Sidelines
CALM. CALM, that's what Carl Furutani is. Composed. Collected. Minutes ago, he was giving his team the business. You could see it from across the stadium. The Rainbows were getting the message, point by point by deliberate point. Whatever he said, it was emphatic. But now he is serene, unruffled. Whatever happens, he can handle it. He has moved on, ready to fight another day. A lifetime in baseball will do that to you. Furutani passes on
baseball’s lessonsCarl Furutani has learned baseball's lesson well. Sometimes things go good. Sometimes things go bad. But no matter what happens, if you keep doing the right things, baseball will eventually reward you.
"The right values," Furutani said. "If you pass on the right values. I think we've accomplished a lot this year. Our staff has done a good job.
"We're trying to keep up the things that Coach Les has taught us."
Furutani had been learning lessons from Les Murakami for the better part of 25 years, as a player and coach.
"There's always pressure to win, no matter what, no matter how you look at it," Furutani said. "To me, winning will take care of itself if you go out there and you're promoting the right things. I think we've been doing that."
Murakami's lessons, baseball's lessons, have sunk in deep.
FURUTANI IS IN the third base coach's box and he's waving like a madman. His arm is going to fly off at the socket. And it's working. The Rainbows are stealing bases, making things happen. They're trading Fresno State punch for punch.
"You know, as far as having fun, that's one thing Coach Les said. This is supposed to be a fun year," Furutani said.
The team looks good. They hit. They field. Before the game, Kevin Gilbride does a little dance. The team seems to have rebounded from its earlier slump, when it lost 11 of 12 at one point.
"It's just that, you know, one stage we were just not having the right luck. We didn't have the luck," Furutani said.
But now they do. Balls stick to Rainbow gloves. They dribble away from Fresno State. Stolen bases are safe, Furutani's gambles with the go sign are rewarded.
But then it unravels, three runs in the seventh. Four in the ninth. One homer catches the right-field wind over Baby Blue. Another slams the door.
But they'll be back today. The Rainbows are playing for today just like Furutani is coaching for today. Nobody knows what the future brings. All they can do is keep plugging and hope that baseball will reward them.
"I tell you what -- I'm so proud of these guys," Furutani said, and his voice breaks when he says it. "They go out there, play hard, they give it everything they've got. There's not too much more you can ask for."
So Furutani says he'll do the same. Next year is out of his hands. Recruiting is out of his hands. The next guy will be able to handle that very well, he said.
Until then, he's patient and calm. Until then, he's passing down the lessons of baseball.
"I like going out there and making the decisions that I've been making, because I feel that I've been tutored real well. And I feel good about that."
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com