Hard work pays off

How does an undersized baseball player from the small town of Mamou get personally recruited by Skip Bertman and share a clubhouse with future MLB Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken, Jr.? Just ask Barry Manuel.
Manuel, a former standout pitcher at LSU and MLB middle reliever knows exactly what it takes to achieve the dream of every red-blooded American kid.
“A lot of hard work, dedication and sweat,” Manuel firmly stated. “There are a lot of guys out there that have all of the talent in the world, but fade out because they do not want to work hard. I learned that if you want to squeeze out the talent that you have, you must put in the work. God gave me the talent, I just had to work hard enough to get the maximum out of it.”
Manuel always wanted to play Major League Baseball from an early age, even if he can not remember saying that out loud.
“My mom always told me that since I was five years old that I would always say that I wanted to play Major League Baseball,” said Manuel. “I don’t remember that, but I knew that I loved the game. I would eat and sleep in my uniform when I was younger and always had a baseball in my hand bouncing it off of the house. But, by my sophomore year in high school, I really thought that I could have a shot at that dream. Being my size at that time, I thought to myself could I really get to that level. I was determined to work hard enough and put in every effort to make that happen.”
Manuel started like every other kid with a baseball dream, playing youth baseball; particularly Dixie Youth and Babe Ruth baseball. As a freshman in high school, Manuel did not see much action. However, in his sophomore year he finally got an opportunity to show his stuff and Manuel made the most of it. Manuel continued to hone his skills playing American Legion for Joe Ortwein.
By the time his senior year rolled around, Manuel was one of the top pitchers in the state and his name had spread from one college coach to another. His performances soon caught the attention of a head coach that was trying to build a program at LSU. That man was no other than Skip Bertman.
Bertman knew he wanted scrappy, hard working, blue collar players to help take the program to the next level and Manuel was good enough for a home visit from the legendary coach.
“Being in a small school like Mamou, people were saying that no one will see you pitch because it is so tiny,” commented Manuel. “But my high school head coach Billy McCauley kept calling colleges and telling them about me and I started getting noticed. Finally, word got out to Coach Bertman and he came watch me pitch. He must have liked what he saw because he offered me a chance to play.”
Manuel jokes that when Bertman got to the house to sign him, he said, “Barry, your city limit sign has ‘going and coming’ on the same side, that’s how small the town is. I had a hard time finding it.”
Manuel got to Baton Rouge in the fall of 1984 and began his college career in the spring of 1985 and found out about Bertman’s coaching style right away.
“Skip was hard on us,” said Manuel. “We ran a lot and we were in the classroom for many hours learning the game. He drilled us on details. I always said that Skip could get a dog off of the road and teach him how to play the game. He just had that knack of making you believe in him and in turn the more you believed in him, he would believe in you. He was just a great motivator.”
Manuel did not see a bunch of mound time his freshman year, but blossomed in his sophomore year, paralleling the success of the team. That year LSU made it to the College World Series for the first time ever in school history and according to Manuel, the Tigers should have won it all.
“We had a really good team that year,” stated Manuel. “We just did not do what we needed to win it all once we got there. That was a super fun year because we were a very tight knit team. .”
While at LSU, Manuel continued to grow into a pitcher. He was named to the Collegiate Baseball All-American team in 1986. During his tenure under Bertman (the pitching coach), Manuel developed more control and was introduced to a slider, which allowed him to turn into a premier middle reliever and later a closer.
Because Manuel showed the growth he did at LSU, he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the second round.
He began playing rookie ball and quickly moved up to Single A ball in Port Charlotte, Florida. It was here that Manuel faced a huge learning curve.
“I was the type, that if the coach said try this out, I was going to do it,” said Manuel. “But I found out that some things are not for everyone. So, I struggled early on, until I found my way.”
One good thing came about while at Port Charlotte during his first season, his brother Ferrell had latched on with the Rangers after going through a try-out with the team and was his teammate for a short period of time.
“Ferrell was my catcher at Port Charlotte,” stated Manuel. “That was an awesome experience, without a doubt.”
Manuel was made a starter during that time to get some quality innings in and then settled into his role as a closer. After that change, Manuel’s career took off and was moved to Double A ball and finally was called up to the Majors in September of 1991.
Manuel stayed with the Rangers, bouncing back and forth from the Major and Minor Leagues before being traded to Baltimore. From there he spent a year with the Montreal Expos and then found himself with the New York Mets the following year.
Manuel finished his MLB career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998 and finished his pro career in Japan with the Seibu Lions. He retired after that year because of problems with his hip and has since had a hip replacement.
Being a part of a Major League clubhouse was dream come true for the small town boy from Mamou, especially when you are able to be around the likes of Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Jr., Goose Gossage and Vladimir Guerrero.
“My first experience with Goose, I had just sat down in the bullpen and did not know that I was in his spot,” stated Manuel. “He came over and took my jacket and threw it in the water and told me to get out of his place. He wasn’t trying to be a butt, he was trying to size me up. But, it was great to get to be around those guys. They showed me how to be a professional.”
Now, Manuel enjoys taking what he has learned in his baseball career and sharing that with the younger generations. Manuel is the assistant baseball coach at Westminster and also has a pitching camp during the summer and gives private lessons on the side.
When asked what he would tell any kid whose dream it is to play in the Major Leagues, Manuel was very straight forward.
“It is very attainable,” stated a sincere Manuel. “Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. If you believe it can happen, it can. But, it takes a ton of hard work. You have to continue to do the right thing day after day. You cannot have any excuses and you will miss out on a lot because of the work you put in. But, in the end if that is your dream, go for it.”
Seems like pretty sound advice from someone who has been there, done that.