Best Coaches In the State

Mr sox nole :
Not many teams win every year like Oak Park does year after year. And Pony league has sure not hurt the kids who play for OPRF has it?? The pitchers get their innings in at 14, Pony has a 10 inning a week rule,and dont have to worry about a travel coach pitching them too much like they do in travel ball, so they dont have a arm left when they come to Highschool. And Pony league is developing 8 short stops instead of going to a travel team where the coaches son is the short stop!
Beenthere: How is saying Kaiser had yes men for coaches, going after him??? Or did you just write that so you could talk about your son getting food posioned down state?

Huskie...You must have your own private agenda.

Jack Kaiser is dead.

Respect his memory.

Maybe it is too much to ask of you considering your comments make you seem to be an AOL chatroom outcast.

I really dont get why people need to get personal

At this point, there should be nothing put possitive things said about coach kaiser...he was one of a kind. It doesnt matter what type of coaches they had, they won and they produced not only great baseball players but great men.
Yeah they do have a great feeder program, thats where it starts but he took them to the next level. Year after year after year

Your statements about travel team are both true and far fetched....yes little league coaches pretty much ruin pitchers out of desperation to make a name for themselves (the same thing happens in hs/college) but there are also coaches who use a pitch count ( we all know thats more useful then innings) and make sure pitchers do the right thing.

huskie, unfortunately the pony program in OP has hampered the progress of several players that I am familiar with. The coaching isn't what it used to be. They don't play enough games and no house league can match the competition of high end travel ball. Certainly some travel teams are no better than OP pony, but the kind of player that starts at a program like OPRF would always be better off finding the highest level possible to compete. Some of the parents in recent years have tried to work with the OP pony league to no avail. The league is more interested in the tiny pony playoff system than promoting what could annually be one of the best travel programs in the state-in every age group - 10 and up. OPRF already has suffered because of this situation and it will only get worse. Thank heavens for the great staff at OPRF that puts the kids needs ahead of thier own. The pony people could learn from them. Hope springs eternal!

Its really quite simple. Take the best 17 kids in each age group, give them the best coach in that age group and go travel!

In the end then, 17 more players in each age group would get a lot more pt at the local level. Win-Win, except for all the fiefdom's out there!

and huskie, get off Jack. His son played @ Florida State. The man is a legend. He won more than anyone ever will. He shared his field with me. He loved the game. He was the best of his day.

Oak park youth/pony baseball is as it should be. A league comprised of 2 divisions at each level, 1 more competitive than the other. To say several players were hampered by the program might be true if you are talking about missing out on 2 sets of uniforms, a delux travel bag, and a free lunch and dinner at Burger King or better yet at Denny's on the weekends. The many select athletes in Oak Parks baseball program practice or play 6 to 7 days a week from mid march to early August with coaches whose average tenure is 10 years or more. I call team "homies". Hometown boys who play with the their best friends for better or worse and compete fiercely with one another in front of families, friends, neighbors,and the local young ladies who come out to watch them. They are extremely well grounded in the fundamentals of baseball through extensive practice, and a 25 game in house season. Tournament teams search out the best travel teams to play before their Pony national playoffs. You end up with a ball player well schooled with great chemistry with his teammates. The high school benefits, the community benefits and the boy has a childhood memory of walking or driving home from games with his friends or his mom or dad just minutes away. Priceless, and they don't carry mastercard to pay for the hotels and high user fees. Some of Oak Parks finest ballplayers could never afford it. Why excluded them?. It cost a small fee for a true hometown experience. Bring ON the 4th of July!! Contrary to what you think, I believe Oak Park has it right. Please don't over exaggerate what a tiny handful of parents want to see changed. BY the way soxnole how has O.P.R.F suffered as a result? It,s determination, pride and respect that defines baseball in Oak Park and, Yes, River Forest.

Dirt Bag. Your opinion is antiquated. Top players will benefit by playing travel ball and competing with other top players.

OPRF has suffered because the players that lead the program are BEHIND the kids at LT, Lockport and others when they enter the program. OPRF coaches have signifigantly more work to do in teaching the fundementals of the game.

