Minor league Hitting Coach Shane Spencer is laying the foundation for a brighter Padres future. Spencer passionately believes, “A minor league coach has to enjoy and care about the players.” Padres’ fans may remember Spencer as a member of the 1998 New York Yankees team that defeated the Friars in the World Series. Now Spencer is a member of his hometown organization as the hitting coach for the Padres Class A affiliate, the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Reflecting back on 1998, Spencer admits that it was bittersweet to win a World Series Ring against the Padres. One special memory he recalled was catching a rocket hit by Tony Gwynn in the first inning of Game 3. Spencer said he wanted to keep the ball. He went to tuck in his back pocket but then realized it was not the third out, so he had to throw it in.

Shane Spencer

^{Photo Courtesy Lake Elsinore Storm}

As a late-season call-up in 1998, Spencer hit three grand slams in the month of September. This tied Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio for the most grand slams in a single season by a Yankee player. This was impressive enough to earn him the cover of Sports Illustrated. Not bad for a guy who had spent years in the minors and a lot of time on the bench.

Spencer did not post standout numbers at the high school level playing for Granite Hills High School in El Cajon. Spencer said, “I think I got drafted because of Brian Giles.” He explained that he was fortunate to have good games when the scouts came out to evaluate Giles. Even now almost every day in the off-season, Spencer and Giles still workout together. Spencer described Giles as “A workout warrior.”

Granite Hills High School produced several other professional athletes who attended the school in the late 80s to early 90s. Other Major League Baseball players include Giles’ younger brother Marcus, John Barnes, and Tom Fordham. Others include Tommy Vardell who was a running back in the NFL and Jimmy Johnson who is currently the three-time defending NASCAR Champion.

Spencer can not explain why so many from one school in just a few years went on to professional careers in sports. Spencer said, “We talk about it all the time, but you can’t really put a finger on it. We all got along well and we are still really good friends. I think it was just the competiveness between us.”

Spencer credits the success that he had in 1998 in the MLB to the fact that pitchers gave him stuff to hit because they were testing him. Unfortunately, he was never quite able to duplicate the success of that year. Spencer said, “They find your weakness real quick and they did mine.”

As a result he spent much of his career as a bench player both in the minors and in the big leagues. Today, he believes he is a better coach because of it. Spencer said, “I think I bring a lot to the table. I sat the bench so much in my career that I started seeing the game from a coach’s view. I started thinking, ‘How are they going to pitch you?’”

Now he brings nearly 20 years of professional baseball experience to the Lake Elsinore Storm and he is learning how to communicate what he knows to young hitters.

Spencer said, “For me it is seeing the pitchers. There are so many young pitchers now, that I know what is coming. After playing a long time you learn to pick it up: just the way they are standing, setting their glove, or cocking their head once or twice. Then you need to find a way to translate what you see to your players.”

Spencer believes a large part of translating his knowledge to young hitters is teaching them how to mentally overcome and persevere through adversity. He explained, “Learning the mental part of the game is huge. You can get four hits in one game and the next day go 0-4 with three strikeouts . . . Dealing with failure is very difficult for a young player. I dealt with so much failure and mistakes whether it be on the field or off the field it is easy for me to translate it them by telling a story about me. Sometimes it is not a story about me; it is a story about someone else.”

Spencer’s motto is “Work hard and have fun.” But he is also not afraid to share his personal mistakes with players to help them stay in line. “I got a DUI one time and it cost me a job. I tell the players that I made it and I lost a job because of it.”

Even when players are successful Spencer pushes them to continually improve. “I tell them, ‘Yes, you may be successful at hitting .280 right now, but with the way you approach the game you are not going to be successful at AA or AAA, so we have to get you ready.’ And it is not just me. It is the Padres’ philosophy. We all have a set plan. My boss Tony Muser and his boss Grady Fuson and all the way up to Bud Black are trying to get them ready for the big leagues. That is our whole goal.”

Spencer sees opportunities for his players that he did not have early on in his career. “It was different for me because I was playing behind Bernie Williams, Tim Raines, Chili Davis, and Darryl Strawberry. Those guys are pretty good.”

He explained that last year, “Wally [Joyner] engraved into their heads that they have a real opportunity in the next couple years to have a chance to make the big league team; a lot better chance than other organizations like the Yankees and the Red Sox. The Padres are looking for the young players to fill their roster.”

One thing is for certain, Spencer loves the job of hitting coach. He said, “To do what I am doing and actually get paid for it is kind of cool.”

You can see Spencer’s hard work by taking a short drive north on the 15 freeway to Diamond Drive. Lake Elsinore Storm baseball is family entertainment full of fun wacky promotions at affordable prices. Tickets range from $8.00 to $10.00.