It's not every day a 14-year-old successfully dumps a cooler of water on his grandfather and lives to smile about it.
Michael Murray charged onto Edison Field Saturday and left his grandfather, Coach Bud Murray of Hart High, dripping wet and feeling like a teenager.
"He doused me pretty good," Murray said. "If I had a rope, I might drag him home."
With all the people he loves around him--his three grandchildren, his wife, his grown children, his Hart players--Murray ended a 39-year coaching career by guiding the Indians to their first Southern Section baseball championship with a 10-9 victory over Righetti in the Division II final.
Nobody wanted to send out Murray with a championship more than his players. It was a three-week obsession during the playoffs to honor Murray with a victory in his final game.
"It was the greatest thing you feel ever," designated hitter Nolan LeMar said. "He's been deserving of this ever since he started coaching. It's wonderful to do this for him."
Said shortstop Tim Hutting: "I told him it was all for him. I've never seen a team more pumped up to play. For the last couple weeks, we slept baseball, ate baseball. Everything we did was baseball."
The 63-year-old Murray never asked to be measured by whether he won a championship or not. He devoted himself to teaching his players about baseball and life. If a championship came along--he won 15 league titles at Hart--that was fine. But his greatest joy has been turning teenagers into young men.
"He's taught me almost everything," LeMar said. "He's taught me how to swing, how to throw, how to be a good person."
When his players united behind the idea of "winning one for Bud," he smiled and stayed for the ride of his life.
"Maybe it's good that kids sometimes want to do something for somebody else instead of themselves," Murray said. "I'm very proud of them."
Murray created an uproar of sorts in his family when he got his ear pierced last week to pay off a bet with pitcher Justin Wiley. Suddenly, his three grandchildren ages 14, 11 and 11 all wanted to know why they couldn't have their ears pierced. "But grandpa got one," became the rallying cry.
"My mom said if he looks good, I can have one," Michael Murray said.
Murray's son, Roc, a high school baseball coach at Rocklin High near Sacramento, was thrilled to see his father's final game.
