From Aaron Bogage...Jacob's Brother

Aaron pitched and played infield for the Rangers.  He added this comment to his brothers earlier post:

Aaron Bogage One of my favorite Coach O stories (along with many many more that I will not disclose to the general public)- Coach O had Cameron Birse and I pitch to Jacob Bogage and Brian Fantozzi at bullpen session one practice. We were no more than arms length apart in the bullpen. Coach starts walking the lane right between our pitches, giving all 4 of us pointers, back and forth. Me and Cameron are thinking "this guy is nuts, we're definitely going to hit him". We bring it up to him, Coach goes "Dont worry, you wont hit me". We kept pushing him to walk around the outside (mostly out of fear of what would happen if we did hit him). Coach hears us, turns towards us and stares us down while saying sternly "you will NOT hit me". He then turns his back to us, and walks right back down the lane yelling "Pitch!" Low and behold, we didn't hit him. This man was not afraid of anything- let alone a measly 5 ounce baseball.

Like · Reply · 2 · 3 hrs

MABA Road Trips

The Mid-Atlantic Baseball Assocuation (MABA) was made up of teams all over Maryland and scheduled games every Sunday and in the spring added Thursday evenings. The Sunday games were double headers. We practiced twice a week as well.  Kevin and I spent a lot of time coaching baseball.  We also spent a lot of time in the car together.

Not only did Kevin and I coach together then but we worked together as well.  I'm sure that we let the baseball bleed into our office time as well.  I always knew when  it was time to talk baseball at the office when Kevin would take the pearl (brand new baseball) out of his desk and start working though a progression of grips for different pitches.

For our away games many times the team would meet at my house and we would road trip to the fields.  My son Billy would usually find a car that he could hang out with his friends for the rides to the games.  After the games I started noticing that Billy was always looking around for a ride home. It dawned on me that the rides home for Billy became excruciating because Coach O and I would spent the entire ride reliving each pitch, each situation, how we made our lineups, how everyone played...

Our first ever double header in the MABA was to play at team in Owings Mill, over an hour away.  In that game in the first inning we managed to get a couple runners on and our 3 hitter hit a rope to the short stop who easily turned a 6-4-3 triple play since we had the hit and run on.  That was our illustrious start in the MCBA.  Kevin and I just shook our heads. Some people play a lifetime of baseball and never play a game with a triple play and it happened in our first inning of league play.

On a side note, a few years later, when we were playing on a regulation field, we beat that Owings Mill team 2-1 in home game at Rock Terrace (our home for our last season).  I remember every detail of that game.  Both Cameron's pitched lights out that day.  Kevin was over the moon with that win.

From the Inception of the Rangers

Back when this Ranger team started we were hoping to play in the local travel league,the Montgomery County Baseball Association (MCBA).  Back then you had to be admitted into the league by applying and you had to go before the league board to be admitted for play. After our summer of tournaments Kevin and I put to get a package of the details of our summer activity outlining our team and what we had to offer the league. We were scheduled to meet the board one evening before the fall season started.

At the meeting it quickly became apparent that the league wasn't looking to add any teams to the 11u group and our bid to join the league was unsuccessful.  When the league director at the time, Al Bidwick, let us know I thought Kevin was going to punch him in the nose!  In three months Coach O had already become fiercely loyal to the team.

We ended up playing in the Mid-Maryland Travel Association which eventually became the Mid-Atlantic Baseball Association (MABA).  That league became out home for our entire run.  It was a hardship since we played double headers every Sunday in the fall and in the spring we added Thursday evening games.  The league was made up of teams in Maryland from Frederick to to Sykesville to Baltimore to Annapolis.  There was not another team in the league that was less than a 45 minute ride to get to the field.  At least every other weekend was another Sunday road trip.

At the end of each season Kevin and I would talk about what was next. What tournaments?  How many off season workouts? And I always added whether, with our growing resume, we should re-apply to the MCBA.  Kevin never wavered.  Ah...Fuck them. We can do just fine without them...and we did!  We always took special pride when we faced an MCBA team in an off season tournament.   I'm not certain, but I would guess we had a winning record in those games!

My Direct Message to Some of the Rangers

This is the facebook direct message that I sent out to let some of the boys know that Kevin had passed away.  Peter played short, Jacob caught and Cameron, aka 'Hollywood' as dubbed by Coach O, caught and pitched for us.

