Sports > Columnists > Bob Lutz

  Bob Lutz  

North shortstop could impact Shockers' future

Tyler Grimes hit a home run in his first at-bat against East High earlier this season, but in his following three trips to the plate he swung at first pitches and flew out each time.

"We were up 16 runs and he was just fuming," North coach Kyle Sanders said. "He was pitching a no-hitter at the time and he was still mad."

That's just Grimes, a senior who will lead North into the Class 6A tournament in Topeka next week.

He gets his intensity from his father, Darin, a two-time All-City player for North during the early 1980s and one of the fiercest competitors you'll ever see.

"I didn't think anyone could ever be as hard-nosed as Darin was, but Tyler is," Sanders said. "And he's also blessed with talent..."

So much talent that he just might be the jewel of Wichita State's 2008 recruiting class. Grimes is most definitely a professional prospect, but he is telling scouts that, while he appreciates their interest, he is going to be a Shocker.

That doesn't keep the scouts from talking. But - so far -Grimes isn't doing a lot of listening.

He is a slick-fielding shortstop with some pop in his bat, as his six home runs this season attest. He can run and he has an explosive arm.

His regular-season stats: .500 average, 34 runs, 24 RBIs and 14 extra-base hits in 20 games.

At 17, though, he's far from a finished product. He still chases too many pitches outside of the strike zone and hasn't quite perfected the ability to hit quality off-speed stuff.

But it's all there, just waiting to be molded.

"I was a lot uglier than he is," Darin Grimes said. "Tyler is a pretty boy out there; I just got it done. He's graceful, a lot smoother than I was in the field.

"And I always got hits to the opposite field because my bat was slow. Tyler's bat is a lot quicker than mine was."

Darin Grimes isn't telling the whole truth.

He was also a Wichita State recruit, along with North teammate Mark Standiford. The Shockers envisioned Grimes as their everyday shortstop who would become one of their best players.

"That guy was a player," WSU pitching coach Brent Kemnitz said. "In my mind, he was an All-American type of player. He could run, he had a chance to really hit. And the way we play, the turf would have really showcased his ability."

Darin Grimes, though, never much cared for school. So when the Kansas City Royals picked him in the seventh round of the Major League draft, then made a decent monetary offer, he jumped.

"We were disappointed," Kemnitz said. "But we knew his stock was rising."

Darin Grimes doesn't know what happened to him when he hit the pro ranks. But he stopped being the player he had been.

Hits were few and far between. His defense suffered. It was everything he could do to make a decent throw to first base.

Professional baseball was a disaster.

"I probably batted a buck-fifty in my 2 ½ years of pro ball," Grimes said. "They tried to change everything I did and I was overmatched with the wood bat. I thought I was good enough. I thought I had it all. But I was embarrassing myself."

He is glad his kid isn't going to make the same potential mistake. Darin knows now he was too young and too immature to make it work in pro ball. He missed home and he felt out of place.

Tyler has heard his father's horror stories, which has made it so much easier for him to stick by his decision to go to college and wait for the pros.

"My dad doesn't really like to talk about it, but I'll bring it up to him sometimes because I want to know what he was thinking," Tyler said. "He knows now that if he would have gone to school and gotten his degree, it would have been better for him."

Tyler Grimes is looking forward to playing college baseball in his hometown and with one of his best friends, Goddard's Logan Watkins. They could end up being the Shockers' double-play combination for two or three years.

"We're really comfortable up the middle together," said Grimes, who will be Watkins' teammate this summer for the Wichita Braves.

"Tyler is gifted," said Standiford, who coaches the Braves. "One of the best infielders I've seen in a long time. He understands the game, he loves the game."

Standiford thinks Grimes is making the right decision to go to WSU and put his professional dreams on hold.

"It's a big step to make from high school to pro ball," he said.

A step Darin Grimes wasn't ready for. The son has learned from the father's experience.

Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com.