Mike Parisi couldn’t help shooting off a text message to update a reporter about his team’s recent comeback.
It’s not unusual for the Pasadena baseball coach to send weekly – and sometimes, daily – updates, but what made this particular text unusual was the circumstance in which Parisi found himself that afternoon on April 6.
Parisi was on his way to Huntington Memorial Hospital with his fianc Kimberly Kelly Rino, who was about to give birth.
“I’m in the hospital,” the text message started, “daughter going to be born soon.”
Then the comeback.
“Pasadena scores (two runs) in the bottom of the (seventh) to win it over North Torrance,” it said. “(Pasadena pitcher William) Yost goes 5-0, win (number) 11 as a team. (Assistant coach Jordan) Larson wins his first.”
When asked why he’d go to great lengths during one of the most important times of his life, Parisi didn’t hesitate.
“I’m a gamer,” he said. “Love my kids in my program.”
Not long after, Parisi sent another text message, this time to longtime friend and Colorado Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki.
“I’m buddies with Troy,” Parisi said. “I had sent him a text message and told him, `You need to hit a home run for her.”‘
About an hour before game time, Parisi said Tulowitzki replied: “I’m going deep for her.”
He did. Tulowitzki’s two-run home run in the fourth inning helped the Rockies beat the Dodgers, 7-5.
A home run for Zo Michela Parisi, born weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces to a beaming Parisi, who is a father for the first time.
“She’s adorable,” he said. “We’re having a lot of fun.”
Back on the diamond, Pasadena completed an eight-game swing in a two-week span where the Bulldogs went 5-2-1. The stretch included a third-place finish in the Babe Herman Tournament after scoring two runs in the seventh inning to beat North Torrance, 5-3.
It was quite an eventful week for Parisi, who is welcoming a week off before Pasadena (12-5-1, 4-1 in the Pacific League) resumes league play a week from today at home against Crescenta Valley.
Parisi said the focus will center around a good week of practice and inter-squad scrimmages.
“We just have to stay busy, not having too much time off,” he said. “Any time off can hurt any team, but if we have good practices and good scrimmages hopefully it won’t affect us, but we’ll see.”
Even without a league game this week, expect Parisi and some of his players to venture into Glendale on Friday when Arcadia (11-3, 4-0) takes on Crescenta Valley (12-4, 4-0) at Stengel Field in a Pacific League showdown. Arcadia is the two-time defending league champion after going undefeated in league last season for the first time in history.
