THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: A secret to keep, then a quick trip to Cleveland, capped by watching their son's first major league hit

It might have been the most excruciating three hours of Paul Manzardo’s life. 

The heads-up text from his son, Kyle, telling him it was looking like he was going to get called up to the major leagues by the Cleveland Guardians.

But in the meantime, don’t tell anybody.

“Are you kidding me,” Paul texted his son back. “I can’t say anything?”

It was Sunday morning, and Paul and Windy at their home in Coeur d’Alene, getting the TV set up so they could watch Kyle play in an afternoon game in Columbus with the Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Guardians.

While they waited for the game to come on, Paul went through his phone, saw a text from Kyle and thought that was odd — why would his son be texting him right before a game?

But Kyle was pulled from the lineup just before the game and told by the team he might be going up to the bigs to replace Stephen Kwan, the American League’s leading hitter, who had injured his hamstring the day before. But the club wanted to learn the severity of the injury first.

MEANWHILE, DAD was back home in Idaho, with news only he (and Windy, and Kyle’s girlfriend) had, but couldn’t share.

“This is like torture,” Paul remembered. “I feel like I’m a 5-year-old kid on Christmas morning and I have to wait for all the friends and family to get there before I can open up gifts.

“I was struggling.”

Finally, after the Columbus game, Kyle got the word from the Clippers that he was headed to the bigs. Kyle called his dad and gave him the green light to let everybody know.

“It was a special moment,” Paul said. “It was pretty cool to let everyone know that he got called up, and all that hard work and determination and persistence and grinding through that process … baseball’s extremely hard to get to where he’s at. So, Windy and I are beyond proud of his accomplishments.”

ON MONDAY, Paul and Windy, Kyle’s aunt and uncle, and a couple family friends, caught an early morning flight out of Spokane, bound for Cleveland.

Their younger son, Marcus, a junior second baseman at Central Washington in Ellensburg, caught a flight out of Seattle, as did a family friend.

When Paul and Windy landed in Cleveland, someone from the Guardians was waiting for them at the airport. They were driven to the hotel, which was near the stadium, and they walked to the ballpark and arrived just prior to first pitch.

Marcus arrived at the park after the first inning, in time to watch his brother’s first major league at-bat in the bottom of the second. He was able to watch Kyle’s first game, then had to fly out of Cleveland on Tuesday afternoon for Great Falls, Mont., to join his CWU teammates for the Great Northern Athletic Conference tournament, which begins today.

On Wednesday, Marcus was named GNAC Newcomer of the Year.

All told, between relatives and family friends and a couple of guys Kyle has played ball with along the way, and a few college buddies Paul played with when he played baseball at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., some 350 miles from Cleveland.

WINDY MANZARDO, a cardiac nurse, was diagnosed a couple of years ago with cardiac sarcoidosis — a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the heart. She’s on the heart transplant list, and needs to be within three hours of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, should she receive the call that a heart is available for her. 

But she’s been feeling better lately, and wasn’t going to miss this. 

“We let her heart transplant team know, we told them he’s getting close to getting called up, and they were cool with it,” Paul said. “The only downside when you do this, you have to go off the (transplant) list for that period of time you’re gone.”

Paul and Windy were scheduled to arrive back in Spokane on Wednesday (after watching the Guardians, who played a day game Wednesday in Cleveland), at which time Windy would go back on the list.

KYLE MANZARDO was the designated hitter and batted seventh on Monday, going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in Cleveland’s 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers (ironically, Paul grew up a Tigers fan in Flint, Mich.). 

Still, as Tom Hamilton, Cleveland's longtime play-by-play voice, said of Kyle on the radio after the game, "You made it, kid."

He was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts on Tuesday, an 11-7 loss. 

“He was a little bummed (Monday) as to how he performed,” Paul said Tuesday, in a phone interview with The Press. “But as a dad/coach, I thought he looked real good at the plate. It’ll come; he’ll get his day to shine eventually. …

“He said ‘Yeah, that’s the first time in a long time I was nervous.’”

He did not start on Wednesday. But he was called on to pinch hit in the seventh inning, and slapped a single down the left field line for his first major league hit.

The smile on his face as he stood on first base reached from ear to ear, from Ohio to Idaho.

"It was cool to see," Paul said afterward. "So happy for him. I'm sure that will calm his nerves."

“It’s a big weight off the shoulders, obviously,” said Kyle, 23. “Now, I feel like I can just go play.”

Kyle and his Guardian teammates flew to Chicago after Wednesday’s game for a series with the White Sox, and Paul and Windy flew home.

Paul is a longtime employee of North Idaho College, and coached the Cardinals’ baseball team until the school ended the program in 2002.

Since then, he’s coached nearly every level of baseball in the area, including Lake City High’s team, and American Legion ball.

On Monday, both Lake City and Coeur d’Alene high schools played in regional tournament games and at both sites, a few devices were tuned into the Guardians’ game, especially when Kyle came to bat.

“That’s kind of cool; two rival schools, embracing a local kid. That’s special,” Paul said.

At Coeur d’Alene, one of those watching was Dan Christ, who Paul refers to as “Windy’s twin.”

Dan had the same cardiac sarcoidosis Windy has; he was able to receive a heart transplant a year ago.

PAUL HAS coached major leaguers before — he coached Jason Bay at NIC. But it’s a different feeling this time, as a dad.

“It’s stressful for Windy and I too,” he said. “I’m constantly doing deep breathing, because as a parent you want them to do great … as a dad, it’s tough, because I just want it so bad for him, and it’s out of your control. You have no say. You’re just hoping everything works out for the best, and he stays healthy, and he continues to love it, like he does, and what’s meant to be is meant to be.”

There is a Manzardo Monitor on X (formerly Twitter), and Kyle’s exploits on the diamond receive a fair amount of attention on the app — and not just because of his mustache. 

Paul the coach tries to keep him grounded. When someone posts video of Kyle hitting a homer and dad retweets, it’s often with the message, “Keep grinding.”

“Because it’s a grind; keep working, keep your nose down, stay humble, stay in the present, just keep moving forward,” Paul said. “Flush whatever happened the day before, and just focus on the present.”

In his role as dad/coach, Paul says it’s easier to be a coach than a dad, and he tips his cap to all the dads out there, watching their son or daughter compete.

Kyle’s time in the bigs does not come with an end date. Paul said he and Windy hope to go see their oldest son play again, though it won’t be in Seattle, as the Guardians already made their one visit to face the Mariners in early April.

“This is a different experience for me,” Paul said of being a dad, watching his son. “I’m proud of him; I’m proud of Marcus’ accomplishments this year. Marcus is having a heckuva year.”

Spoken like a true dad.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.

    RON SCHWANE/Associated Press Kyle Manzardo of the Cleveland Guardians, the former Lake City High and Washington State star, is all smiles after getting his first major league hit, a single off Detroit Tigers pitcher Jason Foley in the seventh inning Wednesday in Cleveland.