Vandy’s volunteer assistant baseball coach, Larry Day, has come far from being Mr. Irrelevant
April 28, 2011
Vanderbilt baseball’s volunteer assistant coach Larry Day has come pretty far since his playing days at UConn – most notably a gig in Cape Cod and being “Mr. Irrelevant” in the 2007 MLB draft.
He is also more than “The Guy Who Cuts The Grass,” although he takes a tremendous amount of pride in that. Day is a jack-of-all-trades, someone who can pack the plate in the morning and help the batters get into their groove before a game.
Day was a four-year starter at catcher for the Connecticut Huskies and had a sensational junior campaign, batting .322 with 51 RBI on his way to All-Big East honors. During his senior year his numbers dropped but he was still focused on the game and helping his team advance into the postseason. His collegiate career came to an end during the 2007 Big East Championship when the Huskies fell to the Louisville Cardinals.
“I didn’t start thinking about my future until that last game,” said Day. “I was never thinking about what I wanted to do with my life because I was so focused on the season. You get caught up with everything in the spring and you don’t have time to look past the season. When I finally had the chance to think about my future, I was graduating. I wanted to coach but I didn’t know how to get into it.”
Day contacted his former summer league skipper, Kelly Nicholson, who was leading the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod league, and asked if he could help out and get plugged into the coaching world. Nicholson hired him on to help prep the field before the season started but in the midst of his first year on the managerial side, he got a phone call from the New York Yankees.
Despite his down senior year, the Yankees made him the last drafted player by picking him 1,453rd overall – the 30th pick of the 50th round – in 2007, the same year Vanderbilt alumnus David Price was picked first overall by the Tampa Bay Rays. Day decided to continue his playing career and played summer ball in New York’s farm system for the Gulf Coast Yankees. He went through spring training the following year and ended up on the Charleston Riverdogs.
After the brief stint in the minors, Day decided to try to get back into coaching and caught a break in the summer of 2008 when Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin and his wife Maggie made their annual trip up to Cape Cod. Corbin and Nicholson knew each other and the volunteer assistant coaching position opened up at Vandy when Blake Allen left the post to take a job at Western Kentucky. Coach Corbin was looking for a replacement and asked Nicholson if he knew of anyone who was looking to get into coaching and would be reliable. Nicholson immediately mentioned Day and helped set up a meeting.
“I caught a break when coach Kelly [Nicholson] got me in contact with Corbin,” Day said. “I ended up interviewing with coach Corbin behind the backstop during the home run derby of the Cape Cod league all-star break in Chatham, Massachusetts. A couple weeks after that he said I could come down if I wanted the job. Two days later I packed up everything and drove down to Nashville.”
Day quickly notes how helpful Corbin’s family was and aided him in finding a place to live, took him out to dinners and generally made him feel comfortable in his new town. But Day moved to the south for business and he still had a lot to learn. His main responsibilities then, and now, includes maintaining the field everyday by cutting the grass, grooming the dirt, and packing the mound and plate. It is a lot of work and he had little experience doing these things.
His first year was a learning process that was mostly done by trial and error. Previously, he had only cleaned batter’s boxes and prepared the mounds, but had never push mowed an infield or cut the outfield.
Upon arrival, Day told Corbin “I’ve never done this before, but I’ll figure it out.”
The coaching staff was patient and helpful, guiding him through it and teaching him what they knew. He also had help from the plant ops guys from Vanderbilt.
Still, mistakes were made that first year and the growing process was long but one of Day’s best attributes is his eagerness to learn and dedication to the work at hand. One of his earliest missteps was leaving the sprinklers on one night after the infield tarp had been laid down. Today – a few years after the incident – Day keeps a note on his locker that reads “Sprinklers” so every night before he leaves he makes sure that they do not go off. He is meticulous with his work and has adopted the mindset needed to fulfill his duties.
In his third season, Day’s routine consists of arriving at the ballpark early to cut the outfield and infield and prep it based on the afternoon’s practice. Depending on drills the team runs, the field has to be tailored to in a different way. There is also a lot to be done in the offseason, making the job time consuming and weighted on the help of others.
Game days have a different atmosphere and although Day still takes care of the field, he also has the chance to coach the players up prior to the outing. Being a former all-star catcher, he works primarily with Curt Casali, Drew Fann and Spencer Navin and makes sure they are good to go depending on who is hurling. Pre-game, he does extensive research on the opponent’s pitchers and helps the hitters get ready in the cages.
During the game, you can spot Day coaching first base.
While many young people in Day’s position would be looking to move up the ladder as fast as possible, the New England native is enjoying his time and taking in as much as he can. His focus is this season and nothing is blocking his view.
“My situation now is similar to my time at UConn,” Day said in regards to being in the middle of the season. “When you’re going through the season, that’s all that matters. It’s tough to think of anything else but standing in the moment and thinking of the next game. With the team and season that we have, you can’t help but be nearsighted. I have a hard time thinking about the future right now because my main goal is to be with these guys all the way to Omaha.
“Am I going to be a head coach in five or ten years? Who knows? I appreciate what I have here and take everything day-by-day because I don’t want it to end.”
Day is appreciative of the Vanderbilt coaching staff and team, as well as the people who helped him through his journey. He is not looking to cut ties or leave people out, but instead he wants them to know how much they have shaped him.
As far as the Vandy staff goes, he does not want the year to close out.
“I hope this doesn’t end until the very end of June,” Day said. “I just want to make it to Omaha and I have a hard time looking past that because I’m working with 40 great guys who are making this season special.”
