HEARTWARMING SURPRISE. IT IS NEW AT SIX. UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, THERE HAD BEEN SOME PLANS BY COACH BRETT. DRAPER 23 YEARS, 41 SEASONS, 899 WINS. THOSE WERE THE STATS OF COACH REIMER’S BASEBALL CAREER. WHEN HE RETIRED IN 2012 FROM THE GAME. I WAS ONE SHORT, EIGHT NINE, NINE UNTIL TUESDAY NIGHT WHEN HE WAS THROWN A CURVE BALL 23 YEARS OF HIS LIFE, DEDICATED. TO HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL AND ALL THE THINGS HE’S DONE FOR THE GAME AND TO BE STUCK AT THAT LITTLE ONE, LITTLE, THAT ONE LITTLE WIN. AND I SAID, WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN AND IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN. AND SO HE DID. WITH A CHANGE UP IN COACHES FOR A NIGHT, IT WAS HIS MISSION TO LET COACH REIMERS GET A FINAL HOME. RUN. BEST KEPT SECRET AROUND HERE. EVERYBODY ELSE KNEW IT EXCEPT I, EXCEPT ME. IN A SURPRISE, WITH SOME HELP FROM THE OKLAHOMA BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION, THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE COACH REIMERS HEAD COACH FOR A NIGHT. OF COURSE, THE WIN MADE HIS 900TH. IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU JUST UNDERSTAND THAT THERE’S STILL GREAT PEOPLE WITH GOLDEN HEARTS. AND IN THIS STILL IN THIS WORLD. AND, UH, YEAH, TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, THIS DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. BUT, YOU KNOW, IT’S A IT’S A REALLY NICE GESTURE. THE SURPRISE WAS ALSO A TEACHING MOMENT FOR THE PLAYERS. I THINK FOR OUR GUYS, MAYBE IT JUST SHOWS THEM, HEY, UM, KIND OF WHAT I WAS TAUGHT AT THE SAME AGE. JUST TRY TO GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO MAKE SOMEONE’S LIFE BETTER AND THAT’S KIND OF WHAT WE TRY TO DO. I’M DEEPLY. HUMBLED BY THE FACT THAT I GOT TO DO THAT YESTERDAY, AND TO GET THAT 900, AND I’M NOT SITTING AT EIGHT, EIGHT, NINE, NINE FOR THE REST OF
A decade after retirement, Oklahoma baseball coach gets surprise 900th win
But he didn't know it was happening at the time
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Updated: 6:23 PM CDT Apr 3, 2024
A retired baseball coach got something bigger than a title on Wednesday.After 23 years of coaching baseball and 899 wins, a former Tuttle coach got his 900th win. But he didn't know it was happening at the time.>> Download the KOCO 5 App"Unbeknownst to me, there had been some plans by Coach Breck Draper," said Kirk Reimers, the former Tuttle baseball coach.Reimers retired in 2012, after 41 seasons of coaching. He won hundreds of games, but was just shy of a milestone."I was one short, 899," Reimers said.But Tuesday night, he was thrown a curve ball."Twenty-three years of his life dedicated to high school baseball and all he has done for the game, and to be stuck at that one little win, I said, 'We can make that happen, and we need to make it happen,'" said Breck Draper, the head coach for Tuttle baseball.Draper made it his mission to let Reimers get one final win. So he threw a change-up in the coaching lineup."Best kept secret around here. Everybody else knew it except me," Reimer said.In a surprise, and with some help from the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association, they were able to make Reimers the head coach for the night. The game made it his 900th career win.Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here."It's one of those things you just understand. There are great people with golden hearts still in this world, and, yeah, to a lot of people, this doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but it's a really nice gesture to me and my family," Reimers said. "I'm deeply humbled by the fact that I got to do that yesterday and get that 900, and I'm not sitting at 899 for the rest of my career."The surprise was also a teaching moment for the players."I think for our guys, maybe, it shows them what I was taught at a young age: Go out of your way to make someone's life better, and that’s kind of what we try to do," Draper said.Top Headlines6 sisters attending Long Island university together with dreams of opening nursing centerRollover crash causes traffic delays on I-235 in Oklahoma CityRocklahoma 2024 lineup features big-name headlinersOklahoma nonprofit breaks ground on largest affordable housing development in its historyCrews battle massive flames after car catches fire in southwest OKC
TUTTLE, Okla. — A retired baseball coach got something bigger than a title on Wednesday.
After 23 years of coaching baseball and 899 wins, a former Tuttle coach got his 900th win. But he didn't know it was happening at the time.
>> Download the KOCO 5 App
"Unbeknownst to me, there had been some plans by Coach Breck Draper," said Kirk Reimers, the former Tuttle baseball coach.
Reimers retired in 2012, after 41 seasons of coaching. He won hundreds of games, but was just shy of a milestone.
"I was one short, 899," Reimers said.
But Tuesday night, he was thrown a curve ball.
"Twenty-three years of his life dedicated to high school baseball and all he has done for the game, and to be stuck at that one little win, I said, 'We can make that happen, and we need to make it happen,'" said Breck Draper, the head coach for Tuttle baseball.
Draper made it his mission to let Reimers get one final win. So he threw a change-up in the coaching lineup.
"Best kept secret around here. Everybody else knew it except me," Reimer said.
In a surprise, and with some help from the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association, they were able to make Reimers the head coach for the night. The game made it his 900th career win.
Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here.
"It's one of those things you just understand. There are great people with golden hearts still in this world, and, yeah, to a lot of people, this doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but it's a really nice gesture to me and my family," Reimers said. "I'm deeply humbled by the fact that I got to do that yesterday and get that 900, and I'm not sitting at 899 for the rest of my career."
The surprise was also a teaching moment for the players.
"I think for our guys, maybe, it shows them what I was taught at a young age: Go out of your way to make someone's life better, and that’s kind of what we try to do," Draper said.
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