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Cape Central baseball honors longtime coach Terry Kitchen as his son and Tigers coach Tatum adapts to life without him
During practice, Tatum Kitchen will see a car drive pass or hear an engine rumble and for a brief moment he wonders, 'Is that them?' Terry Kitchen was many things -- a coach, an administrator, "Mr. Tiger," and a father to Tatum -- but discreet wasn't one of them.
So when Terry and his wife Barbara drove by the Cape Girardeau Central High School baseball fields during practice in a red Mustang, it wasn't hard for Tatum to spot his parents. Sometimes, they even parked the car in the gravel parking lot beyondw the left-field fence to get a better view.
"They would kind of just drive around -- I guess they wouldn't think I would notice -- but it was a red convertible and it would be real loud, rumbling by," said Tatum, Central's baseball coach.
Hats and helmets of the Cape Central baseball team with the initials TWK and the jersey number 21 in memory of the late Terry Kitchen are seen at the Cape Central baseball field Monday, March 18, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.
As the Tigers (1-1) prepare for their home opener at 5 p.m. today against Charleston, Tatum still sees that red car parked behind the fence from time to time. But now, only his mother is watching.
Terry Kitchen passed away Feb. 4 after a lifetime dedicated to the Cape Girardeau School District and coaching, earning the nicknames "Mr. Tiger" and "Coach" due to his passion for those endeavors.
A 1970 Central graduate, Terry held various positions within the school district, including high school athletic director and junior high athletic director and football coach. Baseball was where he made his greatest mark as a coach, compiling a school-record .769 winning percentage at the high school and setting records for district championships and final four appearances. Fittingly, it's on the diamond where Tatum carries on the family legacy of varsity head coaching.
"It's definitely different," Tatum said. "It's going to be weird the first home game."
Before today's high school opener, a tribute will be read out over the loudspeakers and there will be a moment of silence.
That's far from the only tribute to Kitchen's legacy. When Central opened the season Saturday, their batting helmets had a special decal on the back "TWK21," and those same letters and numerals were stitched onto the back of their hats (Terry's middle name was Wyatt and his jersey number was 21).
Tatum Kitchen, Cape Central's baseball coach, poses for a portrait while wearing the team hat with his father, Terry Kitchen s, initials TWK and his jersey number 21 on the back of the hat at the Cape Central baseball field Monday, March 18, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.
The junior high has even gotten involved, selling T-shirts with baseball embroidery and the "TWK21" design. The proceeds are going to the Terry W. Kitchen Male Athlete Scholarship. The junior high baseball team is also wearing hats bearing "TK21." During practices, Tatum wears that cap, saving the high school version for the games.
And at some point this season, a framed 21 jersey will be hung on the outfield fence, not far from where Terry would set down his lawn chair to watch games.
"Ever since I played at Cape Central and came back and coached at Cape Central, coach Kitchen was always present, whether it be out in the outfield like you said, or in the dugout, or even after games, talking," assistant coach Josh Meyer said. "I'm sure once we start playing home games, we'll get out there, we'll miss him a lot."
Tatum has already noticed that missing presence, and it goes beyond a car driving by during practices. During baseball season, a day wouldn't go by where he didn't talk with his father.
"I would sometimes bounce ideas off him, but most of the time, he would pummel me with ideas," Tatum said with a chuckle. "But no, it's already a very different spring for me because we would talk pretty much daily. He would either call me, or I would call him after practice."
The outpouring of support has helped as Tatum has seen first-hand the lives his father touched. Before the season opener, Tatum received a Facebook message from Derek Voerg. It read, "The Class of 80 sends you their best for the opener."
Tatum Kitchen, Cape Central's baseball coach, holds a hat and helmet with his dad, Terry Kitchen s, initials TWK with his jersey number 21 at the Cape Central baseball field Monday, March 18, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.
"It's cool in a way to re-establish with some of the older alumni," Tatum said. "Like when we had the funeral and the visitation, it was interesting to meet people I had heard him talk about, that I knew he had played with or he had coached."
It goes beyond former players reaching out. Softball coach Justin Lieser got the hats from Tatum and, with the help of Howard's Athletic Goods, got them embroidered. Cory Johnson of BSN Sports designed the helmet decals at Tatum's request. Ahead of today's opener, the players' parents cleaned the dugouts.
Days after Terry's death, the boys basketball team wore headbands with his name on them in a win over Jackson. Later that month, after a thrilling district semifinal win over Notre Dame, senior Kinyon Hodges said "God and Coach Kitchen" were the reason he hit a miraculous last-second shot.
"It's one of those things, when he's your dad, you underestimate the impact he's had on people," Tatum said. "It was incredible, and it's still been incredible. We still have people talk about him all the time. ... I think it's very deserving. He is kind of one-in-a-million, and he did kind of breathe orange and black."
The tributes go beyond apparel and moments of silence. The players have talked about dedicating the season to Terry Kitchen. For Tatum, the best way to do that is through their play on the field.
Tatum Kitchen, Cape Central's baseball coach, holds a hat with his dad, Terry Kitchen s, initials TWK with his jersey number 21 at the Cape Central baseball field Monday, March 18, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.
"I tell them, 'We better be very good then because he would not tolerate anything less than that,'" Tatum said.
It's true. When Terry, a proud and protective father, watched games from the hill behind right-center field, he couldn't stand to see his son's team make a mistake, even if the game was out of reach.
"He would not stay very long because he was a nervous wreck," Tatum said. "So we could be winning by 10, and if somebody did something wrong, he couldn't take it. It drove him insane."
His impact on the Central baseball extends beyond Tatum. Terry coached Meyer, and most of the current players know him from his time as athletic director at the junior high, whose athletic facilities now bear his name.
"You can't go to Cape Central, whether it be junior high, high school, you can't go to Cape Central and not know and respect and have an experience with Coach Kitchen, whether it be pep talks," Meyer said. "He'd paint his face and wear all orange. You can't go through that experience and not experience Coach Kitchen. He is Cape Central. So you talk about the basketball team, the football team, all the sports are affected because he was an impact to everywhere, not just to baseball.
"He was a great baseball coach, but he was a better person that impacted every sport at Cape."
As Central opens its home baseball slate today, that impact can be seen on the field. It's everywhere, from the helmets and hats the Tigers wear to the last name of the head coach to the coaching methods of the assistants.
And if one looks hard enough, beyond the left-field fence they may spot a red Mustang sitting in the gravel parking lot.