White joins baseball team as volunteer coach
Image Courtesy of GTAA
Matt White joins the coaching staff of the baseball team as a volunteer assistant. White previously spent eleven seasons in the minor leauges.
Last season, Matt White was strapping on his cleats and playing professional baseball in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. White figured out over the summer that it was time for a change.
"As a pro, I was traveling often and was away from family and friends. It was a tough lifestyle. I am married with a child now, and would like to be around to enjoy that and be around the game of baseball," said Matt White about his reason for retiring as a player from baseball.
White was taken in the first round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. He initially signed a letter of intent with Tech and was named Gatorade National Player of the Year in his senior year of high school. However, the allure of a pro contract, and the chance to break into the big leagues was too much for White to pass up.
According to Baseball America, White was the top prospect in the Devil Rays' system from 1997 to 1999. Tampa Bay invested a lot in him to become a star as they signed him to a $10.2 million signing bonus after San Francisco was unable to sign him after drafting him seventh overall.
White was able to play professionally for ten years, and had his best season in 2000 when he was promoted to AAA with the Durham Bulls. In his six starts with the Bulls, White had a 3-2 record overall with an ERA of 2.83 and a 1.49 WHIP.
He was even selected to the 2000 Olympic team that played in Sydney, but was not able to play due to injury.
In fact, much of White's career was hampered by injuries to his shoulder which ultimately kept him from reaching the potential that Tampa Bay saw when he was signed. However, he was able to learn many things about the game from teammates and coaches alike, including pros like Aubrey Huff and Rocco Baldelli.
While White has no previous coaching experience at the college level, he did spend this summer coaching at Milton High School as their pitching coach. White will now try and translate the knowledge he learned from his fellow pros into coaching, as he will be responsible for helping coach the Tech outfielders.
"I've only been out here watching them practice for three weeks, but they all have unbelievable talent and physical makeup. My job will be to help them get their mental side up to their physical play, and help them work on technique," White said.
The Jackets are using the fall to help tune up their skills on the field before the winter cold sets in and they are unable to practice.
"This is a great time to work on fundamentals. I just want to teach them a certain way of doing things, and then have the team get into a repetition of doing them that way," White said.
Ultimately, White's volunteer coaching job is a springboard to other college coaching positions as it is on any other college team.
The knowledge that he learns from coaching at a perennially competitive program can be used to learn about the sport and gain more opportunities within the Tech staff and perhaps even beyond.
