At 57, Lee Hunter is a rookie head coach, inspiring his players and the baseball community

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Lee Hunter was in a hospital for nine months 12 years ago.

Five years ago, he spent another four months in a hospital.

Through it all, baseball was there for him, to keep him going, to keep him motivated. His love for baseball never wavered, even when there were times when high school baseball seemingly tried to keep pushing him away from the game.

After all, the man had tried to get a head coaching position in high school baseball for 28 years. He previously applied 51 times. Of those, he said, he was a finalist 49 times.

On his 52nd attempt, he got the phone call he always wanted.

Hunter is 57 years old, and he is a rookie head coach for the Union Titans.

“It’s a dream come true,” Hunter said. “I had aspirations, like every kid, to play in the major leagues. My brother (Brian Hunter) was fortunate to reach that goal. But I wanted to coach more than I wanted to play.”

Lee Hunter graduated from Fort Vancouver High School in 1984, then played college baseball and some independent league ball. 

After his playing days were done, it was all about the coaching grind. He coached summer ball in Vancouver. He was an assistant with high school programs. And when he saw an opening for a top spot, he applied. 

“I knew my first attempts, I had some learning to do with the process. After six or seven attempts, I thought I was pretty good,” Hunter recalled. “I was baffled for the next 44.”

Still, he kept coaching in the summer, assisting in the spring. He said he learned from everyone he ever coached with, and he tried to stay positive. 

This week, the Union Titans are playing in the bi-district tournament, looking to qualify for the Class 4A state playoffs. And Lee Hunter is the head coach. Let that sink in a bit.

“This is a dream come true,” he said again. “It’s exactly what I thought it would be, and it’s awesome. I’m very, very happy.”

Brian Hunter is an assistant coach with the program, just adding to the dream scenario. 

“I can’t imagine how it could be any better,” Lee said.

Lee Hunter brings life experiences with him to the baseball diamond every day at practice. And a genuine joy.

“Perseverance is what got me here,” he said. “Never trying to focus on the negative, just staying positive. Working hard to get better for the next attempt. There’s always going to be a next attempt. The extra time and the extra attempts do make you appreciate something more. 

“Had I got this 20 years ago, I don’t know if I would have appreciated it as much as I do today. I don’t know if it would have been as good of a journey. Each year, I feel like I’ve gotten stronger in knowledge. There’s a lot of mistakes I probably don’t make today that I would have made 20 years ago. I get to come to this without going through the growing pains.”

There does not seem to be any anger toward being passed over so many times. Instead, there is an appreciation of the past, a focus on the present, and vision for the future.

That’s right. It took Lee Hunter so long to get here, he does not anticipate going anywhere else.

Sure, he has bad knees and a bad hip. Those issues are not going to stop him.

“I’ve got a little hitch in my giddyup, but as long as I can get out here and motivate, instruct — I can still throw pretty good BP — as long as I can be a positive role model, instructor, mentor, I’m going to keep going,” Hunter said. “I don’t think there is an age limit. I’m 57, but I think I still speak their language. They listen. For whatever it’s worth, right now, things are working.”

Beyond the coaching position itself, Hunter is also thrilled to be up and walking around, with a day job that he loves.

Years ago, he was a school resource officer with Vancouver Public Schools. One day, while reaching down to pick up a pencil, he experienced a sharp pain in his back. He figured it was no big deal. He had to take the next day off because of the pain. But again, he figured a day or two or rest would do the trick.

Instead, the pain became debilitating. He had to call 9-1-1. Taken to the hospital, he told the medical professionals that he was in serious back pain. That was the last thing he remembered.

A week later, he regained consciousness.

“I can’t move. I look down, and my chest has been ripped open,” Hunter recalled. “I’m like, ‘What the heck did they do?’ I remember my back hurting, and now my chest is ripped open?”

Hunter was diagnosed with a rare blood infection, osteomyelitis. He had a bacterial growth on his heart that had to be removed via surgery. That blood infection infected a disk in his back, leading to that excruciating pain. 

He spent nine months in the hospital, bed ridden. He had to learn to walk again. He could no longer be a resource officer, too.

Seven years later, he suffered from the condition again. This time, he did not have to undergo surgery, but he was in the hospital for four months.

Today, he laughs at himself for insisting that he was OK, that he could walk out of his hospital room after spending so many days in bed.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” he says now. “I’m telling them I can walk. ‘Move out of the way.’ I took a step and I literally face-planted. ‘Really? Wow. Sorry Doc. I won’t be so stubborn next time.’”

After recovering a second time — going from wheelchair, to walker, to cane, to a slow walk — Lee went back to baseball, and he found a great job. He works for TriMet, managing a safety program. And TriMet, he said, has been great to him, allowing him to continue his coaching pursuit.

When the Union High School job opened after the 2022 season, he applied for a top baseball job for the 52nd time.

He was more than ready.

He was asked for letters of reference. Hunter asked how many. He was told as many as he could get.

Lee Hunter turned in 42 letters, from pro scouts, college coaches, other high school coaches, summer coaches, umpires, former players, parents, you name it. 

“They were kind of overwhelmed,” Lee said of those doing the hiring. “They should have told me three. But if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it your best.”

That is what he tells his players, too. 

“He doesn’t take anything for granted,” said Union baseball player Dylan Osborne. “He comes out here every day … and he comes out with a fire that really helps us.”

Osborne knew about Hunter’s many attempts to land a head coaching position.

“He’s a great guy for the job. Not many people would keep going. It just keeps us driven,” Osborne said.

While Hunter’s story is an inspiration, he knows that when he’s on the field, as the head coach, it is all about his players and their experience.

“All I’m telling them is how to learn and play this game and how to get better, and how baseball translates into real life,” Hunter said. “If they want to talk about my stuff, I have no problem sharing it with them. But here (on the field), it’s baseball.”

Then again, baseball is life, life is baseball. There are setbacks in life, slumps in baseball.

“You’ve got to learn how to enjoy this journey, and enjoy a slump. Don’t let it get you down and don’t let it change you,” Lee Hunter said. “I didn’t quit. Sure enough, I keep battling, keep battling, keep battling, and now I get a fastball down the middle that I can handle, and I get the biggest, best hit I ever had in my life.”