MON 11:20AM

Hey guys, I didn't have any other way to touch base with you but I wanted to let you know that Coach O passed away yesterday. I recently found out he was battling stage 4 lung and brain cancer. Please let your parents know and pass the word on to any Rangers you may still be in touch with. He has provided many good memories. I will let you know if there are any final arrangements planned. Go Rangers!

Peter

Wow, thanks for telling us Coach. Coach O was so fun to be around, taught us a lot of good lessons (in his own Coach O-ish way of course). Keep us updated moving forward.

Jacob

Best coach, best team I ever played with. Miss you guys. Thanks for letting us know and we'll pass the word around.

Cameron

That man taught me so much. Hurt hearing that, thanks for sharing.

Jacob Bogage's Facebook Post with Comments

Jacob caught for us for the whole time the team was together.  Kevin, being a catcher himself, took it upon Jacob to relay all of the finer points of the position to Jacob.   In the comments, Dylan was with the team for most of our run and played mostly first base.

Jacob Bogage

February 9 near Columbia, MO · Edited · 

 

Got word Monday morning my old baseball coach, Kevin O’Reilly, died Sunday of brain and lung cancer. He coached this team, the Rockville Rangers, from the time I was 11 years old until I was 14. He was the toughest man I’ve ever been around. (He’s in the top left corner of this photo with his hand around my shoulder.) He was gruff. He was the first coach I played for who cursed at his players, who ran us hard and really taught us about life: what it meant to have a work ethic, to push yourself further than you thought possible, to not take ourselves so seriously. I’m honored — honored — to have played for him, and no remembrance would be complete without a couple stories.
Here goes:

Coach served in Vietnam and wouldn’t let us forget it. If it rained, he’d tell us, “This isn’t Vietnam rain.” When it was hot, “This isn’t Vietnam heat.” When we asked for bug spray: “These aren’t Vietnam bugs.” To which I now say, bullshit, and I’d like to visit Vietnam someday so he can prove me wrong.

We’d play in tournaments every year on Memorial Day and instead of a post-game speech after those games, he’d tell us about his time in the service, about carrying your body weight in gear while traipsing through the jungle. Then he’d pick up my catcher’s gear and haul it back to the parking lot from the field. It was the one day a year that he’d carry bags, something normally reserved for the rest of the team. Afterward, he’d hop in his car and ride downtown to see Rolling Thunder.

One of my problems as a 12-year-old (and indeed today) was struggling to force myself to focus, and Coach took it upon himself to teach me such a skill. He made me slow down and breathe and think and evaluate myself. After each inning, he’d grab my by the collar of my chest protector and pull my face close to his to ask me about the pitches I called, or the bunt defense we were in. “Think,” he’d tell me with increasing volume. “Think. Think.”

Never has a man so devoted to the game and its players set foot on a baseball diamond. He’ll be deeply missed.

“Hold it like an egg. Throw it like a hand grenade.”

Dylan Jaffe Well said my man, really upset to hear about this but you summed it up. He'd be proud of all of us.

Like · Reply · 1 · February 9 at 9:29am

Gerry Blackwell Jacob, your tribute brought back so many memories of Coach. The one that always seems to remind me of a his approach to coaching was one of the 12u playoff games that we played at Atholton High School. Early in the game JM got hit by a pitch. Not too bad, JM jogged down to first base rubbing his side. As soon as he reached first, the pitcher called for time, ran over to JM, reached out and shook his hand and apologized. I looked over at Coach O coaching third and he was shaking his head. JM ended up stranded on the bases that inning and he walked off the field with Coach. I asked Kevin what he told JM on the way to the dugout he said “I told him 'Next time someone apologizes for hitting you with a pitch, look him in the eye and say 'Is that all you got?''” Kevin was a stickler for the integrity of the game. Getting hit by a pitch, intentional or not, was part of the game. As he would say, “a baseball is 5 ounces, it is NOT a hand grenade!” He must have liked the hand grenade analogies. I use that phrase often as coach to this day!

Like · Reply · 2 · February 9 at 11:29am

Jacob Bogage I think it was my brother who got hit in the nose by a bad hop at practice and before we left practice, he took us aside and said, "You know what you're gonna tell your father?" And we said, no. "You should see the other guy," he said, and he winked at us.

Like · Reply · 1 · February 9 at 11:32am

Gerry Blackwell Jacob Bogage So Coach O!

