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Fort Worth Christian head coach Rusty Greer chats with shortstop Grady Emerson during a game against Grapevine Faith, Thursday, April 23, 2026 played at Fort Worth Christian in North Richland Hills.<\/p>\n
Steve Nurenberg\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS\u00a0\u2014 Two things made Rusty Greer<\/a> stand out to Rangers fans: His dutiful, all-out approach to the game, even if it meant sacrificing the longevity of his playing career in doing so, and his shock of red hair. \u00a0<\/p>\n The red hair is long gone, replaced by a silver beard and some gray stubble up top.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It is why, in his mid-50s, Greer decided to take on coaching kids<\/a> in high school baseball. Why not? Couldn\u2019t make his hair fall out any faster or turn any grayer. And he wanted to teach. After brief post-retirement dabbles with the pros and colleges, he came to believe it was with high school kids where his vision for instructing players on fundamentals and the ideals of being a good teammate would most resonate.<\/p>\n So he\u2019s here in his third season at Fort Worth Christian. And he\u2019s got the ability to have long-term baseball impact on at least one kid, his senior shortstop, Grady\u00a0Emerson, who was once a student in Greer\u2019s defensive skills camps and is now, well, the No. 1-ranked high school prospect in the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n And tonight, a blustery and occasionally misty one for his Fort Worth Christian Cardinals in their final regular-season home game, there may not be any better lesson for Greer to impart on Emerson than to simply say: \u201cLook around, kid.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Emerson transferred in from Argyle for his senior year after Matt Kemp, the former major leaguer, told him during an unsolicited conversation that it would be wise, with his projected path, to get around as many major league people as he could. All the better to eliminate distractions and hone skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n Well, kid, look around.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fort Worth Christian shortstop Grady Emerson waits to bat against Grapevine Faith, Thursday, April 23, 2026 played at Fort Worth Christian in North Richland Hills.<\/p>\n Steve Nurenberg\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Across the parking lot, at the softball field, where Fort Worth Christian is hosting Grapevine Faith, that\u2019s Josh Hamilton, the first overall pick in 1999, watching his daughter play for Grapevine Faith. Generational talent, kid. Could have been Mays or Mantle. Got sidetracked by drugs and alcohol before a redemptive run<\/a> that still led to an MVP. If only he had those first five years back, yeah, he\u2019d have been a Hall of Famer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Oh, over there, scouting you for Baltimore, that\u2019s Michael Choice, the 10th overall pick in 2010 from UT-Arlington by the Moneyball A\u2019s. Just couldn\u2019t really make numbers in the minors translate to the majors. Got all of 96 major league games. Spent the last five years of his career bouncing between Korea and Mexico. \u00a0<\/p>\n With him, that\u2019s his boss, Mike Elias, the Orioles GM. He had the No. 1 pick in 2019 and took somebody other than Bobby\u00a0Witt Jr.<\/a> Can you believe that? This year, the Orioles pick seventh. Yeah, he\u2019s probably not gonna have a chance to get you, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, look around, kid, and understand: nothing is guaranteed. Not talent. Not opportunity. Not evaluation. \u00a0<\/p>\n The best you can hope to do is try as hard as possible to reduce some of the uncertainties and just be able to go play baseball. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Fruitful reunion\u00a0<\/p>\n That is exactly what Emerson and his father, Brandon, tried to do when they reached out to Greer last summer. Emerson\u2019s talent and aptitude were off the charts. He\u2019s been the No. 1-ranked prospect in his class since he was 16<\/a>. They wanted to get to an environment that would be best equipped to handle the rush of scouts, evaluators, hype and constant analysis that came with his position ahead of the draft. And to somebody who could drill down on the biggest uncertainty for evaluators \u2014 the mental side of the game. \u00a0<\/p>\n Grady Emerson poses alongside Rusty Greer at one of Greer’s baseball defensive skills camps.<\/p>\n Emerson family<\/p>\n Greer had played a decade in the majors before the wear and tear on his body forced him to retire at 33. Heck, even his assistant, Curtis Wilkerson, had nearly 1,000 games of major league experience. Greer had seen the hype machine up close when Witt and his own son, Mason, formed the middle infield for Colleyville Heritage. Greer had taught Emerson\u00a0through a handful of summer and fall defensive camps from ages 9-13 where Greer tossed around a bunch of \u201cF\u201d words, just not the ones you are thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe was always talking about keeping it simple,\u201d Emerson\u00a0said before repeating Greer\u2019s mantra from long ago. \u201cHe stressed six \u2018Fs\u2019 \u2014 feet, field, funnel, footwork, fire and follow. All he wanted was for you to be in a good position to make a throw.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has almost been a father-son relationship for me. He\u2019s been there to help in every aspect of my life. And I\u2019ve just been able to go out and play ball. It\u2019s made it the most fun year I\u2019ve ever had playing baseball.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n A quick glance at the stat line suggests this relationship continues to bear fruit. As Fort Worth Christian heads into the\u00a0TAPPS area round playoffs<\/a> to face Regents School of Austin on Monday in a best-of-3 series, Emerson takes a .524\/.638\/.971\/1.609 slash line in with him. He\u2019s walked 34 times to just four strikeouts. Stole 31 bases on 32 attempts. And on this night, he\u2019ll go 3 for 4 with an intentional walk and the mercy rule-invoking hit. \u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond the stats<\/p>\n But scouts were well-acquainted with the skill set. Nobody doubted those. He played for Team USA\u2019s 18U team last summer, toured Japan with them in September and has played in all the premier showcases against other elite prospects. The scouts tonight know they won\u2019t be talking to him here, either. No scouts have talked to him since the fall when\u00a0Greer and Emerson\u2019s representative, Sam Samardzija, scheduled in-home visits. What scouts are more looking for at this point is the biggest of mysteries: makeup. