he came to the team as a 10-year-old three years ago.

"I did not dream I was getting a championship pitcher," Cafra said. "He wasn't touted as a pitcher. There are still other players in his age group who throw harder, but Jake knows how to pitch. He mixes speeds and moves the ball around. He thinks out on the mound, whereas many flame throwers just throw. I say he's crafty and I compare him to Yankee great Whitey Ford," said Cafara.

Thomas McKiernan was the team's most impressive hitter, Cafara said.

"(He) got the big hit to break open the championship game and won game 2 of the playoffs as a pitcher, it was the bottom of the order guys who game through in each game. They started rallies, got key hits," he said. "It was on the whole a team championship win."

Backing the coach was Lisa Byrnes, mother of Jake.

"Gary is a great coach," Byrnes said. "He is one of the few who believe the game is all about the kids, not the win. He wants them to have fun and be part of the team, win or lose."

Cafara became involved with the league, he said, because of his wife's urging.

After three years of coaching experience with Manchester Little League, Gary Mason asked Cafara to join his staff, coaching the White Sox in 1991.

"Mr. Gary Mason, manager of the White Sox asked me to join him, and it was the greatest 16-year relationship, until he passed on after the 2006 season," Cafara said, adding that the six years between 1993 and 1998 the duo also ran a senior division team at the same time.

Cafara did not claim to have a motto or slogan throughout the years, but he made clear that he was far from a "yeller," someone who would get on the kids for making a mistake.

"When kids make an error, they feel bad enough without having a coach put the spotlight on him by reaming him out," Cafara said. "I want them to have fun, try their best and win or lose as a team. I do not give out game balls for individual perfomances. We win or lose as a team. At the end of the year, they all get a 'team' ball."

When Cafara was asked what he would miss most from the squad, the answer was simple.

"The kids," he said. "They looked up to you. They also say the darndest things and think about the strangest stuff. They all have their own personalities and it's great."

"You get attached to the kids. Now, we will re-draft every year, so that I may get one or two kids back, but you lose that bond: Once a White Sox, always a White Sox is no longer the case," he added.

"There is nothing like teaching the kids how to do something and then watching them actually do it during the game. It's a great feeling," Cafara said.