Toronto Raptors<\/a> assistant coach Mike Batiste \u2014 known to everyone around the team as \u201cBig Mike\u201d \u2014 took full advantage.<\/p>\nThe Raptors\u2019 recent trip to Phoenix coincided with Batiste\u2019s son\u2019s, Mike Jr.\u2019s, trip through Arizona on Canadian Premier, an under-18 travel team of elite Canadian baseball prospects, playing showcase games against rookie pros on MLB teams based in the Phoenix area.<\/p>\n
The Raptors had an optional practice, but his fellow coaches covered for him, allowing Batiste to head out to the Seattle Mariners\u2019 spring training facility.<\/p>\n
The temperature crested above 40 degrees Celsius by noon, but Batiste couldn\u2019t have been happier.<\/p>\n
Also in town was Batiste\u2019s wife, Sarah, his daughter Sydney, and Mike\u2019s sister, Maureen, who played college basketball with Sarah at Cal State Northridge \u2014 which is how Mike, who played at Arizona State, and his wife were introduced. Both of Mike Jr.\u2019s grandmothers were on hand, too.<\/p>\n
The family gathered under the tree nearest the backfield diamond, seeking the best combination of shade and sightlines.<\/p>\n
But Big Mike was up against the fence, soaking up as much of the experience as he could, shade or no shade.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes in a schedule, things just work out,\u201d he said. \u201cMy son got this invite. We’re sitting looking at the schedule, and we (the Raptors) were in Arizona at the same time. It’s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an awesome off-season, in general, baseball-wise for the Batistes.<\/p>\n
Just after the NBA all-star break, Mike Jr. learned he had been ranked as a top-10 prospect for North America in the 2028 high school class.<\/p>\n
Six weeks later, the 16-year-old\u2019s face still splits into a smile at the thought of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was amazing. I can’t even express my emotions,\u201d said Mike Jr. \u201cI remember I had got up immediately and went straight upstairs to my mom. She was on a call for work, and I was like, \u2018Mom, you gotta get off the phone, you gotta get off the phone, look, look!\u2019 And she didn’t understand what it was. I was like, \u2018Mom, I got ranked 10th in America!\u2019 And then she was like, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019<\/p>\n
His next move was to call his Dad, who was walking to the Apple Store in downtown Chicago, where the Raptors were preparing to play the Bulls in their first game back after the break. He was with fellow Raptors assistant coach James Wade when his phone lit up, and his son\u2019s excitement was vibrating from 800 kilometres away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was an awesome moment,\u201d said Wade, who played basketball professionally in Europe at the same time Batiste was hooping professionally overseas. \u201cI get chills thinking about it. Mike\u2019s probably one of the best American basketball players to ever step foot on European soil, but he was more excited for his son than he ever is for himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both very proud of our kids \u2026 and watching him when his son was being recognized for something he\u2019d accomplished, that\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special, too, was a lucky Saturday in Phoenix. Sharing the big moments in person always is, even if it\u2019s not always possible. However, in Mike Jr.\u2019s case, chances are there will be plenty more big baseball moments to come.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a journey his father knows well, albeit in a different sport.<\/p>\n
Big Mike is in his third season as an assistant with Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, and previously coached with Houston, Washington, Orlando, Charlotte and Brooklyn after starting out with the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 G-League team in Canton, Ohio.<\/p>\n
Before that, the native of Long Beach, Calif., carved out a 14-year professional career that culminated in three EuroLeague championships with Panathinaikos in Athens and \u2014 just last May \u2014 him being recognized as one of the greats to ever play in Europe with a spot on the EuroLeague 25th anniversary team.<\/p>\n
But Mike Jr. chose baseball as his path early on. No one is quite sure why, though the influence of an older cousin is one theory. He got a chance to play all kinds of sports growing up, but it\u2019s always been baseball first, with a couple of broken televisions from spontaneous indoor sessions grooving his powerful swing being one of the only downsides.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a few times I had to leave the house and take a walk around the block to give myself a minute to calm down,\u201d said Big Mike, laughing.<\/p>\n
But otherwise, Mike Jr.\u2019s headlong dive into baseball has become a family hobby, with long drives to tournaments and showcase events providing off-season family time in the summers, while finding ways to balance 12-year-old Sydney\u2019s own baseball and hockey commitments as an exercise in time management.<\/p>\n
Baseball was a sport Big Mike played recreationally growing up, but he gave up as he grew into his broad-shouldered, six-foot-nine frame, and it was clear basketball was going to be his calling.<\/p>\n
Mike Jr. still plays high school basketball, and at six-foot-five and 230 pounds at age 16, the Grade 10 student at Port Credit Secondary School likely turned some heads, but it\u2019s just something he does for fun.<\/p>\n
