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Former Met McEwing finds satisfaction as minor league manager

Jim Baumbach

2:29 PM EDT, June 24, 2009

Even if you're just seen "The Rookie" once, surely you remember how Jim Morris was told he was called up to the majors.

Instead of the Triple-A manager simply coming at him straight, he pulled a prank on Morris. He called Morris into his office, told him one of his teammates was going to the big leagues and then asked Morris to deliver the news. But just before Morris walked out the door, the manager added something else.

"You're going, too."

Who knows whether that part of "The Rookie" is true, but the fact is that kind of prank is not just made for Hollywood. It does happen in real life, fairly often actually.

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The way minor-league managers see it, the player who is heading north will remember that moment forever, so might as well have some fun with it, right?

"The fun part of this job," said former Mets infielder Joe McEwing, "is you see other kids' dreams get fulfilled. That's the rewarding part of it."

McEwing, 36, is currently in his first year as a manager in the Chicago White Sox system, managing Class-A Winston Salem after being the organization's Triple-A hitting coach last season.

McEwing's longterm goal is to make it back to the big leagues some day as a manager, but now that he's spent some time in the minor leagues in a coaching capacity, he also has something else in mind.

Some day he wants to tell a player he's heading to the big leagues.

"When I was with Houston in Triple-A in 2006, the manager [Jackie Morris] said, 'This is why I do it, to tell a kid you're going to the big leagues for the first time,'" McEwing said. "That, to me, is going to be rewarding enough.

"Even if nothing ever happened to me again, if I don't get back to the big leagues again or whatever, that will be rewarding enough."

McEwing's team won the Carolina League's Northern Division first half title going 38-30, which ensures them a playoff seed at the end of the season. It also means many players have done well, and that McEwing has had the opportunity to tell a handful of them that they're moving up to Double-A.

But McEwing hasn't gotten cute when he's delivered the news.

"A lot of times at this juncture they don't know why they're being called into the office," he said. "So you just try not to scare them too much."

But McEwing never loses sight that it's a big moment in a player's career.

"I remember every time I was promoted to a tee," he said. "And if you go back and ask every manager, I bet they do too."

A utility infielder who played 754 games over nine major-league seasons, McEwing always knew in the back of his mind that he wanted to remain in baseball after he retired.

After spending the 2007 season with the Red Sox's Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, he was faced with a decision. A former manager of his, Buddy Bell, had just taken over the minor-league operations with the White Sox and he was looking for a Triple-A hitting coach for the 2008 season.

Bell called McEwing, told him the job was his if he wanted it.

A week or two later, McEwing decided his playing days were over and entered coaching. A year later he was promoted to the manager of the organization's top Class-A affiliate, and he's enjoying the job.

His style, he said, is a combination of every manager he's played for, including Tony LaRussa in St. Louis and Bobby Valentine with the Mets. His top two priorities, he said, is to stay patient and positive. As for whether he'll one day get the call to the majors in this role, he said, "That's everybody's goal."