| School: Madison | Graduation Year: 1970 |
Year Inducted: 2004
Sports Played: Baseball, Coach
High School Honors: Member of two-time PIL and State Championship baseball teams (1969,70); Member of City, State, National Championship American Legion baseball team (1969)
Post High School Career: Coached Madison baseball team to eight consecutive PIL Championships and State Championship (1981); Coached Lakeridge baseball team to four league Championships and two State Championships (1999,2001); His teams never missed playoffs in 25 years (536-177)
Commentary:
The reason that I am still involved in baseball working with high school students can be found in my years growing up in the Madison area in the PIL. I watched Madison teams led by the likes of Rick Wise and Keith Lampard win state titles while in grade school. I dreamed with Tom Wise, a life long classmate, that we could do that ourselves. Then we did our junior and senior year. To make that dream come true, I had to learn that team success takes more than talented players. It takes more than hard work. It requires that young men learn that something is bigger than they are. That our greatest accomplishments are motivated by our genuine love for our team mates and our team, and our willingness to give all I have to benefit “US.”
These words, stated all the time, only become true by actions. A bullpen catcher is not a prestigious job; it is an important job. I did that my junior year as well as I could when, for the first spring ever, I sat behind a better player Bruce Maxwell. Doing it truly prepared me to be a better person and a better father and a better teacher. And it prepared me to start the next year and play completely prepared and catch a shut out in the state final with boyhood friend Tom Wise on the mound. The lesson that the world does not rotate around us, and serving others makes us all we can be, is still the critical lesson learned from the great game of baseball. I learned that at Madison High School.