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MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE

After 37 years, Rene Lachemann still loves to go to work every day.

Sky Sox benefit from Lachemann being long in the toothpick

June 27, 2009 7:57 PM

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BRENT BRIGGEMAN

THE GAZETTE

As evidenced by the ever-present orange toothpick, old habits die hard for Rene Lachemann.

For 37 years, Lachemann would stuff his lower lip with tobacco each time he took the field.

"Rod Carew got me to quit, actually," Lachemann said. "He told me he had to have $100,000 worth of gum replacements. I don't have enough money to pay for that, so I put the patch on and quit cold turkey."

It's important to understand that Lachemann was not name-dropping. Hall of Famers such as Carew are the people the 64-year-old knows best after nearly five decades around professional baseball.

But back to that toothpick.

The cravings for the tobacco subsided but quitting left a void - "oral dependency, whatever the hell it is," he said - so the toothpick had to suffice.

In many ways, the Sky Sox are the toothpick to Lachemann's baseball dependency.

Past the age where he's likely to be considered for another major league management spot and financially secure enough to never work another day, Lachemann is in Colorado Springs grinding through the one-day-off-per-month schedule of the minor leagues as a hitting coach because, well, it sure beats living with a void in his life.

***

Lachemann is baseball's Forrest Gump - just a brighter version.

Name an iconic moment in the past 40 years and there's a good chance he was in uniform to see it. Name a defining personality, he probably shared the same clubhouse.

Kirk Gibson's home run? Check.

Bill Buckner's error? Check.

The World Series earthquake? Check.

The 1998 home run chase, Dave Henderson's shot off Donnie Moore, Nolan Ryan's 5,000th strikeout? Check, check and check.

"Yeah, I've seen a lot of things happen," he said. "I've been very fortunate."

As a teenage batboy for the Dodgers, he caught bullpens for Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. As a rookie with the Athletics, he took batting practice against teammate Satchel Paige. As a manager, he led Gaylord Perry to his 300th win.

He was about 5 feet away when Rickey Henderson caught Lou Brock and 90 feet away when Ichiro outhit George Sisler.

Hall of Famers who have answered to him include Wade Boggs, Dennis Eckersley and Robin Yount. Steroid suspects who have done the same include Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.

Despite his experience, Lachemann - whose managerial mark of 428-560 includes stints in Seattle, Milwaukee and Florida - said he's hardly slumming it by coming to work at Security Service Field.

"I still enjoy it," he said. "Not many people in their lives can say they enjoy going to work every day. It's not a chore to go to work. You put on your uniform and play in a game. How can you beat it?"

Besides, the level of play at Triple-A is not all that different from the major leagues.

"Really, you only see it in the command of the pitchers and the defense," he said. "Pitchers throw just as hard; they just don't have the control. But the game is the same."

***

Two conversations with Tony La Russa, decades apart, set the course that ultimately brought Lachemann to Colorado Springs.
La Russa, an instructional league teammate of Lachemann, surprised his friend with a call in 1978.

"We never thought Tony was going to manage because he was going to law school at the time and he got his law degree," Lachemann said. "Actually, he called me up one time and asked me if there was any chance in Oakland's organization and I checked with the farm director and he said there was one job at rookie league, so I called him back and told him that and he said, well, he would like to start a little higher than that.' "

La Russa did start higher, breaking in at Double-A. By the next year, he was managing the White Sox at age 34. Lachemann followed right behind, breaking in at 36 in 1981.

Eventually, Lachemann joined La Russa's staff in Oakland, teaming with Dave McKay and Dave Duncan in an alliance that, barring a few short stints, stayed together through La Russa's move to St. Louis.

The problem is the Cardinals' spring training site is in Jupiter, Fla., far from Lachemann's home in Arizona. The in-season travel is bad enough, so Lachemann finally had to call his friend and make a change.

"Probably I made a mistake by saying that I wanted to stay closer to home and that's the reason I left him," Lachemann said. "Otherwise, I'd probably still be coaching in St. Louis."

The nomadic Lachemann moved on to jobs with the Cubs, Athletics and Mariners before finding himself back out of work.

He could have retired, but that void was still there. So he called his brother, Marcel, a former manager who is a special assistant to Rockies' general manager Dan O'Dowd. Marcel made some calls and found the spot with the Sky Sox.

"We're very lucky to have someone like him working in our player development system," O'Dowd said. "He's been around long enough that he's seen everything there is to see, so he's able to pass that on."

***

Though many Triple-A players are aging by baseball standards, they're still relative boys. Put together a bunch of boys - even though some have the bank accounts of major leaguers - and the result inevitably steers toward toilet humor.

Lachemann still can hold his own in that category.

"I remember the first time I kind of heard him get going, I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I think I see how he is,'" Sky Sox utility player Mike McCoy said. "He's hilarious and he's always talking."

But the grandfather of three is there to help, too.

"I go to him every chance I get," said infielder Christian Colonel, who carried a .281 average over five minor-league seasons before joining with Lachemann last season, when he hit .308.

"I grew up in the St. Louis area watching him coach third base for the Cardinals," outfielder Chris Frey said. "So it was pretty cool to get here and get to actually work with him."

McCoy, who has transformed from a .260 hitter to an offensive standout, said he appreciates the respect Lachemann shows his pupils.

"He doesn't come at you with a lot of stuff," McCoy said. "If you go to him and want to talk about hitting, he'll talk to you. But if you're going good and you don't want him to mess with anything, he'll stay clear of you. He knows that most of us have a pretty good idea of what we're doing."

***

Between every inning, Lachemann grabs a baseball in the dugout and sets out in search of a young fan.

He engages the little one in dialogue that has taken on a set script over the years, hands over the ball and takes his spot as first base coach. The routine started after baseball's last strike when Lachemann was managing the Marlins.

"You give a kid a ball, that kid is going to bring his parents back for another game," Lachemann reasoned.

But it's obvious that these moments of ambassadorship are more than attempts to bump attendance. It gets at a phrase Lachemann likes to utter: "It was something money can't buy."

Most of the fans he selects during a game have no idea who they're talking to - what he's seen and who he's known. They just know they're at a baseball game and a coach in a uniform gave them a ball.

He's like a baseball Santa Claus nine times a day.

Something like that would be hard to give up - even addictive - especially for a creature of habit such as Lachemann.

TRAVELIN' MAN

Rene Lachemann has made the rounds in his professional career.

Years Team Level Position

1964 Burlington Bees A Player

1964 Birmingham Barons AA Player

1965-66 Kansas City Athletics MLB Player

1966 Mobile A's AA Player

1967-68 Vancouver Mounties AAA Player

1968 Rochester Red Wings AAA Player

1968 Oakland Athletics Player