Charles City native and UNI HOFer Ryan Brunner talks with aspiring youth ballplayers

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — When do you swing for the fences?

When you’re competing in a “Home Run Derby” because that’s the whole point.

When do you not swing for the fences?

When you step to the plate during a real baseball game.

That was just one of several pieces of advice Ryan Brunner gave to a group of aspiring young ballplayers who gathered at Barry’s Clubhouse to listen to the former Charles City standout and University of Northern Iowa Hall of Famer speak one Sunday afternoon (Feb. 18).

Brunner may know what he’s talking about, because — even as a prolific slugger for the Comets and Panthers before getting drafted by the Boston Red Sox — he never went for home runs during game at-bats … he just hit a lot of them, anyway.

“My focus was to hit the ball hard and on the nose,” Brunner said. “I didn’t go up there trying to hit a home run. They just seemed to take care of themselves.

“A home run is often a double to the gap that you just got under.”

During his Panther career, Brunner “got under” a lot of would-be doubles, especially during his senior year in 2001 when the left-handed hitter set a UNI record for home runs (25).

Brunner also set single-season school records in RBI’s (82), runs scored (72) and total bases (187); and career school records in HRs (59), at-bats (801), hits (285), runs scored (185), RBIs (226) and putouts (1,213) while playing first base and the outfield.

NOTE: Most of the aforementioned school records still stand and will likely stay standing in the near as well distant future as UNI has since discontinued its baseball program.

Shortly after being named UNI’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete, Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and MVC Tournament Outstanding Player, as well as earning first-team All-America honors in 2001, he was picked by Boston in the 12th round of the MLB draft.

“It was a great moment in my life,” said Brunner, who was invited to take part in the 2001 NCAA Home Run Challenge in Omaha, Neb., and won the title after delighting the crowd when he switched from a metal bat to a wooden bat after attaining some distance from the rest of the field — wooden bat-HRs were worth more points.

Many of the youth players in attendance play for the Chucktown Legends, who train at Barry’s Clubhouse. One of the Legends’ coaches, Jay Jung who went to school with Brunner at Charles City and at UNI, approached Des Moines resident Brunner about talking to the players to show that even a “small-town kid” can make it big if willing to put in the effort.

After a tepid start to the Q&A session, the players became more inquisitive about Brunner’s playing experiences at the professional, collegiate, high school and even youth levels.

Some of the parents in attendance even forwarded some questions … in particular about how Brunner — an Academic All-American at UNI — budgeted his time to excel in both the classroom and on the diamond.

When someone queried about how to get noticed by college coaches, Brunner revealed that it’s not always the guy hitting the game-winning walkoff HR who garners attention, but the guy who struck out in that same situation.

“In this game, you’re going to fail more often than not,” he said. “It’s how you conduct yourself after you fail … after you strike out … that stands out for most coaches.

“Are you going to throw your bat and helmet, and stomp around the dugout with a bad attitude? Or are you going to take note of what got you out and come back with a better at-bat?”