“DAD , THAT’S JUST PLAIN WRONG ! ” – Kris Bryant

Folks . There comes a time where one can only take so much . My intent was to not turn this into a blog . It has been an opinion oriented and informational website . With the success of my son , there is much that comes along with that – both good . . . . and . . . . . bad . I will address the bad of it . I will try to be as level headed as I can be . It will be easier to gather my thoughts and put pen to paper rather than deal with this . . . live . . . and in person . We all make decisions . . . good and bad and sometimes they define us . We either make decisions or they make us . My decision to write this piece is not taken lightly . I have been thinking about it for over 6 months now .

I wrote in the past about several people who had some kind of influence in the development of my son . And I have given credit where credit was due . Matt Lawrence , Derek Stafford , Jay Johnson , and Rich Hill are all people I consider close friends and they do deserve some credit in my sons development . And there are other rather unsavory characters that are taking credit for Kris’ development and even trying to cash in by embellishing their role in it . ( Please see the above title of this piece ) .

There are websites with people laying claim to having coached Kris . What do they say about ” woodwork ? ” This has been going on since Kris made it to the MLB and has gotten worse since he was named Rookie of the Year and NL MVP in successive seasons . While there are statutes in the state of Nevada that address the use of ones name ( especially celebrities ) without their permission , these situations usually are full of gray area and have to go before a judge or arbitrator to reach some kind of resolution . While it is really never good to go to litigation it is inevitable that one has to make a decision . One has to decide to prosecute and / and the other party has to decide if he has the right to continue to embellish his role for monetary gain by using Kris’ name to burnish his credentials without his permission to do so . ( Please see the above title of this piece ) . It all comes down to making a decision to do the right thing . The way I see it is that I had three choices : ONE – approach this guy and ask him nicely to cease and desist . TWO – take this before an arbitrator to have him choose for me . THREE – use my website to get the TRUTH out there . I chose door number 3 ! For now .

There is so much irony in what I am about to write that sometimes I can’t even comprehend it ! I hope families in the southern Nevada baseball community read this so that if their son accomplishes what my son has , they will gain complete understanding as to why I am expounding my thoughts on this for thousands to read all over the country . As you all know , Kris went to Bonanza HS and a former Bishop Gorman coach has been taking credit for Kris’ hitting abilities . In the past , players from Bishop Gorman HS were told that if they take lessons from hitting instructors outside of their program that they would have a very difficult time getting playing time and could possibly even be removed from the team . Folks – this is an indisputable fact and occurs in other HS programs in the Vegas valley as well . I have heard this from Bishop Gorman athletes who have taken hitting lessons with me . This is also true of club programs in the southern Nevada baseball community . The irony that a Bishop Gorman coach would take credit for teaching my son how to hit while preventing his players from getting lessons from me is . . . well . . . UNCONSCIONABLE . Now there is an impactful 14 letter word ! Remember what Ted Williams used to say about words with more than 13 letters ? Or how about . . . HYPOCRITICAL ( only 12 letters in this one – Ted would approve ! )

I want you all to know that it is very difficult for me to take the high road on this . I admit to being human so I experience the spectrum of human emotions . I take this personal . And I am 100 % sure that was the intent of the former Bishop Gorman coach who is laying this absolutely bogus and extremely disingenuous claim on his website to having been an integral part of Kris’ development . While he may have legitimate claims to others that have played for him and I have taught as well ( Joey Gallo and Joey Rickard – both made it to the MLB ) , the only one I am concerned with is my son Kris . And I assure you that Kris is in no way , shape , or form supportive of this guys claim .The amount of time that my son and I have spent together is infinitesimal . To have this guy take any credit whatsoever because he put his name on a line up card – ONCE – is jaw dropping to say the least .This is an extremely fraudulent claim and the entire southern Nevada baseball community needs to know this . Being named the manager of an All-Star game of which Kris was a member of the West squad does not , in any , way constitute having been an integral part of Kris’ development .

Some will say ” Grow some thick skin .” – Or ” Get over it . ” Or ” Whatever . ” When something is wrong and one is affected by it , one has to take a stand . I am doing my part to make this right . Its time this guy makes it right and stops this nonsense . Everyone knows the truth now .