by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
February 27, 2031: Mokule’ia, O’ahu, Hawaii – It didn’t take long after the end of Aurora’s failed PEC run when Michel Provost announced his retirement from baseball on November 2nd. After leaving Aurora after the 2028 season that was lost due to a torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow, he spent a year in Fargo and a year in Kalamazoo. A combined 18-19 record, a 4.24 ERA, and 91 walks – more walks than he had thrown in the previous 6-seasons, combined, convinced the 38-year old Canadian that it was time to call it quits.
And it didn’t take the Borealis long to follow that retirement announcement to make one of their own – that Michel Provost was taking his ‘train’ and ‘rollin’ it to the Hawaiian Islands as pitching coach for the Oceanic – Aurora’s Short A club in the Surf and Snow Amalgamation. While the Big League Club was beginning preparations for the Spring Training schedule in Grand Junction, I flew to the Islands to catch-up with Mike and get a feel for where he is, what’s his future hopes and plans, and other thoughts. As it turns out, the 5-time Golden Arm was searching for a home on the Island and was filming an episode of HGTV’s Hawaii Hunters.
As we drove from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at Waikiki (home of Hartford’s Waikiki Coconuts club) to Waialua, a community just outside Mokule’ia (just to the west, on O’ahu’s North Shore), Mike Provost and I discussed the nature of coaching. “As the years passed in Aurora, I found myself naturally gravitating towards the young guys – especially during Spring Training, sharing ideas about how to be more focused during a game, how to prepare, what to look for during a game – especially as batters look to adjust in the later innings. I look forward to working with the young guys here in Hawaii – and what better weather could you ask for!”
I asked him who he looked forward to working with while coaching at Mokule’ia. “One guy I had heard a lot of promise about is Orinosuke Fujii, a hard-throwing kid who is going to open spring training in Colorado. I see he was very successful last year, and the Organization tells me he’s likely to begin at San Luis Rio Colorado. There’s Carlos Herrera, who was a draftee last year (out of Oxford, in the 6th round). He had a 3.06 ERA and 85 K in 100 innings. He needs focus on his control – and that’s what I am here for – to get guys to really focus on their control and throw strikes.” When pressed to name another name, Lorenzo Lopez came to mind, “I’ve seen this kid throw on tape – and he’s got a potentially devastating slider – we are going to definitely focus on the mechanics there – he could be averaging 10 K a game with that pitch.”
“One day I hope to find myself back at Northern Lights,” Mike said, when the conversation turned towards the future. “I see ‘Stork’ has been moved up through the Organization, following a collection of arms that he’s worked with, and someday, I hope the same will happen here. Who knows – I might even end up managing, although it would be a lot of fun to be working with ‘Big Whiskey’ – that would no doubt excite the fans.” For that to happen, of course, the former-Aurora 3B and Royal Raker, will have to call it quits, too. For now, he continues to ply his trade in Fargo, looking for his 400th HR and 2,000th hit. But the day will come – no doubt about it, but for now, the fans in the Hawaiian League will be treated to the likes of one of the All-Time Greats, Michel Provost, as he man’s the bullpen’s around the Islands.
