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Phil Coke writes excuse note for tardy students

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor

When you’re a Major League Baseball player there's no doubt you hold some degree clout in your community.

In Southfield, Mich., apparently that power extends all the way to excusing tardiness from school when local students get caught up at one of your appearances. Or at least that was the case on Friday morning when Coke and new Detroit Tigers teammate Torii Hunter stopped by Southfield's Dunkin' Donuts to help fill out orders and serve customers ahead of the weekend's TigersFest.

[Also: Classic Bryce Harper response shows up as a category on "Jeopardy"]

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers players spent a good half hour on the job and even longer mingling with fans. It was Torii Hunter's job to greet folks and take orders at the front counter. Meanwhile, Coke worked the drive-thru window, and he did so in a way only he could.

“Have a wonderful day,” Coke told one customer. “Stay warm.”

When he shut the drive-thru window with his hands, Coke cracked: “I’m the closer.”

Well played.

But as we said, Coke's work wasn't done there. He also had to play substitute guardian for a group of local students who ended up hanging around the event past the opening bell at their school. This was the solution they came up with.

Though this one was anything but routine, you can chalk up another save for the left-hander. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't enough in Coke's opinion to save an all-around awful performance in customer service.

“It was awesome interacting with the fans,” Coke said. “I think I’m much better at that than serving coffee and donuts. I was slowing everybody down. Torii said he was in a funk early and got out of it. I went from being in a funk to making it worse. I was the gum on the bottom of the shoe today. I’m really, really disappointed in my performance.”

Just keep working at it, Phil. Better days are ahead.

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