After Scott Cook accepted a framed jersey and threw out the first pitch Tuesday night, the legendary Frisco High School baseball coach got down to business.
For 39 years, that meant coaching the Frisco Raccoons, who he led to 670 victories. But on Tuesday night at Deeter Smotherman Field, business came in the form of a large cardboard box with nearly four decades’ worth of scorebooks, sheets of statistics and other memories of FHS baseball.
As dozens of his former players surrounded him, ranging in age from their twenties to their fifties, Cook pulled out the books of memories and passed them around.
“You keep them,” he said to the players.
They were gifts from a man who always saw the chance to coach as a gift.
“These guys are what it’s all about,” Cook said, pointing to his players. “The kids that you get a chance to coach and the relationships with them. That’s why you coach.”
Cook joined FISD in 1978 with roles as head coach for baseball and boys basketball, assistant for varsity football and U.S. history teacher. He retired after the 2016-17 school year, and on Tuesday, FISD showed its appreciation for his many years of service.
Cook’s number 22 was formally retired before Frisco’s game against Lone Star High School. Current Frisco baseball coach Corey Farra, who was promoted from assistant after Cook’s retirement, tried to keep the ceremony a secret. But Cook, who generally attends the FHS home games, knew something was up when he arrived at the stadium.
For one thing, a lot of his former players were there to greet him. Members of Frisco High and FISD administration were also there, including former FISD Superintendents Dr. Justin Wakeland and Dr. Rick Reedy.
“This has been such a good place to work,” Cook said. “These are just awesome people. I don’t care how big it gets here, the root of Frisco is still that small place that cares for each other.”
Cook mentored hundreds of baseball players during his time at Frisco, and some later became coaches. That group includes Joey Franke, who was an outfielder and pitcher for Frisco’s Class 2A state semifinalist in 1984 and is now the baseball coach at Lone Star.
While Franke was coaching Lone Star on Tuesday, the other former players mingled with Cook, who said his best memories weren’t from the wins – or from baseball games. It was just the time spent with the kids.
“People ask what’s the highlight of my career,” Cook said. “It’s when the kids come back.”
One of those kids who came back Tuesday was Red Patterson, a 2005 FHS graduate who later played five seasons in the minor leagues and made an appearance as a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014.
“There was like this aura about him. I thought, ‘Man, I get to play for Coach Cook,” Patterson said. “He is Frisco baseball. He really is. I figured they’d make a statue of him out here at the baseball field.”
Max Bledsoe, Cook’s assistant coach for 13 years before becoming Frisco’s first softball coach in 1993, was also at the ceremony. Bledsoe, who coached in FISD for 30 years and now works for the Prosper ISD, remains close friends with Cook.
“He’s just such a classy guy, and I don’t think there’s a person here who has a bad thing to say about him,” Bledsoe said. “The kids loved him and loved to play for him.”
On a beautiful evening that fit the occasion, Cook confirmed some of the legendary stories about him. Yes, he did continue coaching despite tearing his achilles during a game in 2002. Yes, he played rhythm guitar for several years in a bluegrass gospel band called Hogwallow Boys. And yes, he did go by many nicknames, including “Cookie” and “Scooter,” the latter of which he is still called by FISD Athletic Director David Kuykendall.
“You won’t find a person with higher character than Coach Cook,” Kuykendall said. “He is a tremendous coach and teacher who always put the kids first. Frisco ISD has been very fortunate to have him around.”
