After beating breast cancer, Frankford baseball coach Juan Namnun is ‘home’ with his team and ready for the playoffs

Juan Namnun gripped a fungo bat in his right hand, dug his cleats into the dirt, and faced the players who gathered around. He pointed to the brim of his cap, telling his Frankford High baseball players that’s where he wanted them to target their cutoff throws.

Thursday’s playoff game was still more than a week away, giving the coach time to reinforce the basics. The Pioneers have long been one of the Public League’s top teams. They sprint hard to first base. They bunt runners over. They hit the cutoff man. They do the little things.

This — coaching the sport he loves to a group of neighborhood kids on a field he grew up playing on — is what the baseball man calls his “comfort zone.”

Namnun grew up on Gillingham Street, spent his summers in Overington Park, graduated from Frankford in 1995, returned four years later as a teacher and assistant coach, married a Frankford girl, and has guided the Pioneers to seven Public League titles since becoming the head coach in 2008.

He routinely goes out of the way to drive down his old street and smile. The neighborhood, Namnun said, is home. And the ball field at Large and Dyre Streets is comfort. But a few months ago, Namnun wasn’t sure he’d be there this spring.

“Heck,” he said. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be alive.”

Namnun discovered a lump in his breast last June while swimming in his backyard in South Jersey. He ignored it until his wife, Lena, urged him to see a doctor. Namnun had breast cancer, a disease found much more often in women than men. Surgery — a double mastectomy — was scheduled for September. The coach had to tell his players.

“I said this doesn’t mean that I’m dying, it just means that I have a big fight in my hands and I’m going to need you,” Namnun said. “We did a lot of crying and a lot of hugging. Then we practiced.”

Namnun underwent surgery and started chemotherapy, which kept him on the couch most days. Then his phone started buzzing. His players called and texted every day. They called him on FaceTime and filmed their swings so the coach could give feedback.

“They went so far to be a part of my life that it genuinely helped me get better,” Namnun said. “I know people can’t comprehend how that’s possible. Those little things would put a smile on my face and I’d go to therapy and just think, ‘I want to be better for these guys.’”

» READ MORE: After a double mastectomy, Frankford High baseball coach wants everyone to know: Men get breast cancer, too.

Namnun’s wife held his phone as he was too drained to hold it himself. He told his players that day that he would need them to help him. So they did.

“Coach is like a father figure to all of us and he’s really special in our hearts,” said senior Jose Carrero. “Since I arrived, we have always been a family. Whether you were JV or varsity, you were in the family at Frankford. So we made it our job to make him feel like he wasn’t away from us and that he’s still here and that we’ll always look up to him.”

Frankford High is one of the school district’s neighborhood schools, meaning that most of the students come from a “catchment area” that includes the neighborhoods that surround campus.

Yet the Pioneers hold their own each season against other Public League teams that draw from the entire city and Catholic League teams that can field players from anywhere. Frankford has won a District 12 championship and has reached the state playoffs. The kids from the neighborhood play pretty well for the coach from their neighborhood.

“It’s to set an example for all the younger kids in our neighborhood,” said senior Tonny Gaitan. “Frankford isn’t a bad place and it’s a great place for baseball. It has a lot of history and very good coaches. Just a great place to come to play baseball.”

Last month, a friend called Namnun to ask if Frankford was still playing that Thursday. Yeah, the coach said, but why? This wasn’t a crucial game. It was another regular-season game.

“He’s like ‘Dude, if you win, isn’t it a huge one?’ I said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’” Namnun said.

Namnun hung up and told his wife, a history teacher at Frankford.

“She says, ‘You really have no idea, do you?’” Namnun said.

Lena Namnun clued in her husband, who was one win shy of his 200th career victory. No way, he said. She promised him it was correct.

“I had no idea. I was almost embarrassed,” Namnun said. “I have kind of learned to live in the moment now and focus on what the task at hand is. Short-term, week to week.”

» READ MORE: Frankford High baseball coach who had double mastectomy: ‘I’ve kicked cancer’s ass!’

He used to sketch lineups in January, predicting what his team would look like over the course of the season. Maybe he’ll hit this kid leadoff in April but slide him down in May when another kid starts hitting better. Or he’ll move this kid from shortstop to the outfield and have this other kid ready to pitch for the playoffs. The coach had all these ideas before his team even practiced.

“I pulled back on that this season,” Namnun said. “I sit back and enjoy looking at the current roster as is, taking each kid individually and doing the best that I can to make that kid better. Maybe in the past, I focused on bettering kids for next season. ‘OK. He’s a freshman or he’s a sophomore. Let’s focus on this skill and get him ready for next season.’ Now, you know, let’s let them have a little fun. He might be a freshman or sophomore, but let’s get him in the game anyway and see how the rest of his game grows.

“It’s about being more present right now.”

For Namnun, there was no better time to be present than in the final inning of that 200th win. Months earlier, his phone buzzed every day as his teenage players did whatever they could to help out their ailing coach.

Now he was watching them make the final outs of a milestone win he had forgotten about. He wasn’t thinking about the playoffs or next year. He was living in the moment.

“When the third out was made, it hit me that I could not believe that I had been given this second chance to get to this spot,” Namnun said. “It was surreal and emotional that I even had the opportunity to be there. There were a lot of happy tears.”

Namnun’s doctors asked him after surgery to create a list of goals, things that could motivate him during his recovery. Near the top was to return to coaching by the start of the season.

“Not just be a presence but to be present,” he said.

He returned to teaching in the fall, was able to stop by the team’s indoor workouts over the winter, was declared cancer-free in December, and received clearance to coach just before the team’s first outdoor practice in early March. The first trip to the field, which is a half-mile from school, is always special. But this drive was different.

“I actually got teary eyed as I turned the corner and it was there,” Namnun said. “It was almost like ‘I made it.’ I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get to do that again. Something as simple as to drive to practice.”

His players didn’t know that Coach Nam was coming until he arrived at the field. Namnun told the players he wanted to have a quick meeting. The players figured he was just checking in. Instead, it was the start of their first practice. Their coach — the one they motivated when he wasn’t sure he would see another season — was back.

“That was really emotional,” said senior Miguel Basilio. “I’m not going to lie. We were all surprised.”

The Pioneers had an up-and-down year but earned a first-round bye in the Public League playoffs. They seemed to play better as the season went on, perhaps allowing them to enter the postseason with some momentum.

They practiced their leads last week, aimed their relay throws at the brim of each other’s hats, and swung at Namnun’s batting-practice fastballs. When the final group finished, Namnun huddled his players near the infield grass.

The next day was the team’s final regular-season game on its home field. He told the players how nervous he was for that game when he was a senior, remembering he had trouble sleeping the night before. Don’t be like that, he said to the team’s seniors. Soak in these final memories. Enjoy it.

A few months ago, the baseball coach wasn’t sure if he would get back to his comfort zone. Now that he is, he wants his team to savor each moment with him.

“At the end of the day,” he told them. “We get to do this at least another week.”