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n How does he interact with teammates? How does he handle the inevitable intentional walks? How does he respond to little failures? \u00a0<\/p>\n That is where Greer, the teacher, may excel the most. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t offer him much from a skill standpoint,\u201d Greer said. \u201cBut I thought I could offer him some things from the intangible side of it. I thought I could help him understand the game at a better, more professional level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The first thing Greer told him was that he\u2019d be part of the team. Wasn\u2019t going to treat him differently because he was a star. The next thing he did: Got him together with Bobby Witt Jr. for lunch over the winter. Greer had a front row seat to how Witt dealt with the hype and pressure that comes from being the top high school player in the country<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty special,\u201d Emerson\u00a0said of the lunch. \u201cHe told me to enjoy high school, enjoy my last year and to just play the game. Don\u2019t try to do too much, don\u2019t make it more than it is. And, whenever I do that, Rusty is there to remind me. So, all I\u2019ve had to do is just go out and play ball. I don\u2019t know who\u2019s there [scouting] any night. I don\u2019t have to talk about it. I just let my game do the talking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What the scouts saw on this night was a kid who let his teammates know what the opposing pitcher had used to get him out in his first at-bat, a kid who was the first one out of the dugout to greet teammate Jake\u00a0Parkerson after a homer and then the one who went over and picked up Parkerson\u2019s helmet after he was mobbed by the team and a kid who waited through a pitching change with two men on base only to be intentionally walked by the new pitcher. Also: A two-out, two-run single and the game-ending hit. He is the best player on the team, but he doesn\u2019t stand alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fort Worth Christian shortstop Grady Emerson looks on from the dugout against Grapevine Faith, Thursday, April 23, 2026 played at Fort Worth Christian in North Richland Hills.<\/p>\n Steve Nurenberg\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Wisdom of sharing<\/p>\n For Brandon Emerson, the father, the night is just an illustration of how much\u00a0Greer has helped Grady grow. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just been a different kid,\u201d Brandon said. \u201cLast year, I could tell he\u2019d carry the load around with him. That first at-bat, where he made an out, he\u2019d carry that. All the pressure was on him. If he didn\u2019t perform, the team didn\u2019t go. That\u2019s how he felt. Rusty told us, \u2018I\u2019m not intimidated by coaching Grady Emerson. All you have to do is come in here and play shortstop. I\u2019m going to hold everybody to the same standard.’ \u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Greer\u2019s pedigree around these parts is well-documented. He came to the majors with a team-first approach, had it honed by the likes of gritty veterans such as Will Clark and Mark McLemore, and played hard until his body would no longer allow it. Brandon, a longtime Rangers fan, knew what he was getting. Grady knew he was reuniting with one of the first instructors he\u2019d had as his talent bloomed. \u00a0<\/p>\n It is at the high school level where Greer has\u00a0found the most fulfillment in passing on what he was taught. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019m equipped well to coach high school kids,\u201d Greer said. \u201cI have high expectations on the field; I want to win. I take it hard when we lose. But an important part of this is guidance to young men. I have high expectations off the field, too. I want them to be buttoned up, to walk, talk, think and act like professionals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that means no star treatment. Yes, Emerson\u00a0has outsized talent. But he\u2019s part of the team. He\u2019s a captain, but not the captain. Four of the 16 seniors on this team are captains. It also means that no more is expected of Emerson\u00a0than anybody else: work hard, play hard, understand the game is hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019d ever had anybody tell him \u2018hitting is hard,\u2019 until Rusty did,” Brandon said. “It\u2019s allowed him to understand that this is a game built on failure. It\u2019s not easy to make them feel comfortable with the idea that there will be failure. He thought he should never make an out, never make an error. The internal expectations he had were hard. The way Rusty has approached it with him, he\u2019s embraced it. An out doesn\u2019t impact his whole game. I\u2019ve never seen Grady have more fun than he has this year. Rusty has lived up to his word and allowed Grady to be a guy, not the guy. He\u2019s helped him grow in ways I didn\u2019t expect.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n And now, Fort Worth Christian\u00a0\u2014 not just Grady Emerson\u00a0\u2014 has a job to do: Bring Fort Worth Christian its first TAPPS championship. As a team.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Worth Christian head coach Rusty Greer chats with shortstop Grady Emerson during a game against Grapevine Faith,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,2291,100052,89744],"class_list":["post-278093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-sports-baseball","tag-tp-texas-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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