JAMEY WRIGHT, OKLAHOMA LEGEND

Former Westmoore star coaching for the Dodgers

Jamey Wright is an Oklahoma legend. After spending 19 years in the big leagues, the only Westmoore Jaguar baseball player in program history to play in the big leagues is back in Oklahoma and ready to take the next step in his post-playing career.

The Westmoore icon has taken on the role of pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple A franchise in Oklahoma City. The move brings Wright closer to home, but, in many ways, it is like he never left. homa. “We’re Oklahoma Sooners to the core. My wife went there, my sisters went there, my brother-in-law went there. We watch every football game every time we come home.

“We’ve lived in a bunch of different places… we’re Oklahoma people and we never ever forgot where we come from.”

Wright was named the Southwest Region Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Westmoore. His prep career was so impressive, he was drafted in the first round by the Colorado Rockies straight out of high school in 1993. Wright pitched 19 years in the big leagues with 10 different teams.

He made teams as a non-roster invitee in eight straight seasons. Wright pitched for the Dodgers in relief in 2012 and 2014 and signed again with them in 2016 before announcing his retirement at the end of spring training.

“I had a million different things going through my head, while I am on the mound sometimes, I would ask if I was looking at the glove when I threw that pitch,” Wright said at the time of his retirement. “My focus had been somewhere else. I have no regrets in this game. Everything I got I had to work really, really hard for. What I tell some of the young guys is that the hardest thing to do is staying in the big leagues, and there is no excuse for letting somebody out-work you.”

The hard work is a staple of what Wright is hoping to infuse into the young Dodger pitching staff.

“You blink and all of a sudden you’re that veteran guy. It goes by so quick and you’re just trying to stay in the moments,” Wright said. “The first three years, I remember bits and pieces … you’re trying to learn and trying to kind of get your footing in the league and go out there and perform all the while they draft 50 new kids every year trying to take your job.

“You bury your head and try to get better in the work. That’s what I miss the most is the work I put in. What it took to get there and what it took to stay there… that’s a big message from me to these guys. Anyone can make the big leagues. You want a cup of coffee or do you want a career? All that revolves around the work and finding a way to separate yourself from other guys.”

As a veteran, Wright became a resource to his teammates.

“The last six or seven years I turned into that guy, the goto-guy in the clubhouse, the veteran presence and whatever those guys needed I was willing to provide and help. That experience was fun and that was part of the reason that I got into coaching so I can continue to do that.”

However, the transition to coaching was not an immediate pursuit for Wright. In fact, Wright had other opportunities he felt he needed to pursue first.

“(Coaching) is something I knew I would love, and I knew I would be good at this,” Wright said. “I felt like I was doing it the last four or five years as a player, being a player/coach. Dodger General Manager Andrew Freidman asked me the last time I walked out of the clubhouse to come on board.

“I had it in my head that I would do the agent thing, which was a good learning experience, but it wasn’t really the thing for me. All those phone calls and stuff like that wasn’t me and, at the end of the day, I care more about helping and mentoring these guys.”

When COVID-19 hit, it changed some of the plans for Wright and the Dodgers, just as it did for everyone. From in-person pitching and learning sessions to zooms and phone calls, but

“It was sooner than I anticipated becoming the pitching coach in OKC but I’m happy to be here and excited for the challenge,” he said.

Wright has immediately had the opportunity to work with some of the top prospects in the organization. The top-pitching prospect for the Dodgers is Josiah Gray who is currently in Triple-A learning from Wright.

“He’s been awesome, man,” Gray said of Wright. “I think he’s a really integral part of the organization and is going to be a really important guy for us Triple-A pitchers right now. It’s been really exciting to just pick his brain… let him go on his shorter rants about competing and what he’s seen and how they can relate to you.”

Competition, that is the foundation of what Wright wants to instill in his young pitchers and carry with them throughout their career.

“I was almost kind of pitching for my life the last 11-12 years,” Wright said. “It’s also something that helped me to keep an edge, to keep a fire. The work that’s required to get to that level and to stay at that level, even if that means reinventing yourself or inventing a new pitch, or always trying to get better, that’s kind of the message to these guys.

“We’ve got some really good arms and some really good guys. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun this year.”

Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary said Wright’s transition has been smooth.

“His ability to build relationships with the pitchers, you can just kind of see it from afar that these guys are really fortunate to have him,” said Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary. “Now I think it’s just a matter of him getting into a rhythm of the game and then doing it from the dugout instead of being out on the mound. His experience is going to be invaluable for us.”

While Wright continues to share his experience and expertise with the next wave of major league pitchers for the Dodgers, he can’t help but keep an eye on his alma mater. With three Westmoore alums currently on the Oklahoma Sooners Baseball roster, Wright has been playing close attention to what has been happening at Mitchell Park. And, in his mind, it’s a product of the culture that was created around Westmoore baseball.

“I think it’s just a byproduct of the people at the school, the support system,” Wright said of the Westmoore influence on the Sooner roster. “I can’t say enough things about the support system I had with the coaches and the families. Everybody is rooting for everybody and that’s kind of rare sometimes. Some places people are out for #1 but not here.

“I follow these guys and they don’t know it but I’m their biggest fan. Every single one of these guys that get a chance to play at the next level that’s a special thing. We’ll be retired baseball players for a lot longer than we’re players. To be able to go and do it after high school, D1 or anywhere, that’s an accomplishment and that’s a special thing to go out and lace up the spikes and play a kid’s game.”

The path to get to the big leagues has a much different look now for Jamey Wright. Instead of grinding every day on his own technique, he is working to perfect the skill of others. It is a special and challenging task, but it is made even more special because that new challenge and road begins 10 miles from his hometown. –19SM