![]() Bush, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frederick Law Olmsted, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Bill Belichick. Graber bounced around some college jobs, then landed at Phillips Academy and experienced continuity and longevity for the first time, at a highly exclusive private school established in 1778 and whose alumni include both former U.S. 311 for the Southern Minnesota Stars of the Prairie League, but when a “little something re-appeared in my chest x-ray,” he called it quits and settled for managing the Stars, earning Prairie League manager of the year. Managing the Electric City Giants of the Mountains Collegiate Baseball League was another stop, and Graber eventually felt strong enough to recapture some glory as a player, signing a pro contract in Australia. “My salary was $2,000 for the entire year.” “I drove my 1986 Plymouth Sundance from Albany, New York, to Susanville, California,” Graber said with a laugh. He returned to baseball as the coach of an American Legion team in Scotia, then got his first taste of college coaching at Lassen Community College in California. A chest x-ray revealed a grapefruit-sized tumor, and it took six months of chemotherapy and three more months of radiation therapy to get the lymphoma under control. Graber is a member of three Capital Region halls of fame, the Schenectady Baseball Club, the Amsterdam Mohawks and Saint Rose.Ī promising career in baseball suddenly seemed more than unlikely when he collapsed on the field at Bleecker Stadium as a college senior. “It evolved sort of like an airplane gradually ascending off a runway, but now it feels kind of like a rocket ship blasting off toward outer space,” Graber said by phone on Tuesday. So next month, he’ll head cross country to become the organization’s Complex Coordinator, a job that also includes field manager for the Cubs’ rookie-level Arizona League team. But Graber, a baseball lifer, had never been one to shrink from a chance to make a move, and when the Cubs offered him a position running their spring training complex in Mesa, Arizona, he did just that - he ran with it. Even the Chicago Cubs’ front office came calling, texting the former CBA and College of Saint Rose star in August to arrange a trip to Wrigley Field so the brass and analytics people could pick his brain, specifically on baserunning, but also on broader subjects like player development and organizational responsibilities.įor 13-plus years, Graber, now 50, had been a highly successful coach for not only one of the best high school baseball programs in New England, but also one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country, Phillips Academy Andover 25 miles north of Boston. ![]() Kevin Graber is such a student - and teacher - of baserunning that he’s been asked to speak on the topic at prominent national baseball conventions.
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