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Volume 5, No. 15
Growing up, Bryan Little often recalls being told he was too tiny to play with the big boys of the big leagues. Skeptics said you needed to carry a big stick to stick in professional baseball. And the 145-pound Little was simply stuck with the nickname "Twig." "(Scouts) didn’t think I had the size and strength to make it to the big leagues," said Little, the MVP of Texas A&M’s 1980 team. "They thought if I got into professional baseball that I would just wilt away."
They were wrong, of course. Little, now the first base coach of the Chicago White Sox, just completed his 21st season in pro baseball. He played five seasons in "the show" and consistently showed he had the heart, hustle and knowledge for a career in the game. As an infielder from 1982-86 with the Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees, he never carried a big stick, but he became the best bunter in the game. Twice he was voted by major league managers and players as the best bunter in baseball, and he led the National League with 24 bunt hits in 1983. Sticks and stones may break bones, but words of doubt never took Twig off course. "I was always the type," says Little, "who was like, ‘No wait a minute. You’re not going to tell me I can’t play in the big leagues, and so I really worked hard. I left A&M in June of 1980, and it was kind of a quick trip to the big leagues. I was in the big leagues by June of 1982." Little, who still calls Aggieland his home base, looks back on proving skeptics wrong with a sense of satisfaction. But it wasn’t actually others that motivated him as much as it was his own love for the game. Little, whose brother Grady is the bench coach for the Cleveland Indians, put a priority on baseball at an early age. As a youngster, he was willing to make any sacrifice it took to realize his dreams. In fact, his willingness to leave anything behind to follow his dreams was perhaps symbolized best when Little received the phone call he had been waiting for practically his entire life. "I’ll never forget that I was in a hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa for a series there in the American Association and my AAA manager called and told me I was going to the big leagues," said Little, 40. "I said I’m not even packing, and I left all my stuff in the hotel room. I told my roommate he could have everything or pass it out. Whatever he could wear, wear it. If he couldn’t, give it to someone else because I was gone. I left everything I owned there. It was an experience. Luckily, I have been in baseball ever since." He’s been on the go ever since, as well. And while he was once willing to leave everything behind without a second thought, Little’s perspective has changed over the years as he has gotten older and started a family. Working in Chicago and living in Bryan has made things difficult during the season on him, his wife Yvonne and his two children, Matthew and Brittany. But a career in baseball also has advantages. From October to February, Little is often able to be a full-time father and husband, although he occasionally substitute teaches at Bryan High. He takes his kids to school in the morning and can be there for them when they come home. "Some dads with regular hours don’t get to do that," Little said. "Matthew is in the fourth grade, and Brittany is in kindergarten, and I really do spend a lot of quality time with them in the offseason. But Yvonne is the real MVP of this family. She is very special. Raising these kids at home by herself during the season, she just amazes me. Baseball can be a tough life for families, and it’s a grind on her and the kids. "It’s my life, and she’s supportive of that. The good thing during the season is my kids have gotten to travel quite a bit to meet up with me, and they’ve seen a lot of games." One of the most special moments of 2000, however, came when Little was the one traveling to see a ballgame. Matthew, 10, is a left-handed pitcher at Harvey Little League, and he was the starter in an All-Star game when the major league teams went into their All-Star break. Seeing that the timing was right, Bryan Little quickly booked a flight. "We had an afternoon game on Sunday, and the (major league) All-Star game was on Tuesday," Little said. "So, I was able to fly in and see Matthew’s game, which was really special. I don’t get to see many of his games, but my wife does videotape some of them, so I get to see those." It would be easier, of course, if the Little family moved to the Windy City. But Bryan Little says the joys of living in the shadows of Texas A&M are worth the inconveniences. "I just enjoy being an Aggie," said Little, a shortstop on Tom Chandler’s 1979 and ’80 teams. "It’s special to be a Texas A&M Aggie, and I love the area and being part of this community. I have a lot of friends, even guys who I played with at A&M, who are still around here. There’s no other place like it, and there’s no other school like Texas A&M." Little, who describes himself as a huge A&M football fan, wasn’t the only Aggie who helped make 2000 a remarkable season for the White Sox. Kevin Beirne, who played at A&M in 1994, pitched well out of the bullpen. And Kelly Wunsch, who lettered for the Aggies from 1991-93, was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises in all of baseball. Wunsch led the league with 83 appearances and had a 2.93 earned-run average.
Wunsch, in fact, played a starring role, as the White Sox streaked to an early lead in the American League’s Central Division and won it by five games over a Cleveland ballclub that had dominated the division in recent years. "Kelly came into spring training, made some changes with his mechanics and added something by becoming a sidearm guy, throwing from down under," Little said. "He started getting lefties out in key situations in spring training. We were looking for a guy who could do that, and Kelly was a great acquisition. "He was even better once the season started. He got the better left-handed hitters out in crucial situations, whether it was (Rafael) Palmeiro, (Jason) Giambi, (Matt) Stairs, Tino Martinez, (Carlos) Delgado or some of the other best left-handed hitters in the game." The White Sox, projected in the preseason to again finish near the basement in the Central, won 95 games and streaked into the postseason. But Chicago ran into hot-hitting Seattle, and the Sox were swept out of the playoffs, 3-0. Despite the postseason disappointment, Little says it was one of his most enjoyable years in baseball. And with such a young team, Little – as well as just about everyone else in baseball – expects the Sox to quickly be back in contention again. "(Manager) Jerry Manuel did an outstanding job with this club," said Little, who was first hired by the White Sox as roving minor league instructor in 1992. "This is something that we’ve been working toward. We decided to go young a couple years ago, and we took some heat for that. (General manager) Ron Schueler and (owner) Jerry Reinsdorf made some moves that a lot of people didn’t agree with, made some trades and got rid of some salary. "We had the nucleus of young talent in the minor leagues, and it was a perfect opportunity to center these guys around Frank (Thomas). … Definitely, nobody else thought we were going to do what we did. But we started strong and ran off about 25 (wins) in a 30-game stretch. We won three straight in Cleveland and swept the Yanks in four in New York on a seven-day road trip, which everybody thought was incredible. That really set the tone for the season. "All of the sudden, our young guys started to believe we really did belong in the upper echelon in the league. We are playing our butts off. The guys on ESPN and the print guys are saying that we can’t hold onto this, these kids can’t keep this pace, they’re going to fold. But we stayed out of long losing streaks and held on and ended up winning 95 ballgames, which was just incredible and was a special time for everybody." There are bound to be more special times in store for the White Sox in the immediate future. And for Little, perhaps the long-term future includes a shot at managing in the big leagues. "I would like to manage one day at the big-league level," said Little, who managed three years in the San Diego Padres’ system at Class A Waterloo. "As long as my wife lets me stay along the game that long, I could see that in my future." Don’t bet against it. Throughout his career in baseball, Twig has continually proven he is capable of fulfilling big – and big-league – dreams.
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