We had another beautiful day for Tippy Tuesday on June 3, 2025! The Angels gathered at Bill Noble Park for some batting practice, fielding, and a little summer baseball fun before heading out for dinner together. It was exactly the kind of relaxed afternoon Coach Clay had in mind when he started our Tippy Tuesday tradition years ago.
These gatherings have never been about formal practices or keeping a strict schedule. They are simply opportunities for our players to get together, work on their skills, enjoy the game, and spend time with their teammates. And although the tradition was named for our home field, Tippy, the name has always stayed the same no matter where we get together. Sometimes the weather cooperates beautifully, and this was certainly one of those days! What we didn’t know when we arrived at Bill Noble was that the afternoon would also give us a special reminder of the kind of character we have always hoped to build through HC Baseball.
A Beautiful Afternoon of Baseball
The boys spent their time at Bill Noble getting in some batting practice and working on fielding. There were opportunities to get some repetitions, help one another, and simply enjoy being back on the diamond together. With the sunshine overhead and no game schedule to worry about, it was a great way to spend a summer afternoon.
That’s one of the things I have always appreciated about Tippy Tuesdays. Baseball is still part of the day, of course, but so is fellowship. The boys get to enjoy being teammates without the pressure of a scoreboard, and those opportunities to spend time together help strengthen the friendships that make HC Baseball special.
An Unexpected Stop Along the Way
After finishing up at Bill Noble, we were headed to Gardendale to meet the rest of the team for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. But on the way, Drake spotted a young Gardendale baseball player who was having car trouble. His tire had blown out, and he needed some help.
Drake stopped and offered to help, and before long he, Wade, and Kent were working together to get the young man back on the road. Drake changed the tire while Kent helped retrieve the spare, and Wade was right there helping, too. What had started as a simple trip to dinner became an opportunity to lend a hand to another ballplayer who needed it.
Once the tire was changed, we learned that the spare was a temporary donut rather than a regular tire. Instead of simply wishing him well and heading to dinner, we followed him home to make sure he arrived safely. Only then did we turn around and make the trip back to Gardendale, where the rest of our HC family was waiting for us.
Dinner could wait. Someone needed help, and helping him was the important thing at that moment.
I’ve Seen This Before
As I watched Drake, Wade, and Kent helping that young man, I couldn’t help thinking about another day at the baseball field, years earlier, when Coach Clay had done almost exactly the same thing.
Back in 2017, we had finished a doubleheader against the East Central Patriots. It had been a long day, everyone was tired, and most people had already gathered their things and headed home. As we were finishing up and closing down the field, we came across the parents of an East Central Patriots player who were having trouble with their vehicle.
Clay could have easily said he was tired and ready to go home. After all, he had already spent the day working his full-time job, arriving at the field early to prep it for the games, coaching a doubleheader evening of baseball, and cleaning up after the games. Instead, he put away his baseball equipment and went to work helping them with their vehicle. It didn’t matter that their child played for the other team. They needed help, and Clay was going to do what he could to help them.
I have always remembered that day, and thankfully, I have a photograph of it. Looking at that picture now, and then looking at the pictures from the day Drake, Wade, and Kent helped another baseball player eight years later, touches my heart in a way that is difficult to put into words.
The Example Coach Clay Set
Coach Clay helping the parents of an
East Central Patriots player with
their vehicle after a doubleheader in 2017.
Coach Clay believed that the things we teach through baseball should extend far beyond the field. He wanted his players to work hard, compete with integrity, treat people with respect, and understand that character matters whether anyone is watching or not.
But the most important lessons he taught weren’t always spoken. Sometimes they were demonstrated through the way he lived, the way he treated people, and the willingness he had to stop what he was doing and help someone else.
Seeing Drake, Wade, and Kent step up to help that young man reminded me so much of their daddy. Not because anyone told them they needed to do something special, and certainly not because they expected recognition, but because they saw someone who needed help and chose to do something about it.
Clay spent years pouring into our children and the young men who played for him. Moments like this remind me that so much of what he taught them continues to live on in the choices they make and the people they are becoming. That means more to me than I can ever fully explain.
We Finally Made It to Dinner!
Once we knew the young man had made it home safely, we doubled back to Gardendale and finally joined the rest of the team at Buffalo Wild Wings. They had been patiently waiting for us, and we were happy to finish the evening together.
Good food and good company are always a welcome way to wrap up Tippy Tuesday. We enjoyed getting to visit and spend a little more time together before calling it a day. Between baseball practice, our unexpected roadside adventure, and dinner with the Angels, we certainly made some memories!
Building HERITAGE Beyond the Diamond
We talk a lot about Building HERITAGE at HC Baseball. Honor, effort, respect, integrity, trust, accountability, growth, and excellence are values we want our players to carry with them long after they hang up their gloves. They aren’t just words we put on a website or a banner at the field. They are things we hope our young men will live out in everyday life.
This Tippy Tuesday gave us a wonderful example of what that can look like. The boys got in some baseball, enjoyed fellowship, and spent time with their teammates, just as Coach Clay intended when he began this tradition. But along the way, they also had an opportunity to make a difference for someone else.
I am proud of Drake, Wade, and Kent for taking the time to help, and I am grateful that we were able to be there for that young man. I know Coach Clay would have been proud, too. He understood that baseball gives us opportunities to teach lessons that have very little to do with baseball itself.
Sometimes those lessons happen during practice. Sometimes they happen in the middle of a game. And sometimes they happen on the side of the road while everyone else is waiting for dinner.
Building HERITAGE
Honor • Effort • Respect • Integrity • Trust • Accountability • Growth • Excellence