Maybe you should ask the kids if they would rather play more games instead of practicing with fewer coaches at the same terrible field. (a typical travel program plays at least twice as many games and has twice as many and better qualified coaches)

Your lack of knowledge regarding travel ball points to the problem at hand.

Would it be so hard to organize an all-star team that could travel from the get-go!?

Playing against the best will make a better baseball player than playing with your friends.

Give up your fiefdom and do what is right for the kids. OP pony is still a wonderful environ for the average player. Stop holding back the cream of the crop, they should have a chance to play with 8 others just like themselves.

The proof must be in the pudding. Just look at who is playing at the school. Are the kids who play travel the dominant players at the school? Just look at last year's teams and figure it out. Dirtbag, how many Pony players started on the Freshman "A" Team? Any Travel or Pony kids playing at the Soph. level as Freshman? Do the math.

I agree with dirt bag; soxnole; and, fastball dad.

Great memories from Little League and Pony League days for the kids.

I think it is a good balance. The exceptional kids always have their own "options".

Whatever happened to the travel ball football in OPRF? The programs that used to feed OPRF? What has happened to OPRF football?

How can you bash the OP pony league? Being one of the freshman coaches for the past 2 years ( and at oprf for 5) we have benefited greatly from the pony feeder system. We were 35-12 2 years ago as freshman and 43-6 last year as freshman. LT is a great program, but we beat them 2 of 3 the past 2 years. If you look to the starters who are now Sophmores and Juniors who played OP (and RF) ponyball, they are now the nucleus of the Huskie team. Why? Because they have played together since they were kids and didnt alienate themselves from the rest of the community. Travel ball is good if you can afford it. I take with great pride and respect the way we teach these young men the way that the game should be played. Coach ledbetter and the rest of our staff are grateful for the fundamentals Pony ball has instilled in these young men. We have to tweek some things when they get here but for the most part they love to play the game. I hope that I can put this pissing contest to rest and move on to more important issues.
-Jim Geovanes (OPRF Freshman Baseball)

Fastball, O.P.R.F's freshman team went 41-6 with two combined teams. They won conference without one travel kid on the team. After the age of 14 many players will begin their travel ball experience. All I am saying hometown ball works in our community. Beenthere, Oak Park football hopefully is on the rise. The freshman were quite successful this year. The coaching staff has started to become more and more involved in the community youth programs. A few years ago the top youth program in football was the young Friars. An excellent program that basically fed Fenwick H.S. Now the Young Huskies football program is starting to flourish again due in part to recoginition by the High school... You know that Jack Kaiser sat on our Pony baseball board for decades. In his later years he became an honorary member and attended our meetings maybe twice a year. He was sent the minutes and agenda of every meeting year after year after year. He was quite aware of the benefits and rewards of a sound feeder system. He cared very much for it and helped nurtured its development. I really can not begin to describe his impact on our baseball program from the bottom up...... I know this thread is about the Best Coaches in the State. The best coaches develop a work ethic for their players that is second to none, they get their players to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of their team, and their players will make an effort at all times with the determination to succeed against all odds. They get their players to play like they practice and practice like they play. HARD! These coaches know who they are. They are the best coaches in the State. Coach Kaiser was one of them and O.P.R.F is fortunate to have a head coach and staff that knows this a formula that works. So Hats off to all of you fine head and assistance coaches. Keep on "jammin until the jammin is through".

Jim(ballgame8) Did you have anything to do with this years OPRF freshman that played in the CF Swingtown fall league?

TARatko, you have a PM.

I didn't mean to take one side or the other. I was just asking how things played out regarding who played for the HS Team and whether or not they were travel or house players. I know from personal experience that OPRF is very good from watching them play against my sons' teams. Last year the OP freshman team gave my son's team one of their best games of the year.

Soxnole: You're probably not aware of the Oak Park Eagles, the travel team of Oak Park Youth Baseball, which has been expanding over the last few years. We are striving to provide top-notch travel team competition to ages 8 - 12, while preserving the house league program and our affiliation with PONY Baseball. They are affiliated with the Northern Illinois Metro League, and get to 2-3 tournaments each year, including Cooperstown. It's a hybrid approach that honors the "antiquated" notion of community-based baseball while offering exposure to the best travel team competition in the area. The kids end up playing 50 - 60 games a season, but still participate fully in their house league teams, the All-Star games and the Vilage Championship. The OPRF Pony league (ages 13-14) is working to put something similar in place. As it is, their tournament teams always play area travel teams to warm up for the Pony tournaments, and they're always competitive.

