Dear Osborne Family,
When I was hired to be your head baseball
coach for 2016, my plan was to be there for a while. Long enough to build the program into
something you could be proud of.
To the incredibly hard-working players and
extremely supportive parents, it wasn’t my decision to not come back. I was told on the last day of school that a
decision would be made by the principal and athletic director. They were going to call me on the following
Monday or Tuesday. To this day, I have
not received a phone call. I found out
through the Cobb County School’s website that I had been replaced.
You deserve to be treated so much
better. Four different coaches in the
last 4 years! Really? My mom taught me, “if you
don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say anything at
all.” That being said, I have a long
list of things to say about the people in charge of running the Osborne
athletic program, but I’m not saying anything.
I will say this though. I loved my Osborne family! The players, the parents, my graphic arts
students, and the teachers that helped me and supported me from the day I
started there. My first opportunity to
be a high school head baseball coach was very memorable to me.
For those who don’t know, Osborne won only
one game each of the last two years before I was hired. No one can remember the
last time they had a region victory (5 or 6 years). The players were starving to learn how to win
after struggling for so long.
That’s what I miss most about my one year
coaching the Cardinals. We developed a
special bond, a family atmosphere.
Something that a lot of baseball coaches may never experience.
We celebrated when we won our first game
on the second game of the season. The
players felt that we set a record when we won our third game of the season
early in the year. A three game win
streak, an article about us in the newspaper, and a win when we run-ruled
another opponent, made the baseball players feel like celebrities at the
school! It was fun!
I will never forget the players showing up
in my classroom to tell me this was their year. They were so confident. We all
couldn’t wait to get to the practice field.
I didn’t put the state tournament games on the schedule for show. They honestly felt they were good enough to
play post-season baseball!
All of you made me proud. We ended up not winning a region game, but I
was told by all the opposing coaches that we competed like no other Osborne
team in the past. We had only 13 players, no junior varsity program, and played
in what was considered one of the toughest baseball regions in the highest
classification in Georgia.
To sum up the 2016 Osborne Cardinals
baseball season, we played with class, we appreciated the game, we hustled at
all times, we improved on our fundamentals with hard work, and we pushed each
other to be the best we could be. The
players didn’t realize it, but they pushed me and made me the best coach I
could be.
I want to thank all the parents of these
outstanding young men. I started
coaching baseball in 1982, and this past season was one of the most memorable. Thank you, parents, for all your hard work
and tremendous support. You were great!
Watching the 2017 season from a distance
is hard for me. Players quitting in
protest, good players transferring, getting run-ruled almost every game, and
having an 0-18 record.It saddens me. It’s just not fair. Like I said, the school deserves better.
Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I honestly believe that everything happens
for a reason.I am now working
independently to help not only Osborne baseball, but schools like Campbell and
Pebblebrook too.
Please contact me anytime. Go to www.fowlkesbaseball.com and let me
know what you think. I want to
help. After working with the players and
parents at both Osborne and Campbell, I’m very passionate about building
stronger baseball programs in the area!
I look forward to hearing from you and
good luck the rest of the season!
Sincerely,
Jimmy Fowlkes
G
