Tom Myer to be Honored at ALYBF All-Star Game

The Avon Lake Youth Baseball Federation holds its Major/Minor All-Star games at this weekend.

An annual tradition, the weekend starts with the 11-year-old games on Saturday, followed with the festivities on Sunday that include the 12-year-old All-Star games, a home run derby and finally the 12-year- old All-star games on Sunday.

This year though, the event will be even more special, as a man who has given so much of his life to the league, Tom Myer, will be honored.

Myer, who managed the Pirates for 39 years, not only will be the honorary manager for the 12:30 .m. minor league game, but also will be honored by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the 7:30 p.m. game.

 Myer got his interest in baseball at an early age, from his father who coached him and played ALYBF until he was 16. Surprisingly, he never laced up his shoes for , even though he would graduate from there in 1963.

 "I played a lot of baseball when I was younger, but when I was in the junior high I didn't get along with a particular coach," Myer said. "When I got to high school he was the coach.

 "Interestingly enough, Mr. McCoy is in the Hall of Fame and he was a great coach. He was a drill instructor, and I wasn't used to that, since my dad was low key, and I guess you could say I was afraid of him. When you look back now I wish I would have played because I know my father would have enjoyed that."

Ironically, when Myer was in his late 20s he was asked to play in a softball game by Kenny Griffiths, Rick Urban and a few other local guys, and McCoy also was playing. Myer made some nice plays and afterward, McCoy came up to him and asked if he ever played in high school.

 "I said no," Myer said with a laugh. "And when he asked me why, I told him, ‘to be honest with you I was 15-16 years old and you scared me. I'm 28 years old now and you don't scare me a bit.’ But when I look back, the only person it hurt was me, and I'm sure my dad would have loved to have seen me play baseball."

A start in the ALYBF 

How he got involved in ALYBF is an even more intriguing story.

 "I used to go see this gal, and her neighbor's son played baseball, so when I went to visit the gal, (Linda) I played catch with him," Myer said. "Well we ended up getting married and the boy’s dad was one of the coaches. So we went up to watch his son, they got rained out, they were getting socked and they were managed by five of the kids’ dads at the time. The next game, no one could be there so they asked me if I would be interested in handling the team for a game and I said alright."

 After Myer took the reins, the team reeled off seven consecutive wins and come within two games of the World Series.

 The rest was history, and the personal interactions with more than 400 kids over the years was what kept him involved as long as he did. In that duration, Myer had two undefeated seasons, managed four post-season teams and won four or five championships.

 Asked about the players, Myer said every one he coached was important, as they learned the game and had success, but there is a few that standout in his mind.

 “Jeremy Griffiths, who went on to get drafted by the New York Mets, Matt Anthony who was a standout football player, too, and ended up playing for Oberlin,” Myer said. “Corey Jones, who played basketball with LeBron James and Matt Kostelnik, who went on to play football at Mt. Union with good success.”

 Myer also had several girls, including his niece, Carrie Liptak, who finished her career at ALHS as one of its best all-around athletes.

 "To have Jeremy make the major leagues, pitch against the Yankees and Roger Clemens, that was pretty exciting stuff," Myer said. "And also my niece, who played for me. She earned a scholarship to college for softball and was an unbelievable player."

But he also was thankful to the parents who gave him the opportunity to coach.

"We don't have any kids, so they are rentals," Myer said with a laugh of the kids he taught. "But I send thanks to the parents for giving us kids to coach."

Admittedly, Myer said when he first got involved he wasn't pleased with the way teams were selected. He set out to change things where teams were stacked with all-star caliber players. But what set him apart from others is it didn't matter who he had on his team. Everyone got a chance, and sometimes because of that a player who may have given up on the game if they were on another team and didn't play blossomed.

"You have to be playing on a level playing field and if you are not it’s all one sided," Myer said. “I’ve always felt that anyone you got will be competitive, because I am going to teach you how to play and if you play right you are going to win."

Myer still loves the game and gets to as many games as he can during the season. But he also has a camper and now that he is retired gets to spend time with his family. He still  helps by giving valuable input into the administration of the league, and Sunday finally gets his due.

"I tried to teach the game the way it’s supposed to be played," Myer said. “I have my own ins and outs of the game that now a lot of people are using. I had parents tell me they learned more in one practice than they did in two years, but they are just ways my dad taught me."