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First, develop players. Second, win.
McKay believes he accomplished both goals. While there is no scorecard for player development, McKay said the every player on the roster took steps forward, some of them significant. In regard to wins, McKay’s 2008 team already has the most wins in a season of any Loggers team, playoffs or not.
McKay also said the summer has also been “a tremendous learning experience” for him personally.
The Loggers manager discussed his first season, how his approach to player development worked in the Northwoods League, what happened — good and bad — on the field, and if he’s considering a return in 2009.
Q: When you were hired in September, there were a lot of questions about your emphasis on developing the skills of players and how you believe it doesn’t have to come at the expense of winning. Has that held true?
A: I think I’ve shown that you can develop players and win games. I wish we could have won a few more, but we’ve won more games than any other Logger team has won and I can very easily show you the improvement the players have made and the turnarounds a lot of them have made in their careers. Anyone who’s been here I think can very objectively say this group of guys has gotten better, they’ve improved themselves as baseball players and they’ve won games. So those two goals have been met. I’m proud of the consistency we’ve done our work with. We’ve had a game plan, we’ve stuck with it, and nobody in this league has come anywhere remotely close to putting in the amount of quality work we’ve put in. I think this has been a tremendous learning experience for our players.
Q: Who are some players that have developed most from day one through now:
A: You know, I can’t pick out one. But I can tell you that in terms of Derek Melton’s career, he probably had the best season of his life here. Randy Rundgren had a tremendous season and a big one for his career. Andy Pascoe got himself turned around in a big way. B.J. Guinn has got himself turned around. Chris Elder, it was a big season for him in terms of getting on the national scene a little bit. Cory Vaughn was MVP of the All-Star game. P.J. Polk had the best season of any of our players and statistically it doesn’t show, but he’s hit the ball as hard as you can hit it all summer long and has become a much better outfielder. (Pitchers) Troy Watson, Stephen Pistoresi, Pete Woodworth, Chris Sale, Wade Kapteyn getting turned around, I can go down the list. I feel like every one of our players is in a better spot now than they were when they got here.
Q: The Loggers became known this season for starting pre-game work around 2 p.m. most days at home this season — that’s an hour or two earlier than the norm — and sometimes on the road you showed up at the park before the home team. What have the extra hours accomplished?
A: What it’s going to accomplish, and I talked to (general manager) Chris (Goodell) about this, is being a community college coach, my work benefits other coaches at higher levels because my players move on. That’s how I look at this job, as well. I think that there’s going to be a point in time this year or next year or four or five years from now and they’ll know that this summer has really helped them deal with what they’re going to be dealing with at that time and I’m proud of that. I’m a teacher, and that’s what I thrive on, and these guys are my students and I feel pretty good about the fact that I’ve helped them.
Q: Outside of reaching the most wins in team history, what is your review of the season on the field?
A: The pitching is self-explanatory. The (hitting) statistics, the thing is, if you’re just going to look at batting average, we’re down, but if you look at our runs scored compared to the top hitting team, the difference sometimes has been four or five runs, not that big of a difference. Everything you do offensively is geared around scoring runs. We obviously went through stretches where we didn’t play well, but we recovered from those, which is a testament to what’s been happening here. Even offensively, some of the numbers aren’t going to show success, but these guys have learned how to hit, and they’ve showed it enough. I’m happy with everything, to be honest. Our baserunning has not been that good, but that’s part of the growth experience. Of all the things I’m really proud of, it’s the two or three opportunities that when things got really difficult, we turned them around. Also, our core group of players, they’re still here. We didn’t have guys quitting, we didn’t have fake injuries. I think that just shows we’ve created a culture where people want to be here, and I’m proud of that.
Q: What have you learned from this summer?
A: This has been a tremendous learning experience for me in terms of getting athletes ready to play every day. I had certain goals I’d set for myself and I’ve met them. My job at Sacramento City College is to get players ready for the Division I level, so it’s always good to coach Division I players. There have been a lot of things reiterated to me that, OK, I’m doing these things right, and there were other things that I’ve learned that, yeah, I probably should make some adjustments. But just the concept of bringing meaning and value to every day was always the focus with our group, not getting mentally worn out and continuing to play hard. This team has been the most consistent team in the division and it may not get into the playoffs. But if the season went another 40 games, I think we all know how it would end up. I’m proud of the energy and the focus our guys have brought on a daily basis.
Q: Have you made a decision about coming back next year?
A: I haven’t even talked about it with (Goodell). I haven’t been asked back, but that’s for another time, another discussion. Our job is to continue what we’re doing here and I don’t even really want to talk about it right now. I don’t want to get my mind off of right now. We’ve got plenty of time to figure that out. I love
La Crosse, my family loved La Crosse, and it was a great experience.
Joel Badzinski can be reached at joel.badzinski@lee.net
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