Moses Lake author shares tips about life, baseball

MOSES LAKE - Some call Peter Doumit the "notebook king."

The long-time baseball coach for Moses Lake High School said the phrase developed out of passing out three-ring binders to his players during a sport season.

"Every team I've coached, whether it was basketball or baseball, I would give them notebooks to keep inspirational quotes or papers. It was really a philosophy of life," said the 60-year-old Moses Lake resident.

"The point of the notebooks was to teach players that they are only a player for a short period of their life but they will be a good human for the rest of their life."

The notebooks became the inspiration for Doumit's first book, "What I Know About Baseball is What I Know About Life," published in June 2007.

Doumit said he wrote the 184-page book as a reflection on his teaching and coaching career.

"I was doing a lot of reflection at that time. The words just flowed, I felt like a scribe with a bit of divine inspiration or divine push," he said.

After his first book was published, Doumit said he started to compile another list of ideas, jotting down different experiences, phrases and lessons.

"I'm always writing and thinking. I always read as much as I possibly can," he said.

In January, Doumit became a second-time author with the release of "More Of ... What I Know About Baseball Is What I Know About Life."

The 344-page sequel touches base on such topics as patience, relationships and perseverance.

The book offers antidotal stories from Doumit's 38 years as a coach and administrator for the Moses Lake School District, relating his experiences with other ideas from politics, science and religion.

"One of the main points of writing the second book was I wanted people to see there's really good things in life, if you look hard enough. We just need to keep things in perspective," he said.

Although baseball is part of its title, the book is meant for general readership, said Doumit.

"Some of the best comments I've had (about the book) are from women. They found that it wasn't a book necessarily about sports or baseball but about life's lessons that were pertinent to them. Those comments were really gratifying," he said.

Doumit said he graduated from Washington State University in 1972 and majored in history education. He said he received his masters in physical education in 1975.

Doumit first came to Moses Lake in 1979, when he was offered a job as a baseball coach for Big Bend Community College.

After a few years, he said, he moved on to coaching the baseball and basketball teams for Moses Lake High School.

He was the head baseball coach in 1999 when three of the players from the high school baseball team were first-round Major League Baseball draft picks.

"During that time, Moses Lake had a population around 12,000 to 15,000. Someone said, 'It took the five boroughs of New York City 15 rounds to accomplish the same thing little Moses Lake did,'" recalled Doumit.

His son, Ryan Doumit, is currently a Pittsburgh Pirates catcher.

Aside from coaching, Peter Doumit has spent time teaching social studies and leadership courses. He retired from teaching in 2006.

He currently coaches the basketball teams at Chief Moses Middle School and freshman baseball at Moses Lake High School.

"I'm a lifer as far as coaching goes. As long as I enjoy it and I have something and get reinforcement from my athletes I'm not passe, I'm going to continue coaching," he said.

"More Of ... What I Know About Baseball Is What I Know About Life," is available at Hastings Entertainment in Moses Lake.

Doumit will have a book signing on Saturday at Hastings from 1 - 4 p.m.

Hastings is located at 601 S. Pioneer Way.