FRIDAY, MARCH 22
MICHIGAN THEATER
ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS REMAIN
GET YOURS TODAY AT LIVENATION.COM
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:
CANDIDATE MUST:
WHAT WE OFFER:
COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE WELCOME!
PLEASE RESPOND VIA EMAIL TO hr@877webuyscrap.com; OR CALL 877-932-8972
GET PAID AND HAVE YOUR WEEKENDS OFF!!
TRUCK TEAM CAPTAIN
We Cleanout Everything is a dynamic and growing company.
Our operation offers a fun and diverse work environment. We are currently recruiting motivated individuals to
lead our Truck Teams. Candidates must be customer service driven, high energy, and able to handle physical labor.
•$15.00 PER HOUR •PART TIME POSITIONS WITH FLEXIBLE SHIFTS •PAID TRAINING
•CUSTOMER SERVICE •TRUCK OPERATION •SCRAP AND JUNK REMOVAL
•POSSESS A VALID DRIVER’S LICENSE •HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRAIN NEW STAFF
•MANAGE TEAM MEMBERS •HAVE THE ABILITY TO WORK HARD (Physical labor)
NOW HIRING
NOW HIRING
Jimmy Kerr and three generations of Michigan baseball
Every player on the Michigan
baseball team has a mantra.
Something
they
repeat
to
themselves before every game,
every
at-bat,
every
pitch.
Something to get them in the
right mindset .
For most players, it’s action-
based. Attack. Right now. Pound
it.
Not Jimmy Kerr.
His mantra is three letters:
J. D. J.
J for John, his grandfather,
who
played
baseball
for
Michigan in the 60s. D for
Derek, his father, who did the
same 20 years later. And J for
Jimmy.
He wears their initials on his
glove, and he has them on his
bat. Every game. Every at-bat.
Every pitch.
J. D. J.
“We talk all the time about
how we’re standing on the
shoulders of great men. It’s
something we really value a
lot as a program,” Jimmy said.
“This is just my own little piece
of that, to have my dad and my
grandpa with me at all times.”
The Kerrs are a Michigan
family.
There’s
Jimmy,
who’s
now a senior in the school of
engineering. Derek met his
wife, Carolyn — Jimmy’s mom
— when they were graduate
students at the Ross School of
Business in the early nineties.
John also met his wife, Sharon,
here when they were students.
In 1962, John won a College
World Series as a starting
pitcher with Team 96.
In 1983 and 1984, Derek went
to the College World Series
twice as a catcher with Teams
117 and 118.
Now, in 2019, Jimmy starts at
third base as a captain for Team
153.
Though the Kerrs’ Michigan
tradition doesn’t start with
John — his parents also met
here — he was the first in the
family to compete for Michigan
baseball. As a starting pitcher
with
the
Wolverines
from
1960-62, John was a key part
of a commanding Michigan
pitching staff that helped the
Wolverines dominate the Big
Ten. More than fifty years
later, he still remembers how
his “nasty” changeup screwball
stifled batter after batter.
“Sophomore Kerr registered
his fifth straight win without a
defeat and stymied the Spartan
batsmen by never allowing a
runner to reach second base,”
the Daily reported in 1962.
“The capable starter kept the
ball low and around the plate
most of the afternoon, causing
the majority of men he faced to
hit bounders to the infield.”
Michigan
wouldn’t
have
gotten to the College World
Series without John. In the
regional final, he pitched both
ends of a doubleheader against
Illinois and Western Michigan.
He threw 313 pitches and
won both games to send the
Wolverines to Omaha, where
they defeated Santa Clara 5-4
in 15 innings.
“(Playing for Michigan) was
a great experience — one of
the best of my life,” John said.
“It brings back such wonderful
memories.”
Derek was the next of the
Kerrs
to
don
a
Michigan
uniform. After hearing stories
from his dad’s years playing
with the Wolverines, Derek
knew it was a program — and
a tradition — he wanted to be a
part of.
“I grew up bleeding blue,” he
said. “It was always a goal of
mine to come here and play at
the U of M.”
He walked onto the team as
a catcher in 1982 and earned
a varsity letter in three of his
four years with the team. The
Wolverines went to the College
World Series his freshman and
sophomore years and came
close his junior and senior
years.