IL2008: The CF Swingtown team was really a "pick-up" team and the high school coaches were not involved.

Thanks MIP. That's what I thought but one of the Moms from that team was trying to tell me it was the freshman A team. There were a couple of talented players in the group but it didn't seem like it was representative of what I would expect from OPRF.

MIP. Congratulations. I have only the kindest memories regarding OP pony, afterall I coached in that league and made some great friends there. My oldest played in OP pony and went on to play professionally for many years. Some members of recent pony boards are good friends of mine. Having said that, the board as a whole has been, to my knowledge, intransigent in the recent past with regard to doing what is right for ALL the players and Travel ball specifically. The comments by Dirtbag "Oak Park pony is as it should be" is the wrong attitude. Your approach is the right attitude imo (and needs to be expanded).

As for Tar's statement that maybe he missed something along the way, I can only feel sorry that he missed all those Saturday Evening Post Americana moments that I hold dearly and which I shared with my family.....at Travel games, tournaments and yeah even at Wendy's, Denny's and especially Bob Chinn's!

If you think about it, there are about 175 players in OP + RF that could benefit greatly from your effort's (17 players ages 8 through 18). This would not have to dent the existing structure. It would simply result in 17 other kids in each age group getting signifigantly more playing time.

Good Luck to you MIP. Hopefully there will soon be parent's of players in OP + RF that don't have to drive to Bellwood, Arlington Heights, McHenry, Wheaton and Palatine as I did for about 10 years.

Go Eagles!

Oak Park River Forest has always and I mean always have had a GREAT baseball program!
I have played against them in all levels, and they hustle and play the game the right way! how any one can say their Pony Program has hurt them is a joke!!! They have been about the best Highschool team for the past 30 year!!!!!
All travel teams do is cost alot of money and the Coaches son always play short stop bat's third and pitch. DONT CHANGE OAK PARK OR YOUR KIDS WILL LOSE THEIR LOYALITY TO THEIR SCHOOL AND TEAM MATES AND LEAVE THEIR SCHOOL IN THEIR SENIOR YEAR AND CARE LESS ABOUT THEIR TEAM!

Is this your 10th or 11th alias, Mr. masked man?

Masked, I remember playing travel ball since i was 10 till 14. We sometimes had to play "in house" teams in a tournament, and never lost. My point is, travel ball is better baseball overall. The players have more of a commitment, probably because they are paying a lot of money to play. There is better competition, better umpires, better everything.

soxnole,
when are we goinng to have that beef at JOHNNIE'S. I told you a year ago no one wasted more talent than Jack. The reason he won so many games, was that he started his coaching in 1968. Huskie Class of 77.

I feel Eric Regez of Herscher does a great job in class a. He seems to always be a threat to win a regional or sectional.

Jack Kaisers assistants were Dick Trout and Larry Gray. Both more than able assistants who contributed significantly.

As far as OP Pony is concerned, I tend to fall more in the "dirtbag" camp than "soxnole" camp. Soxnole's philosphy revolves around the idea that baseball is the center focus of life. He and Ruairi have dedicated their time and money to baseball to a degree that I could never justify. That being said, its a free country, have at it. I it seems to me that a player/family can accomplish most of the same goals with a more moderate approach to development and exposure. I just think that if the physical skills and work ethic are there you'll be OK. You have to be intelligent about it, but not so extreme. It would suprise me if the amount of money spent in travel ball and the camp/showcase circuit could possibly be recouped by scholarship money. Particularly in an equivalency sport like baseball where full rides are almost non existent.

As ballgame8 mentioned, the OPRF freshman teams Always stack up more than favorably with the competition. I love Dirtbag's philosophy because it is about more than just personal promotion.

coachb, keep up the good work. I like your philosophies on many subjects. Coaches play the cards they are dealt for the most part(unless you are at a private school). The fact is some of the greatest coaches are those who don't seek attention. They prefer to stay away from big name programs. They don't promote themselves, they just coach and teach their players.

