Ian Hendricks said his father never forced him into baseball.
But now, the son of late Orioles legend Elrod Hendricks is following in the path of his father.
Ian Hendricks, 29, was named head varsity baseball coach at his alma mater, McDonogh School in Owings Mills.
“I don?t want to say its something I?ve always dreamed about, but in a way it?s a dream come true,” Hendricks told The Examiner in a phone interview Wednesday. “It feels good to kind of give back to the school. I have a lot of pride in McDonogh in the fact that I went there.”
Hendricks replaces former head coach Chet Janiga, who stepped down following a 5-17 season. Janiga mentioned spending time with family as an impetus for his resignation.
“More than that, he?s ready to take over as a high school baseball coach,” Janiga said of Hendricks.
When Hendricks found out, it didn?t take long for his father to come to mind.
“Right away. It was one of those things where I?ve always wanted to do it,” Hendricks said. “I?ve always wanted to be a head coach, especially since last year, with him being reassigned.”
Hendricks said the Orioles decision last fall to reassign his father, who passed away in December, immediately got him thinking about bringing his dad to games to help out.
“I?ve noticed in the past year when situations would come up, and I would think back to when I would go to my dad and ask him what would you do here, what would you do to correct this problem. Now it?s kind of like, where do I go and who do I ask,” Hendricks said. “I think about him constantly.”
THE IAN HENDRICKS FILE
High school: McDonogh
College: St. Andrews Presbyterian
Did you know? Hendricks, who played secondbase, was a part of the 1992 MSA A Conference title squad at McDonogh ? Hendricks signed a contract with the New York Mets out of college and played one season with the organization?s rookie-league team in Port St. Lucie (Fla.)
