published May 15, 2000
TAMPA -- Kris Courier was squinting as he made his way to the batter's box. There was almost no escaping the sun's glare on this sizzling afternoon, clouds nowhere in sight.
Courier nevertheless fought off the sun's radiance and a couple of pitches before turning sharply on a fastball that he sent to the centerfield wall, good for a stand-up double.
Despite the suffocating 90 degree heat that usually comes with it, the sun's glare probably felt soothing on Courier's face. It can feel that way when you've lived virtually your whole life in someone else's shadow, when you have always been defined not by who you are, but by who you are related to.
Kris Courier is finally breaking free of that, released from under the ubiquitous celebrity of his older brother, Jim.
You remember Jim. Won a couple of little tournaments called the French Open and the Australian Open. Was the best player in his division -- mankind.
It's fitting that as Jim's extraordinary tennis career comes to a close, Kris' baseball pursuit is beginning to flourish. The senior catcher is one of Hillsborough County's top power hitters and a pillar on a Berkeley Prep team that'll be playing in the state high school baseball tournament at Legends Field starting today.
He's a .407 hitter with 41 RBI and eight homers. Last season he led the county with 10 homers. He might have hit more this year, but teams were scared to pitch to him, which explains why he had 23 walks.
He is, in large part, the reason Berkeley Prep (20-13) is in the state tournament at all. When coach Fred Pisano rested Kris and his sore right elbow for about three weeks, the team went into a dive, dropping just below .500.
After Miami Southridge bombed Berkeley 14-2, Pisano couldn't rest Kris any longer. The Bucs lost 9-8 to Miami Goleman, but Pisano said "I could see how we were starting to come together again" with Kris in the lineup.
They won six in a row and 11 of their last 13 to earn a trip to state.
Regardless of how they fare, Kris likely will be playing for USF next season. After that, Pisano said a pro career is possible. Maybe not one as acclaimed or as lucrative as Jim's, but that's not really the point, is it?
Kris has had quite enough of that, thank you.
"How could you not," said Jim, who is busy building his new career as a tennis commentator for Turner Sports' Wimbledon broadcast. "I really feel for him at times because I know the kids want to get him out just because he's related to me. It has nothing to do with the fact that he can play on his own. They look at it as some kind of notch on their belt. That's just the nature of human beings."
It would have been worse had Kris stuck to tennis, which was his sport of choice as a young teen. But, just as Jim gradually gravitated from baseball to tennis, Kris did the opposite.
Yet, as much as Kris would like to distinguish himself from Jim, he's clearly his brother's brother. After all, he was there the whole time, watching Jim train like a dog. Watching him squeeze the most out of what he had.
Does it surprise you that Kris is the same way? That he has forearms as thick as oak trees and the grit of a gladiator, like his brother?
"He tells me to work as hard as I can and that hard work will pretty much ensure success," said Kris, who trains periodically with Jim's renowned fitness trainer, Pat Etcheberry. "He pretty much said to leave everything you have on the field because you don't want to look back when you're older and wonder what would have happened if I tried harder or put in a little extra effort."
It's going to take everything Kris and the Bucs have tonight to get past their Class 2A semifinal opponent, Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy (26-7), the New York Yankees of prep baseball. And even then, who knows what's in store for Kris after that, if he will ever reach the sporting heights of his older brother.
If nothing else, Kris just wants people to ask one question. When folks want to know about the famous pro athlete named Courier who rose out of tiny Dade City, Kris simply wants the response to be: Which one?
"That's the way I want it to be. Just like that," Kris said. "Hopefully I'll have people saying (Jim is) Kris Courier's brother."
What would big brother think about that?
"I would love that," Jim said. "I would love to be associated with someone like him."
You can also check out the article in the ff. website: http://www.sptimes.com/News/051500/Sports/It_s_Kris_Courier__Be.shtml