AUBURN, Ala. – Sonny DiChiara is back at Plainsman Park.
Three years after earning SEC player of the year honors and leading Auburn to the College World Series, DiChiara returns as a student assistant coach while earning the final credit hours he needs to graduate next spring.
The opportunity arose this summer when DiChiara worked as an instructor at Butch Thompson’s baseball camps.
“’I’ve got class in person this fall so I’d love to be around, help out as much as I can, try to touch some guys and maybe put some knowledge into them that they didn’t have before,’” DiChiara told Thompson, who eagerly accepted Sonny’s offer.
DiChiara hopes to begin a real estate career in the spring while completing an internship required to earn his interdisciplinary studies degree in May.
“I’ll aways find my way back somehow to baseball,” he said. “I’ll aways have lessons. The dream one day is to open up a facility of my own.”
Drafted in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Angels after becoming Auburn’s third SEC player of the year in program history, DiChiara hit 25 professional home runs over three and a half seasons, half of them in Huntsville at the Double-A level, before being released in June.
One door closes, another one opens. The end of his playing career marked the beginning of his coaching career. At age 26 with Triple-A experience on his resume and recently removed from pro ball, DiChiara connects easily with the current Tigers.
“I’m treating them like they’re my teammates, while also in a leadership position,” DiChiara said. “I was playing three months ago. ‘I might have played a game more recently than most of you did.’
“Being there for them and being a personal asset. ‘What did you think on this? What was your thought process this way?’”