Claremore Daily Progress

Sports Columnists

June 21, 2008

Terrell Lester on David Chester

Legion star loves the game of baseball

TERRELL LESTER Column



David Chester is all baseball. Through and through. He works at it. Plays at it. Lives it.

He’s a throwback. He plays baseball the way it used to be played. He enjoys baseball the way it used to be enjoyed by players.

He’s daytime baseball. Bubble gum-and-trading card baseball.

The way he frolics, he could have been a member of the Cardinalsí Gas House Gang.

The way he hits the ball, he could have been a member of the Yankees’ Murderer’s Row.

As it is, he plays baseball for the Rogers County Rangers — themselves something of a Murderer’s Row.

David Chester is the spiritual leader, the statistical leader of the Rangers, the Claremore-based American Legion team that has been averaging a dozen runs a game with a team batting average in the high-rent neighborhood of .350.

This is a team with talent. A lot of talent. Chester says so. Assistant coach Todd Bingham says so. Statistics say so.

But the face of this team, the heartbeat of this team is the 6-foot-5, 250-pound first baseman with a savage bat and a gentle nature.

“He is our dugout,” Bingham says. “He is a natural-born leader.”

David Chester is a natural-born baseball player.

He played football in high school at Collinsville. Played basketball, too. He had scholarship offers to play football at the collegiate level. Had even accepted one of them.

But baseball won out in an emotional tug-of-war with David Chester's decision-making psyche.

He was named to the 2006 All-State baseball team, and accepted a scholarship to Seminole on the day of the All-State game.

He calls baseball “America’s pastime” — a 19-year-old calling baseball “America’s pastime” has to be ballpark organ music to Bud Selig’s ears.

“It’s a beautiful game,” Chester says, his voice strong with passion.

It is, indeed, beautiful when you’re hitting .450, as Chester is this season, or hitting .472, as he did last season with the Rangers.

And, in between, he batted .350 as a freshman at Seminole State College, where in the fall and spring, the tradition-rich Trojans played more than 100 games.

For a fellow wanting to play baseball, wanting to follow his dream, life could be no better for David Chester.

He is a student of the game. He is inquisitive. He listens. He studies. He plays.

And he does it all with a smile on his face.

He is the clubhouse clown. He laughs. He jokes. He pulls pranks.

“I try to keep to keep it lively in the dugout,” he says.

But being the student of the game that he is, he knows when to end the laughter and when to begin the game.

He wants to coach someday. Not even out of his teens, he already possesses the maturity of a coach, the mentality of a coach.

“I love when the younger players come ask me questions,” he says.

“If I see them hitting, and they have a flaw, I’ll try to help them out.”

The same 19-year old who talks about “a beautiful game” and “America’s pastime” also refers to the 18-year-olds on his Rangers team as “younger players.”

He talks to his younger teammates about the importance of being a positive role model for youngsters in the stands. He talks about being a good representative for the game of baseball.

He is articulate and bright, responsible and mature.

He’s All-American handsome and all-world talkative, Roy Hobbs in “The Natural” with a loquacious turn.

“I like talking baseball,” he says, his eyes expressive in agreement.

At first base, he talks to umpires, coaches, opposing players.

In the dugout, he talks to teammates, coaches, fans in the stands.

As a schoolboy catcher, he talked to anyone within earshot.

“I love being around the game. It’s my life now,” he says.

“I work some, but I focus on baseball.

“I wake up, work out, hit.

“Hitting is the biggest part of the game of baseball. You can make a living off of it if you learn to do it right.

“It’s such a hard thing, though, hitting that round ball with a round surface. It can get frustrating.

“But like I tell some of the younger players: ‘Don’t worry, this game’s not meant for success. You’re going to struggle at times.’

“You can have seven out of 10 failures, and you can still be an all-star. You can be a Hall of Famer.

“That’s what’s so good about this game.

“If you miss seven out of 10 shots in basketball, you’re in trouble. You’re done.

“But in baseball, you can go 3-for-10 and make money. That’s a great thing.”

With the Rangers this summer, Chester has been going 4-for-10 and that has been an even greater thing for the team.



Chester on the Rangers

The Rangers entered the weekend with an 11-3 record. They have reached the state tournament the last two seasons, going 24-13 last season when Chester was on the squad.

“I’d say we’re three times the team we were last year,” Chester said. “We’re good.

“We’ve got some athletes out there. We’ve got some kids that can play.

“We can blister the ball. One through nine (the batting order), we can hit the ball anywhere in the park.”

He mentioned shortstop Kevin Phillips, infielder-pitcher Jarod Peper, outfielder Ben Kozma.

Peper has evolved into the closer, the stopper for the Rangers. “He can bring it,” Chester said.

Phillips, he said, “is a great defensive shortstop, great bat.”

Kozma “knows how to play the game,” Chester said. “He’s a great ballplayer.”

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