Donnie Lindgren making Moses Lake baseball matter

Every now and again you come across a coach or two that’s, I don’t know — wired different.

I had a guy in Cheyenne, Wyo., I really got along with. Duane was a Vietnam vet. I don’t remember which branch, but he’d seen life when the fur was flying. He was serious in his coaching and teaching, demanded his kids show respect and play the game with integrity. But he also had a casual side that said, “What are they going to do? Send me to Vietnam?”

Duane’s basketball team made Wyoming history in 1991 when they went 23-0 to win a 4A state championship. It was a fun team to cover. They went over the 100-point mark five times that season, used to play that Oklahoma-Loyola Marymount style where no one wanted to take the ball in because they never saw it again because they raced it up the floor and either buried the 3 or pounded down the jam.

For a sports guy, these teams only come along once in a good, long time and you have to enjoy them while you can.

Duane and I had a pretty good rapport. They were midway through the undefeated season and not playing particularly well in a non-conference game on the road. Duane spots me sitting in the stands near the bench, gets up and comes over and sits in the stands with me.

The team continued to run up and down the floor, playing kickball and building a brick house, shot by shot, while Duane and I shot the breeze.

“They seem a little off tonight,” I started off.

“Ya think? I hope they get it figured out, or we’re gonna get beat.”

The sports writer from the local paper was looking on like this conversation was taking place on Mars. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach do that before,” he said after Duane got up and went to the locker room for halftime.

It doesn’t happen much, but I’m a big fan of the odd and eccentric, which is why I like Moses Lake baseball coach Donnie Lindgren’s style of coaching. Most of his team hasn’t played for anybody else, wouldn’t know it any other way. Cool.

Hall of Famer Yogi Berra was a man of many words and his Yogisms will stand for all time. Stuff like, “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical," or “It's deja vu all over again."

Donnie’s not that sharp, but he does have his Donnieisms.

“Get dirty, have fun.” Or my personal favorite, “I need you to stay in the game, not cheerleaders, but know what’s going on.”

Donnie did something the other day that sparked my interest as I stood and watched. Vance Alvarado threw a no-hitter to seal the Chiefs’ first Big Nine league championship since 2014. About the fourth inning, Donnie comes out of the dugout and walks into the stands handing out what looked like yellow Sticky Notes to the student section. I didn’t hear what he yelled, but they were excited.

“I just wanted to make sure the students who support us can come watch at the districts,” Lindgren said. “If I can go around and hit some fundraisers to help pay for their tickets, I will. Otherwise, I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket because they’ve done everything for us and we’d like them there.”

To tell you the truth, I kind of like the idea Donnie was handing out free tickets to districts while the game was still going on.

No brag, just fact. Donnie's just a guy that’s trying to make Moses Lake baseball matter.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherld.com