The term “Grit” is a term used in baseball that, in many ways, is meant to be the highest compliment that a baseball player can be given. When a player gets called “Gritty”, they are being described as a “real” baseball player and not just someone who is simply playing baseball. For those that have “Grit” the game of baseball isn’t just a game, it’s an everyday process and one that’s not about a result, but instead, about what has been put into that result.
Hour after hour gets put into this game with, many times, no apparent payoff in sight. Players have to dig in and get “Gritty” and continue to believe in their process even in the face of repeated failure. Those with “Grit” never lose faith that eventually the game will give back, and when it does it will create moments that are made of magic and that are sweeter than Crimson and Cream.
The Baseball Process
Baseball is a marathon that requires players to produce again and again, and in the face of odds that are stacked against them. Those that choose to take on the challenge of this game have to learn how to use their process to turn frustration into motivation. Baseball players understand that the game is going to consume their time, sometimes all of it, and that’s perfectly fine with them because the ball field is where they want to be.
When baseball players become addicted to the process it changes their entire perspective of what baseball is. The game no longer becomes a constant game of failure, but instead, it turns into the ultimate challenge. The baseball process becomes a players 2nd blood type, and it helps them develop a passion for competition that allows them to handle the monotony of the everyday grind, and then also the excitement of the big moments.
Love of the Game
Max Hewitt is a recently acquired Dodger that symbolizes the entire baseball process. He is the poster for all the things that go into making baseball such a passion for so many people. He is the first one to the field everyday, the last one to leave, and he never stops thinking about the next thing he can do to better himself. He eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball, and now, he is getting to do it all as a professional. Max is not only a great player, he is also a young man that influences the people around him with his attitude, work ethic and love for the game. He is contagious and makes those around him celebrate his success as if it’s their own.
Against All Odds
Hewitt’s route to the Dodgers is about as far from typical as it could get. He is from Canada which is not the hottest hotbed of baseball, and when he graduated from Eastview Secondary school in Barrie he had 0 scholarship offers from anywhere to continue his playing career. But, he loved to play the game and wasn’t ready to hang up his cleats yet so he continued to play for the Ontario Bluejays Baseball Club, his travel ball team. Hewitt worked multiple jobs to pay his way and kept faith that, someday, someone would give him a chance somewhere.
Hewitt’s Bluejay travel ball club toured the U.S. playing College teams, and on the schedule was Connors State College in a place called Warner, a tiny town in Oklahoma. Connors is a perennial power in JUCO baseball, and one that opened the eyes of Hewitt after his Bluejay baseball team played them in an 18 inning double header. In those 18 innings Hewitt’s team got beat pretty good, and the determined Canadian assumed he’d never be back to that dot on the road map, and certainly not as a Cowboy and on scholarship. But, when he got back on the bus after that double header, the bus driver, Billy Martin, told him that he was a Connors guy, and although Hewitt dismissed that idea at the time, when he was offered a spot to play for Connors he gladly accepted. It’s funny how the World goes around sometimes!
Just Give Him a Chance
All Hewitt wanted was the opportunity to keep playing the game he loved and the Connors State Cowboys were offering him that chance. Little did he know how much he would grow to love his time there, his coaches, and how much his game would grow under NJCAA Hall of Fame coach Perry Keith. Keith is a very tough coach that has a specific way of developing players and it clicked with Hewitt and his career finally started taking off
At Connors the left handed hitting Hewitt hit .436 with 3 homeruns, 19 doubles and had 67 RBI’s in 60 games and was good enough that, after just 1 year, he was offered a scholarship from multiple D1 Universities. Hewitt decided to stay in state and continue to be a Cowboy, but this time at the D1 level and under the guidance of Josh Holliday at Oklahoma State.
Go Pokes!
Hewitt entered Oklahoma State as an infielder and in his first 2 years at OSU he made starts at Short Stop, 2nd base and 3rd base. Holliday and crew had a hard time finding a permanent position for the gritty Canadian, but one place they knew he needed to be was in the lineup, somewhere!
Hewitt bounced around from position to position, and entering his Senior year, 2020, he still didn’t have a permanently settled spot. That’s when his journey took a detour that no fan could have predicted. Late in his Junior year, Hewitt was at the stadium one day after school had let out, and one of the OSU pitchers needed someone to catch a bullpen. In typical Hewitt fashion, he was probably the only one there because of all the options he had, with school being out, going to the baseball stadium was #1 for him. Anyways, Max jumped in and caught the bullpen and word got around about how he can catch. Pitching Coach Rob Walton knew that the Cowboys needed to find Hewitt a defensive home and became very influential in convincing Max that catching was something he needed to pursue. Oklahoma State had ultra talented players returning on the infield, so the idea of moving to catcher was one that the ultra utility Hewitt was open to. Max got serious about catching and in the Covid shortened season of 2020 he caught 10 of the 18 games.
Hewitt had been shuffled around the field like a deck of cards, but his offense had always continued to come up Spades. In fact, during the 18 games of 2020, the Canadian Cowboy became the first hitter at OSU to hit over .400 since 2007, and, even without a permanent defensive position, Hewitt had unquestionably become the Heart and Soul of OSU baseball.
Back to Backstop
When the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility in 2021, Hewitt decided to return for his 5th year in College and 4th at OSU and hoped that he had found his home behind the plate and was ready to make the full time transition to catcher. Although Hewitt played some infield in 2021, he played mostly catcher and his season was a total success. He became a very good defensive catcher, and also hit .281 with 9 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homeruns and kept ahold of his most valuable tools and those were his team leading amount of grit and leadership.
Back Where He Started
But, as the cold hard reality of life would have it, all of that team leading grit and leadership Max showed at OSU got him right back in the same position he started. After graduation from OSU Max went undrafted and was left with no offers and the idea that his days of playing meaningful baseball could be over. He didn’t know what his next step was going to be, but, again, in true Max Hewitt form, he simply refused the idea of not playing baseball. So Hewitt kept training, tinkered with the idea of non affiliated baseball or any baseball anywhere as all he wanted was to keep playing.
That’s when Heath Holliday, Dodgers scout at the time and cousin to the Head Coach of OSU, Josh Holliday, delivered the news that kept his dream alive. At the training facility at O’Brate Stadium, the new state of the Art Baseball Facility at OSU, Holliday informed Hewitt that he was being picked up by the Dodgers as an undrafted Free Agent and that he was being given the chance he so desired. It was an incredibly emotional moment because all Hewitt wanted was a chance, and if history is an indicator of the future, that chance will be all he needs.
Here’s what OSU head coach, Josh Holliday had to say about Max getting picked up.
“Max is special and I’m so happy for him. He will maximize his days just like he has everyday here at OSU. He’s a Great One!”
Well said Coach Holliday!. Max IS special, he WILL maximize every day he’s given to play baseball, and yes, no doubt, he definitely IS a great one.
Could Spend All Day Every Day
When writing on the topic of Max Hewitt, I could keep going on and on and never run out of good things to say about him. But, it has to end at some point, so let me do so with a personal touch by saying thank you to Max for the 4 great years he gave to OSU baseball, the game of baseball itself, for becoming a leader amongst great odds and for being full of “GRIT” and determination that acted as inspiration to those that got to be around it.
