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Pirates first base coach Tarrik Brock watches as the team takes on the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark, Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Dunedin.
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'He fires you up': Why Pirates outfielders adore coach Tarrik Brock

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

'He fires you up': Why Pirates outfielders adore coach Tarrik Brock

CHICAGO — Sundays in the offseason are a special time for Tarrik Brock and his family. There’s the smell of homemade food wafting from the kitchen of their Los Angeles home. Music is always playing — typically the Temptations or some other type of classic R&B /soul. Jokes are common. Movie references, too.

“We keep it light,” the Pirates’ first-base, outfield and baserunning coach said. “We laugh all the time.”

How Brock, his wife Kanika and their two grown sons, T.J. and Christopher, function from mid-to-late October through February actually embodies how the 48-year-old native of Goleta, Calif., handles his players or his baseball family.

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Pirates outfielders love Brock because he’s terrific at balancing fun and work. He’s also like one of them, deftly weaving Drake or Nipsey Hussle references into baseball drills. The unique approach leads to constant smiles, Brock’s upbeat attitude infectious for those who spend time around him.

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“That guy doesn’t have bad days,” Ben Gamel said.

On a young team where there’s still very much an emphasis on teaching and improving through drill work, Brock’s unique style has been crucial for the Pirates. He’s been one of the driving forces behind Cole Tucker’s transition to the outfield and will do the same whenever top prospect Oneil Cruz gets here.

At the same time, Brock’s dedication and attention to detail has helped Bryan Reynolds blossom into a legitimate Gold Glove candidate in center field, while Gamel said Brock has had a significant influence on his career.

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“He’s made me a way better outfielder,” Gamel said. “He fires you up.”

As preordained as this all may seem, the moment that probably pushed Brock to become a coach also happened on a Sunday. His manager at the time, current Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, had always told Brock he’d make a good coach one day, though Brock was also more focused on playing.

But on this particular day in the early 2000s while managing Class AA Jacksonville, Ebel was ejected from a game. Nobody else was terribly keen on coaching third base, so Brock volunteered. He even wound up pinch hitting, drew a walk, was pulled for a pinch runner and went back to coaching third base.

“Ever since then,” Brock said, “it’s just been a bug.”

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Brock, who played 13 MLB games with the Cubs in 2000, took a few years off once his playing career ended in 2003 and eventually circled back via private lessons and his sons’ Little League teams. Thoughts grew into ambitions, and Brock started his professional coaching career in the Dodgers system with the Ogden Raptors (rookie ball) in 2006.

From there, Brock spent seven seasons with the Marlins (2007-13) as their outfield and baserunning coordinator, was a first-base coach and baserunning instructor with the Astros in 2014 and had similar duties for the Padres in 2015-16.

Brock worked as the Dodgers’ minor league outfield/baserunning coordinator from 2017-19 before jumping back to the big leagues when the Pirates hired him to join manager Derek Shelton’s staff.

“I appreciate his energy,” Shelton said. “ I think he’s probably one of the most positive people I’ve ever been around on a major league coaching staff.”

Many of Brock’s drills are actually self-taught, the simple product of wanting to make his players comfortable being uncomfortable. He’ll hop in front of them to disrupt their vision or put different types of spin on the ball with a fungo bat to make routine work harder.

Last year, Brock used a football to help Anthony Alford — a former college quarterback — pump his arms more while running. He’ll simultaneously shoot multiple Nerf balls in the air to target communication, and earlier this spring he stood in the outfield with a spray bottled filled with water, thinking about those inevitable soggy days in Pittsburgh.

“I would talk, and as I was talking, I would squirt the ball,” Brock explained. “I’m always thinking of, ‘What can we do to get better?’ And I like that it’s unconventional. ... 

“I think of myself as an insurance guy. I’m like State Farm. In case this happens in the game, we’ve practiced it. “

Aside from those family dinners every Sunday in the offseason, Brock has no problem staying busy. Family time gives him perspective, re-establishing bonds after a long summer away and keeping him young.

Kanika is actually in an R&B group of her own, the Original Mary Jane Girls, and will perform semi-regularly around Los Angeles. Tarrik described himself as part security and part roadie, but he’s a full-time fan.

“They go inside to get dressed,” Brock said. “I just stay outside, play games on my phone and look at people. That’s my offseason.”

That routine has allowed Brock to meet celebrities such as DJ Quik, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and E-40, the coach quickly shifting into fanboy mode to indulge another of his passions: rap and hiphop.

“He’s always out there dancing and making Nipsey Hussle references,” Jared Oliva said, laughing. “He walks that fine line between keeping it fun and relaxed, but we’re also getting really good work with intent in each day.”

“He still thinks he’s young,” Alford joked. “He still listens to rap. He’ll quote the lyrics and somehow tie them to baseball. But he’s a great guy, great for the organization and for the outfield group.”

In many ways, Brock is like the cool uncle of the Pirates coaching staff, the one with the most style and swagger. He monitors the coaching staff’s shoe game and tries to ensure they’re outfitted properly. Brock also rotates through belts, searching for whatever freedom of expression he can find.

Brock stays as up-to-date as possible with pop culture references through his sons, believing it will help him relate to his players. It’s a smart move, although Brock has already made himself plenty relatable through his attitude and infectious personality.

Nobody has more fun and nobody is more positive than Tarrik Brock.

“Someone will be walking through the crowd, and he’ll be like, ‘Hey, that guy looks like such and such.’ He’s just tapped in,” Cole Tucker said. “Seriously, he should just be mic’d up every day. He’s a funny, energetic dude and a really good coach.”

The whole thing comes naturally to Brock. Early on in his coaching career, he put the pedal to the metal and sacrificed time with his family. As he got older, he realized that wasn’t him. The way Brock tries to balance work and family, making sure both sides know they’re a priority, it’s the same way he approaches fun and work.

“I’m just myself,” Brock said. “I try to stay light as much as I can because this game is tough enough as it is, then sometimes I’ll let them know, ‘OK, I’m serious right now,’ and we’ll lock in.

“But if this is the best game in the world and people are watching us play a game that’s supposed to be fun, it should look like it. People should think, ‘Man, they’re really having the time of their lives.’”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

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First Published: April 23, 2022, 11:00 a.m.

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