- April 24, 2024
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I met former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson — one of my all-time favorites — this past weekend, but that paled in comparison to what Ormond resident Doug Cochran experienced.
Johnson, one of the best receivers to ever play in the NFL by any standard, signed autographs — with other former athletes — and played a round of golf Saturday, June 3, at Riviera Golf Club.
While everyone awaited his arrival to begin the autograph signing, I began to converse with Doug Cochran, who prepared to play alone, because his group had cancelled on him.
As we talked, he told me how he had grown up idolizing Tim Foli, the former MLB player and 1979 World Series champion with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who now works at the golf club.
Within minutes after expressing how he would imitate Foli and had several of his trading cards, one of the golf directors yelled to Cochran, “Hey Doug, since you’re alone, you’ll be paired with Tim Foli today. Is that OK?”
Was that OK? Cochran looked as if he was going to pass out. We had only known each other for about 10 minutes, but I felt a great deal of excitement that he was not only about to meet his baseball hero, but he was about to play a round of golf with him.
“I don’t know how I managed to keep it all together at that time,” Cochran laughed. “We had a good time, and I played some of the best golf I’ve ever played. He was a great coach.
Cochran and Foli placed fourth and shot a 59 together. Even better than his round, Foli allowed Cochran to wear his World Series ring, and he even gave Cochran’s father, Ray, also a Pirates fan, a phone call and chatted with him for a while.
I’ve heard many stories about people’s bad experiences when they meet their childhood heroes. This was not the case.
Cochran said he would put Saturday morning “easily in my Top 5 best days.”
I’m sure Foli probably thought very little of his actions, but he made a world of difference for Doug Cochran simply by being a very nice man.
