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Behind him in left field, it looked like any other day of the long season. Position players were hitting plastic balls off tees, and pitchers were running sprints, stretching and playing catch.
To McKay, it was Exhibit A of what his first season in La Crosse was all about.
“They’re doing that on their own,” said McKay, whose team had been eliminated from the playoffs the previous night. “These guys are getting work in for a game that has no meaning. There was just an overall theme this year that our guys really worked and they really bought into what we were doing.”
The Loggers’ commitment to working in a professional-style environment, which included reporting every day at 2 p.m. at home and often being the first team to arrive at the ballpark for road games, paid off with a franchise-best 39-29 record, but no playoff appearance.
La Crosse was in the first-half pennant race until the final day and held on until the penultimate day of the second half, failing to get the franchise to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I thought we could get into the playoffs and we obviously could have, a bounce here or there, either half,” McKay said. “You look back and we needed one game in either half, and there’s a million of those games.”
When McKay, the head coach at Sacramento City College, was hired in September, the only guarantee he made was that the Loggers would be the hardest working team in the league. That, he predicted, would lead to player development, which in turn would lead to wins.
“He did that and then some,” Loggers general manager Chris Goodell said. “What he did as much as anything was create a working culture, which is what we wanted and what was needed. When we got to first meet the guy, he was something else, and he proved to be that and then some.”
McKay said he will take some time over the next few weeks to decide if he’ll return to manage in 2009.
“We’ve got plenty of time to figure that out,” McKay said. “I love La Crosse, my family loved La Crosse, it was a great experience.”
Goodell said he expects to know “in a week or two” if McKay will be back.
“He’s going to take some time,” Goodell said. “He’d like to do it again and we’d like to have him. He’s the head coach of a college program and he has a family. He has to make sure things are in place. We’ll hear from him in the next couple of weeks.”
The 2008 season was also marked by an Aug. 3 swimming accident that sent All-Star Derek Melton to the hospital with damage to three vertebrae in his neck.
Melton, a junior from the University of Evansville, was left with no feeling in his lower body. He had surgery on Aug. 5 and his family reported a day later that he was in stable condition and preparing to begin rehabilitation at Gundersen Lutheran.
“Absolutely, it is the hardest thing we’ve had to go through as a franchise,” Goodell said. “It affected so many people. This group, the team, the coaches, the staff, it seemed like everyone came even closer together to help support Derek and his family. It put a lot of things in perspective that this is a great game and we love it, but there are obviously bigger things in life.”
McKay knew people had doubts about his plan for daily practice sessions. Mainly, they predicted the players would wear out mentally and physically.
But McKay and his staff, including former major league all-star Greg Vaughn, pitching coach Derek Tate, third-year hitting coach Scott Gillitzer and assistant Joe Potulny, didn’t listen.
“Early on, people would say, you won’t be doing that in July,’ McKay said. “And we never deviated. I was never sure of the plan, but not every plan gets executed. We had great kids, and they were out here getting ready at 1:30 every day. We ruffled some feathers on the road by being out there before the home team, but hard work is what it’s all about.”
Cory Vaughn, a freshman outfielder from San Diego State and Greg’s son, started in all 68 games for the Loggers this summer and was named the All-Star Game MVP in July. It’s safe to say he survived the grind, but count him among those who weren’t sure about McKay’s plan.
“At first, I was like, there’s no way I’m doing this five hours before the game every single day,” Cory Vaughn said. “But as I saw myself get better and continue to grow as a player, I didn’t look at it as a bad thing. I looked at it as a positive.”
The Loggers’ roster was also one of the youngest in the league, with 12 freshmen and 10 sophomores. McKay made it a priority to get playing time for all his young players and let them ride out any bumps in the road.
La Crosse’s two players from California, right-handed pitcher Stephen Pistoresi and infielder B.J. Guinn, epitomized McKay’s approach to development.
Pistoresi appeared in 11 games as a freshman this spring for Cal. With the Loggers, he became the go-to reliever of the second half, finishing 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA. Pistoresi didn’t allow a run over his last 162/3 innings of work, earning two wins and five saves.
“I feel like I’ve made great leaps this summer, more than I ever have,” Pistoresi said. “I’ve been talking to my coach (at California) all summer and he’s excited. My goal is to be a Friday or Saturday starter next spring, and I feel with the things I’ve learned from the coaches and other players, I can go back and get that spot.”
Guinn, who had just 37 at-bats last spring for Cal, was batting .169 on July 17. Instead of parking Guinn on the bench, McKay kept him in the infield mix and Guinn finished the season batting .227, including .310 over his last 10 games.
“It’s a work in progress and it might be a year or two after they leave La Crosse that the whole thing plays out for them,” McKay said. “I feel good that all our guys really have benefited from this process. You can develop players and win games, absolutely 100 percent you can.”
Statistically, the 2008 Loggers set team records for runs (219), RBI (278), doubles (94), stolen bases (114), walks (306) and on-base percentage (.348). Vaughn set the stolen base record (26), outfielder P.J. Polk set the walks record (41) and tied the record for runs (37), outfielder Chris Elder set the doubles record (15) and right-hander Cole Green established the ERA record (1.49).
Green (6-1) and Vaughn (.251, eight home runs, 41 RBI) were named NWL Post-Season All-Stars. Melton, Vaughn, Polk (.238, five home runs, 30 RBI) left-handed pitchers Chris Sale (2-3, 3.23) and Aaron Dott Dott (5-2, 2.43) were named South Division All-Stars. All six all-stars except for Melton will be underclassmen next summer and eligible to return.
The franchise continued to be one of summer baseball’s most successful off the field. The Loggers drew an average of 3,319 people, second in the Northwoods League and second in team history, and finished with a total attendance of 106,196, their fourth straight time over 100,000.
“You look back over our six years now, and we talk about the honeymoon period and is there leveling off of interest,” Goodell said. “But it seemed like we took another step forward in terms of connecting with the fans and certainly success on the field is a big part of it and I like to think the entertainment product we put on the field has a lot to do with it. We feel fortunate to have a fan base that really loves baseball.”
Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net