Having played HS ball in the mid 70's I remember several exceptional coaches including Kaiser of OPRF, Al Carstens of Maine West, and Klein of New Trier East.

I really think travel ball for 12-14U started back in the late 80's in Northern IL and then became extremely popular in the late 90's. My only advice is that if your son has some talent and loves the game; try to find a coach and program that you are both comfortable with. There are so few excellant travel coaches at the 12-14U age level. Invest in private lessons as well- your kid will benefit. Get to know the local high school baseball program that he will attend by viewing their baseball games as well. But most of all, take a trip with your son to the College World Series in Omaha and enjoy watching their coaches and players in action!

Jim, consider yourself surprised. Ruairi's scholarship for this year alone will cover his previous 3 years in travel ball!

Next, it appears you have passed judgement on travel ball in general and that you are saying that the same philosophy can't be achieved at this higher level....I beg to disagree. I coached in the OP Pony league. It involved a fare amount of baby sitting 13 and 14 year old's, some of which did not want to be there! OP Pony unfortunately had on each "A" squad, a very low talent level (especially compared to travel teams) with the result that the best kids became bored and even stagnant at times.

The OP Pony league is one of the best house leagues I have seen. For the average player or a player who's parents can't afford approximately $1000.00 a year plus the added gas and occasional lodging the OP pony is perfect. Be appraised also that many talented low income players are given help by thier teams and a better deal than the other kids. I admit this is only on the very top or well heeled teams, but it happens all the time...almost every team Ruairi has played for has had 1 or 2. But please give me a break when you claim that somehow the house league breeds better "chemistry". I would venture to guess that you and Dirtbag have far less experience with travel/showcase than I do with house leagues, OPP included. You have not heard thier cries or been there to console them after a tough loss.

Just ask Ruairi, Pat Brady or Joe Froelich about that. Get out and take a look at what's happening out there. When kids go to regional and national tournaments several times a year, the bond is much tighter than those who walk home from a bumpy Greenfield.

No player in Pony can achieve the experience and rarely can they achieve the same goal that a top travel player achieves, primarily due to the higher level and number of games.

Btw Jim, my center focus in life is to do some good down here and get myself and family into heaven. If I can accomplish that AND help Ruairi get to the highest level then I'll be thrilled. I put my boys in travel and recommend to all that can read these posts to do the research and put your kid in the best possible situation. For some that is travel ball and for others its house league!

Observer, nice post. For the record Tom Matsie and the 12 year old Palatine Travelers were playing all comers in 1984.

Thanks soxnole. I coached with Tom several years ago. He definitely was instrumental in developing travel ball. Now my son (14) is playing under Sam Sorce at Prairie Gravel.

Coach Sorce is a very good. His players learn the game well and play against the best competition out there.

Corky, I couldn't have said it better myself. My son learned more about how this great game should be played by playing for Sam Sorce last summer than he had in all his previous seasons combined.

Corky9999, you have a PM.

Soxnole, I don't know how long it has been since you coached for the oprf pony program but your statement regarding a fare amount of time was spent on baby sitting 13 and 14 yr. olds, some of which did not want to be there, only seems to reflect a statement in a previous post that oprf coaches don't try as hard to instruct the game of baseball because of the nature or lack thereof the talent level. Obviously that was your impression and sadly you still hold it. Our coaches are evaluated and if they don't measure up they are not asked to return the next year. Many of our coaches work that much harder if that was the case and any lack of effort by any coach is recognized by the players and the results will speak for themselves. Our coaches find diamonds in the rough. Many of whom would not have been considered for travel ball or even recognized as such by their parents. There are too many examples for me to mention here. To say the bond is much tighter than those who walk home from "bumpy" greenfield park reveals you are out of the loop when it comes to understanding our program. I am sure both groups have tight bonds. To say no player can achieve the goals of a top tier travel player is what? Games won? Home runs? RBI's? For What? Personal gratification? I don,t know. Our young men probally take 3x as many ground balls, fly balls, and swings as your average travel team player in one week. The player is developed not the stats. I think what jimmmyD is trying to say is put yourself in the young mans shoes and not those of the parents.....On another note O.P.R.F 14's beat prairie gravels 14's in an exhibition game last summer. I know, P.G probally didn't pitch their studs right, but OP must of got lucky! No disrepect to P.G long considered the cream of the crop. They do a fine job..... Sox lets put our biased opinions to rest. The common ground here is to play baseball hard, with those you respect and dedicate yourself to TEAM, the players and the coaches. OPRF pony has 53 years of tradition that is passed down from former players whom come out to help with tournament teams and even coach in our league. They help the players learn more than the game, they learn the OPRF way! Why change when you have these tangibles? We will bend but we won't break....... By the way JimD coach Gray is now working with the sophomores. He is retired and the H.S staff is honored to have him back.