Baseball, though? That could be something different, given he\u2019s a switch-hitter with power. He\u2019s topped 93 m.p.h. on his throws from the outfield, and his average exit velocity (the speed of the ball off the bat) at a combine event last summer was 94.4 with a maximum of 104.3 m.p.h., per PrepBaseballReport.com, which would be impressive numbers for a college-aged player.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s those kinds of measurables that have Mike Jr. on the radar as a high-end prospect both in Canada and the U.S. During the summer season, he plays for the highly regarded Ontario Blue Jays program, which counts major leaguers Josh and Bo Naylor among its recent alumni. And he\u2019s shown well enough to be included on what is, essentially, a hand-picked prospect team giving MLB clubs an early look at Canadian talent against professional competition \u2014 in addition to the game against the Mariners rookies, Canadian Premier played teams fielded by the Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s a very powerful kid. I think that\u2019s his No. 1 tool. When you watch him hit batting practice, especially in the thin Arizona air, the ball turns into a golf ball in a hurry off of his bat,\u201d said Jamie Romack, the manager for Canadian Premier U18. \u201cBut I think overall, I’m really impressed with his preparation. He goes about it as a kid in a very professional way. He’s advanced in that sense. The fact that he switch hits is another asset, and he can throw as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the tool set is all there for him, it\u2019s just gonna be a matter of getting more reps and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Jr. credits his dad for the behind-the-scenes insights into what it takes to be a professional, which have helped him build the habits that have allowed him to frame his talents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve seen all the pro basketball players, their warmup and how they train, and that shows me what I need to do,\u201d Mike Jr. said. \u201cAnd that’s why I feel more mature for my age, just seeing the preparation and the work and the desire and the hours and the sweat and tears that it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he also appreciates that, for all of his Dad\u2019s (and Mom\u2019s) ties to elite basketball, there was never a push or pull in one direction or another.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lets me figure it out,\u201d said Mike Jr. \u201cHe didn’t push basketball on me; he let me choose my own path, my own legacy, my own journey. But he’s always supporting me. He’s my backbone. He’s always there for me, always calling me, always checking up on me. And that\u2019s what I love about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Mike didn\u2019t have much of a choice when it came to identifying a path for his son to follow. From his point of view, his son has a passion for baseball, so it was always up to him to let it happen, and wherever it leads, it leads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like he has a spiritual call into this game. Like he wakes up, he thinks baseball, he sleeps baseball, he eats baseball,\u201d said Big Mike. \u201cHe studies the game. He knows all the stats, all the players, and it’s good sometimes to sit down and talk with him, just to get a different aspect of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, we’re watching the World Baseball Classic, and he’s telling you every single player. And it’s just like, not just the American players. He’s giving you the Italian roster, the Canadian roster, Venezuela. He knew it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Mike doesn\u2019t pretend to be a baseball guru or, in the case of his daughter, a goaltending expert. He\u2019s happy his kids are passionate about something and loves the opportunity their sports provide for family time, even if it comes at a price.<\/p>\n
\u201cBaseball, hockey … they chose two expensive sports. I gotta dig in my pocketbook,\u201d he joked, laughing while echoing the lament of sports parents everywhere.<\/p>\n
But what Big Mike can offer is some insights beyond metrics like bat speed or arm strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m always gonna be \u2018Dad,\u2019 but at the same time, the advantages that I have, coaching at the highest level, it gets kicked down to both of my kids,\u201d he said with a damp towel around his neck in a futile attempt to beat the desert heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to him about the work, the habits, having a routine, studying. He\u2019s still a kid at the end of the day, but he can take the time to watch 20 minutes of YouTube highlights \u2014 there\u2019s game breakdowns in the MLB app. There are nuances and details that always matter in between winning and losing, so I try to instill the value of the little things.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we talk about being a good teammate and having character, not only as a person, but having good baseball character \u2014 a positive vibe, being upbeat \u2014 because I told him, you\u2019ve picked a sport where you\u2019re going to fail more times than not.\u201d<\/p>\n
On that sunny March Saturday, that\u2019s how things play out.<\/p>\n
Mike Jr. is one of the youngest members of Canadian Premier and is facing signed professionals in their late teens or early 20s. The fastballs are coming in the low 90s with movement. There are breaking pitches and off-speed stuff.<\/p>\n
In his first at-bat, he struck out on three mighty cuts. On his second, it\u2019s a weak contact to the middle infield. In between, he handles his chances in right field cleanly, but on his third chance at the plate, he squares one up, and his Dad, along with the gathering of MLB scouts and friends and family serving as the audience, pauses to watch the ball take flight to deep centre field.<\/p>\n
It unfortunately ran out of gas just short of the fence, nearly 400 feet away, as the centre fielder was able to gather it on the warning track, forcing Mike Jr. to jog back to the dugout.<\/p>\n
But the long, loud out is proof of concept. And, hey, the kid learns fast. A few days later, Mike Jr. had an RBI in a comeback win for Canadian Premier over the Los Angeles Dodgers, his dad\u2019s favourite team growing up in southern California.<\/p>\n
But on that Saturday, with the game over, baseball and basketball took a back seat for the rest of the afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n
The agenda? An afternoon by the pool at a nearby friend\u2019s house, followed by some dinner.<\/p>\n
No games. Just some family time on Spring Break. A gift from the NBA schedule to be cherished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 For people who work in the NBA, the long, unforgiving schedule often means missing some moments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-690524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-raptors","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-raptors","13":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116325656541850467","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}