Coaching baseball by the numbers

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We’ve all played the game:

“If I won the lottery, I’d quit my job and I’d do something I really love, like (fill in the blank).”

Phil Desjardins is a pro at it.

Desjardins, 46, hit the Massachusetts lottery in 1988. One winner – him – $4.9 million. That’s $245,000 a year for 20 years before taxes. Still 12 checks to go.

“I read the numbers in the paper and I didn’t believe it,” said Desjardins, recalling that day of adrenaline on his job as a millwright for S.D. Warren Paper in Westbrook. “I kept my tickets in my toolbox. I said to the guy I was with, `look at this.’ He said, `You hit it!’ I called my wife at home and said `check the Boston papers.’ She did… I told my boss, `See you later’ the same day.”

For a lot of people, saying `See you later’ to the boss would be easy. Finding something they truly loved to do for the next 20 years, that might take awhile. Desjardins knew right away.

Baseball.

“I’ve always loved the game,” he said, gazing out over the red clay and greenery of the Mansfield Complex diamond in Bangor Sunday afternoon, the sun making the maroon and gold on his grey uniform jersey glow.

Desjardins is the head coach of the Westbrook College baseball team. Over the weekend, he skippered the young Wildcats three games deep into the NAIA New England Tournament. Not bad for a program in its second year of existence that doesn’t even have a home field.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys who work hard and love the game. That’s what I’m looking for,” said Desjardins, who resembles a heftier Stump Merrill with a mustache.

He’s been around baseball enough to know the game. Desjardins played several infield positions for his Westbrook High teams before graduating in ’66. He also played on an American Legion team that advanced to the New England tournament behind pitcher John Cumberland, currently the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox.

Desjardins went on to attend Husson College. He walked onto the Braves baseball team, but it didn’t last. He found college wasn’t for him.

“I went back home and went to work in the mill. I got married. I had a family,” he shrugged.

Always he kept his hand in baseball. He started a Farm League program in Westbrook for kids. And he rooted for the New York Yankees.

His love of the Yankees played a role in his good fortune. When he picked those fateful six numbers while on a trip to Massachusetts in ’88, he chose – 7, 12, 16, 19, 23, and 32.

“Seven was for Mickey Mantle. Sixteen was for Whitey Ford. Nineteen was for Dave Righetti. Twenty-three was for Don Mattingly,” he ticked off. The other numbers were for family members’ birthdays.

Partially out of gratitude, one of the first things Desjardins did after winning the lottery was take his wife and two kids on a spring vacation to Florida. Fort Lauderdale, to be exact. Spring home of the Yankees.

“We went down to spring training and had a ball watching the players,” he recalled.

After returning home, Desjardins, who had dabbled in collecting baseball cards and memorabilia, decided to start his own collectibles business.

“I started doing shows around Maine. I still do it. I work out of my own home. Last year I did 24 shows. But none during baseball season,” he said.

Desjardins broke into college coaching the year he won the lottery. He was hired as an assistant at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. He spent three seasons working with Monk pitchers. When head coach Jim Graffam left, Desjardins took over.

The Monks won NAIA District titles in both seasons under Desjardins. But after winning the league in ’92, St. Joe’s did not renew his contract.

“They told me they wanted their coaches to have college degrees,” he said.

Desjardins spent a year out of coaching. When Graffam, now the athletic director at Westbrook College, wanted to start a baseball program there, he called his old assistant.

“Jim coached the team last year and I was his assistant. This year, Jim was so busy he asked me to take it,” said Desjardins.

The Wildcats went from 4-14 a year ago to 9-11 in the regular season this year. They lost to Husson 6-1 in the NAIA tourney opener Saturday, but beat Lyndon State 4-3 in 10 innings to advance to Sunday’s play. They lost to St. Joe’s in the semis.

Desjardins smiled when asked about the future.

“We’ve got 32 games scheduled next year. There are plenty of things that need doing to get the program where we want it. We need to find a field. Just give me a practice field and I’ll be happy,” said Phil Desjardins, sounding very much like a pro at his game.