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Back in the swing

Ritchie in his 20th year of hosting clinics.

By TAFT COGHILL JR.

Date published: 12/31/2004

By TAFT COGHILL

Working with kids helps Ritchie

Gregg Ritchie needed a little help getting out of a slumber.

The 40-year-old Stafford County resident and North Stafford High School graduate had worked all his life for a chance to coach baseball in the major leagues. Then, when the opportunity arose, it was snatched away.

After Wally Backman was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in November, he asked Ritchie to become the team's hitting coach.

But four days after Backman was hired--and before Ritchie could sign a contract--the Diamondbacks became aware of Backman's tumultuous off-field history, which included a guilty plea to a drunken driving charge.

Backman promptly was fired. Ritchie's dream of coaching in the majors--as well as a huge pay increase--was dashed.

"It was like you had an entire fork full of food ready to go into your mouth, and then it's ripped away," Ritchie said. "You never know when you'll get the opportunity again. I waited 20 years. I hope I don't have to wait 20 more."

After hearing the news about Backman, Ritchie (now the hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons) sat through a six-hour flight from Las Vegas back to Virginia in a state of shock.

He said he couldn't function for 10 days. He didn't talk. He just sat and stared. His wife was also down.

Ritchie tried to return to his passion of coaching kids, but his heart wasn't in it. He canceled hitting sessions that he'd arranged with a few local youngsters.

"The hardest part was that it was out of my control," said Ritchie, who was hitting coach for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights last season. "But I had to realize that's the way life is sometimes."

The love of teaching kids how to hit finally helped bring Ritchie back around.

He's been hosting hitting clinics for the past 20 years. For the past two winters, he's hosted his Starting Lineup clinic at the old Winn-Dixie grocery store on Salem Church Road in Spotsylvania County.

Before moving to that location, Ritchie traveled in his green van from Danville to Fredericksburg to Maryland, setting up shop.

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Date published: 12/31/2004