First Class

In KP's piece during the FSU game he relayed Nine's comments that "Kathy was the best part of our program". It's hard to argue, and that's saying something considering all of the superlatives that can be attributed to Stanford in general and Stanford baseball in particular. Any attempts to describe what an impact she had on me personally would sound redundant after so many of the posts that have come before. Dave really hit it on the screws in noting that she always made you feel as if you were the most important thing she had going on at any given moment. Whether it was this dumb kid from Montana not bothering to pack as much as a sweatshirt on his first trip to Los Angeles and nearly freezing on a Friday night at foggy Jackie Robinson Stadium, or a neighboring toilet flooding our hotel room during the regionals in Wichita and forcing a hasty evacuation, Kathy always rode to the rescue. Since graduation, Kathy has been my lifeline to the program in many ways, continually alerting me to the whereabouts of "her boys" so that I could connect with them in the minors and now in the major leagues. And every time I run into a Stanford guy, whether it was Jay Pecci in Gary years ago or Jed Lowery just a few weeks back, the scenario is the same...everyone shares their favorite Nine story, and everyone has a glowing memory of Kathy. So many relationships in college are strictly defined in ways that we outgrow; teacher/student, coach/player, idiot/idiot for many of us. But with Kathy it was different, because she didn't feel the need to bucket anybody, instead treating all with the utmost of kindness and respect. Truly first class. She will be dearly missed, and we are all greater for having had the privelege of her friendship.

Kris Atteberry '96