Though Derek did not play
much, his four years playing
baseball at Michigan were still
full of meaning for him. He
played on teams with sports
agent Casey Close and future
Hall of Famer Barry Larkin,
who won the World Series in
1990 with the Reds.
Despite his minimal playing
time, coming to Michigan and
continuing his family’s legacy
both on and off the field was a
meaningful experience.
“It’s the best academic and
athletic
institution
in
the
country,” Derek said. “I never
thought of going anywhere else
for college.”
Growing up in a house with
such strong family ties to the
Michigan tradition, there was
never any question for Jimmy
about where he wanted to go
to college. After spending his
fall Saturdays watching the
Wolverines with his father,
Jimmy had no doubt that he one
day wanted to put on the block
M for himself.
“It was always my dream,
as a baseball player, to come
here and play for Michigan,”
he said. “Especially having my
family around — my parents
make it to most games, and my
grandparents have lived thirty
minutes away for the last four
years, so they’re always here
— just being able to represent
them while they’re in the stands
means everything to me.”
But as meaningful as it is for
the Kerrs to have Jimmy play
for Michigan, it was important
to everyone that the program
was the right choice for more
reasons than just tradition. The
family baseball lineage alone
could not be the sole reason
behind Jimmy’s choice.
Any
such
concerns
were
alleviated the minute Jimmy
stepped on campus for his
recruiting trip. The Kerrs were
all impressed with the culture
Michigan coach Bakich has
created, building not only great
athletes but great men.
“It’s special for us as a family
for him to have the opportunity
to play there. Coach Bakich
gave him the opportunity to
be a part of the team, and we
appreciate that and everything
else Coach Bakich has done
for him so much,” Derek said.
“It means so much to us — the
person he’s become playing
with such a special group of
players and playing under such
a special group of coaches.
“It’s one thing to be good
athletes, but it’s another thing
to develop this group of 35
kids into the people that they
are and the people that they’re
going to be when they’re done
with athletics.”
Though his playing time
was limited through his first
three seasons at Michigan,
Jimmy had plenty of bright
spots. He hit .375 with a .531
on-base percentage over 14
games as a freshman and had
a .412 slugging percentage and
a .964 fielding percentage as
a sophomore. As a junior, he
knocked out his first home
run of the season in a clutch
moment to help seal a series
win over Rutgers.
But as a senior, Jimmy has
stepped into a larger role with
the team, starting every game
this season. Since settling into
a role in the lower middle of
Michigan’s batting order, he
has 14 hits, three of which were
home runs, and 13 RBI on the
season so far.
“He’s hitting the ball with a
lot of juice in the bat,” Bakich
said. “It’s really good to see.”
But for a program that prides
itself so much on its history,
Jimmy represents more than
his offensive production and
his defensive statistics. He
embodies the tradition and
the history that the Michigan
baseball program is steeped in.
“To have a guy like that on
our team, he’s just such a great
inspiration and role model to
all the other guys,” Bakich said.
“It’s so easy how much it means
to him. It’s so much more than
most.”
When it faced Manhattan
on Mar. 17, Michigan brought
out its throwback uniforms.
To honor the 1962 team, the
Wolverines wore the jerseys
that team wore when they
won the College World Series,
giving Jimmy a chance to
wear the same jersey as his
grandfather did.
“Coach pulled up the picture
of the championship team in
our meeting today. We hadn’t
seen the jerseys before today.
When he pulled one out of his
bag, it looked almost exactly
the same (as the ones the 1962
team wore),” Jimmy said. “It
was just so cool to be able to
wear his jersey.”
For many, the jerseys were
simply a tribute to Michigan
teams
of
years
past.
For
Jimmy and John, they were a
symbolic connector, bridging
the generations of Kerrs to put
on the maize and blue.
“It’s
been
a
fabulous
experience to see (Derek) play
there and then to see Jimmy
play there,” John said. “It’s
hard to describe. It’s obviously
one of the highlights of my life.
I’m glad they had the same
experience that I did because
it was such a valuable, life-
changing experience.”
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
MICHIGAN MEN:
FIRST PITCH
8A — Thursday, March 21, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com