Dirtbag,

Larry stopped in at last sunday and gave me the good news himself. His is a return that was WAAAAYYY overdue! I know he has been willing for some time now, I'm glad it has happened. He has a wealth of experience. He is definitely on a short list of baseball men who I would ask to be my bench coach should I ever have my own program.

Good luck with your guys John. Hopefully I'll get out to see you soon.

jimd4575, I am thrilled to have Larry back in the program and always hoped he would change his mind and return. I approached him when I was hired as I did you and Russ Meuller about coaching. I am just a little confused about your comment that Larry has been willing to return for some time. It makes it sound like there was resistance in the past to get him involved again. I just want to make it clear that Larry was one of the first people asked to stay on board and he declined. This winter, I was approached about the idea of him returning and I jumped at the chance to have him back. I just wanted to make that clear because I respect him as a person and a baseball coach. The door has always been open for his return.

jimd4575, you have a PM.

Who would you all say are the best young coaches in High School today?

I have seen Esposito at Bremen and given the size of the school he really develops the talent and is very competitive. I also like the coach at Chicago Christian and Illiana Christian, can't think of their names, but they have solid fundamental programs. It is different when you have a small talent pool and a larger versus a large one like Andrew, Lockport or Lincoln Way.

Ron Czarnecki has a lot of talent at Oak Forest and this may be his year, but he needs to get them out of the regional.

What are your thoughts?

Eddie Toledo at Evanston Township . Give him some time , but he will get that program headed in the right direction . A proven winner who is also excellent at teaching the game . Evanston will be winning a lot more from here on out .

Coaches that I know of that I feel are good coaches:
(no particular order)

CoachB who is from TRIAD (may give me away, but I know him better than most from Waterloo do)

Mark Vogel from Waterloo. He really knows his stuff and I have learned a lot from him over the last 10+ years I've been in his dugout.

Edwardsville's coach, sorry don't know him by name.

Lon Fulte- spent many years at Waterloo before going to Quincy, IL. He has since moved back to Waterloo in retirement and is going to be working with the catchers in our program this year.

CoachB, one of these days we may meet you in a sectional, if we can ever get past E'ville in the Regionals. Before last year, I believe the Bulldogs went like 7 years in a row getting into the Regional Championship but getting beat by the Tigers. Two years ago, my freshman year, we had them reeling in the Championship game; I believe took them into extra innings or into the 6th or 7th inning late.

Coach Jay Thompson and his brother Jim Thomson at Harrisburg Illinois have done a great job.They are fundamentalists....always have a good team in the deep south..
Another good young coach in the south is Doug Bogard of Carterville High school..
Eric Regez of Herscher High School is an excellent coach in the North Class A and newcomer Kevin Arthur of Bradley-Bourbonnais High School will be top notch..

Bonebreak of Benet - Who does more with challeges such as small enrollment,the highest of the highest academic standards for everyone including athletes and expectations of a coach who plays for the State Championship every game. Hands down... one of the best.

The Naperville area has a very large population, so while Mr. Bonebrake is probably a great coach, and it is great that academics are important at Benet I think the fact that the enrollment is small is no handicap to their success. Kids from many different HS areas can attend Benet, so you can argue that they have an advantage over their neighboring public schools.