Like · Reply · February 9 at 11:36am

John Michael Burgoyne Amy Wallice Burgoyne

Like · Reply · February 9 at 11:51am

Write a reply...

Ellen Bogage As Jacob and Aaron's mom, I went through a progression of feelings about Coach O. My first reaction was one of horror when he cursed a blue streak at the team. "My poor innocent children," I would lament. It wasn't long before I would see how incredibly smart he was and how focused he was on making our boys the best players and men they could be. Here's my favorite Coach O story: We were at practice one day and one of our players hit a screaming line drive towards third base. Coach O happened to be standing there. He simply held out his hand, calmly caught the ball and threw it back to the pitcher all in one motion. All of us just stood there with our jaws dropping but for Coach O it was nothing. I guess he was thinking, "It's not a Viet Nam line drive!" We think of him and Coach Jerry so often and talk about those days with bittersweet memories. Coach O was truly a gift to my children and for that I am most grateful. The angels in heaven better shape up before he gets there!

Like · Reply · 3 · February 9 at 8:28pm

My Facebook Post and Some of the Comments

Gerry Blackwell

February 8 · 

Allowed on Timeline

Lost a great old friend to cancer yesterday. I learned more from him about teaching kids baseball, hard work, character, integrity and perseverance than Coach O'Reilly will ever know. We only coached this rag tag group of boys for three years but these boys will tell you that in his own way Coach O made us all better at life. Although we spoke rarely over the past couple years, I miss him more now. I'm sure there are plenty of Yankee games to watch in heaven Kevin!— with Kevin O'Reilly and Billy Blackwell.

Jonny Epstein Well said Gerry, he was a special guy with a heart of gold.
Taught me a lot as well, and was a great guy to work with. We all had some good laughs, I'll be rooting for the Yanks Kev, on your behalf.
🏻RIP

Like · Reply · 1 · February 9 at 12:49am

Jim Davis Ger-We only played a few season together, but he had a great knowledge of the game and a superior ability to reach and relate to young men! I learned a lot about how to coach and how to lead from Coach O.

Like · Reply · February 9 at 11:10pm

Coach Kevin O'Reilly, RIP

My old friend, Kevin O'Reilly passed away from cancer last week.  I had the opportunity to join his family at the viewing Saturday.  I enjoyed meeting all of them but even more, I loved relaying to them the impact Kevin had on a group of boys that we coached for a few years from 2005 to 2008.  We were the Rangers.

A little history.  Kevin worked for one of my clients back then doing admin and bookkeeping work.  He had been hired right around the same time that I had been to organize and support a brand new frozen custard franchise in the DC area.  Me being the accountant, Kevin became my right hand guy.  We worked out of a small townhouse style office in  Rockville, Maryland that backed up to the baseball field for the local junior college, Montgomery Community College.  We must have started working there in the spring that year because in the afternoons Kevin and I would walk outside to the fence and, while he smoked a cigarette or two, watch the practices each time I was there.  Of course, Kevin's main conversation was centered around how John, his son, was doing.  At the time I believe he was pitching for the Brewers double A team.  With the internet just making its self felt, Kevin was armed with all of John's latest stats.  He was very proud of what John had accomplished!

I had been coaching a rec 10u baseball team that my second son Billy played on.  I started asking Kevin for advice, knowing that he had tons more experience than me.  Every once in a while Kevin would come to my practices and laugh at the disaster that was going on.  He would break the kids down into small groups, enlist a few Dads and next thing you knew a real practice was going on and the kids started learning baseball.  It must have worked because that team made it to the championship that year, only to lose in a heartbreaking loss where one of the final outs came from a kid that was tagged out jumping up and down on second base because he was so excited he got such a great hit!

The league asked me to coach the All Star team that year in the Rockville annual 4th of July tournament,  I bullied Kevin into helping.  We had a great tournament and some of the parents asked if we would want to continue to coach the core group of these kids for more tournaments that summer and then into the local travel league in the fall.  I agreed for both Kevin and me!  That was the beginning of what turned out to be the Rangers.  It was one of the most influential time period for a group of 11 year old boys.  More than they ever would have thought.  Coach O'Reilly taught them lessons that many of them carry to this day.

I posted on Facebook this week my thoughts about Kevin's passing and a few people responded with some stories.  I will post them here and if anyone wants to add to them I would love for you to leave them as comments to these postings. I will also add a few more of the memories that I have of Kevin.  He deserves the tribute!