| School: Wilson | Coaching Years: 1977-2014 |
Year Inducted: 2015
Sports Played: Coach, Baseball
Featured Member of the Month ~ August 2023
High School Honors: Class of 1965, Cleveland High, 2nd team All-PIL senior.
Post High School Career: Graduated Portland State University, 1976; Master’s Degree, 1981. Assst. Baseball coach at PSU under Roy Love (1974) and Jack Dunn (1975-76). Varsity Baseball coach Jackson High, 1977-82; Wilson High from 1983-2014); Asst. football coach and Asst. AD at both schools. Varsity coaching record: (613-438), #4 All time wins in Oregon. State Titles 2006 and 2012; Diamond/American Baseball Coaches Assn. National Coach of the Year, 2012. Business teacher, retired 2004 — Accounting, Marketing, Business Law, Keyboarding. Director and Executive Comm. Member PIL Hall of Fame since 2004. November, 2015, to be inducted into Oregon High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Commentary:
As a youth in the Llewellyn neighborhood, we were always playing workup, double or nothing, or home run derby. My friends fostered by life-long passion for baseball. My brother, Clair, and I spent countless hours playing waffle ball in the front yard, and keeping a scorebook.
My father died when I was 10. Many coaches and fathers of my friends helped me as a ‘father figure.’ Of particular note were Roy Love and Jack Dunn. Coach Love encouraged me with a scholarship that made more schooling possible, and, along with Coach Dunn, helped launch my rewarding coaching career. I embraced Dunn’s philosophy, “baseball (athletics) is a vehicle to help young men become good citizens.”
To coach 38 consecutive years in high school, you need a supportive family, committed assistants, and dedicated players. Gayle, my wife of 46 years, was always supportive behind the scenes with all of the baseball activities, especially the fundraisers. (My children, Denise & Kevin, were involved and we made them family activities. The grandchildren, Jenna, Talya, Ian & Sasha, grew up on Wilson Baseball). Assistant coaches are vital to program success, as players can attest. What assistants provide is “catching”… little wonder that over 50 former players have assisted at Wilson and in neighborhood programs. I cherish the memories and the life lessons I learned with family, players and assistants on the diamond.