The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 41

i 'v' i i i i I Sports NEIGHBORS AC Thursday March 5 1998 PAGE 1 1 Careers at a crossroad for -t" Kurt Knudsen hopes to make one last pitch Rick Schu switches from player to coach be a Schu said in and day out you have to do it You have to produce or you are gone But there is nothing like putting on a big league uniform and going out on the Unlike some Knudsen and Schu have given serious thought to their futures beyond baseball And while Schu has found a way to continue to don stirrups and a cap as a hitting and infield coach for the South Bend Silverhawks the Class A affiliate of the new Arizona Diamondbacks major-league expansion team Knudsen may soon trade in his baseball uniform for a different kind of uniform Unless Knudsen gets a baseball offer soon he may use the signature once reserved for autographs to sign reports as a police officer I got the right offer take it in a said Knudsen who lives in Folsom got a young daughter now and realized there is more to life than After pitching Del Campo to a NorCal championship in 1985 Knudsen spent two years at American River College where he was drafted by the Pirates in the eighth round He bypassed the pros to play one season with the University of Miami He was drafted by the Bl-NTONI NH(iHHOKS After many years as a professional baseball player Rick Schu looks forward to his new job as a minor league coach with the Arizona Diamond-backs The El Dorado Hills resident has been assigned to the Class A South Bend Silverhawks In Indiana The Del Campo High School graduate started his pro career In 1981 and played with several major league teams Detroit Tigers in the ninth round in 1988 Unhappy with his season as a closer for Miami Knudsen grabbed the opportunity to leave school In 1988 Knudsen played for three different minor league teams in the course of two months league was everything I expected but it was actually a step down from Knudsen said flew everywhere and stayed at some great hotels in Miami In the minor leagues you were on a bus for long periods of After a month with the Triple A Toledo Mud Hens in 1992 Knudsen was called up to the Tigers when Bill Gullickson was injured Knudsen saw his playing time in the major leagues dwindle over the course of three seasons He pitched 70 innings in 1992 for the Tigers posting a 2-3 record with a 458 ERA and followed that up with 3-2 and 1-0 seasons in limited major league action did not put up good numbers at all" Knudsen said "Back then I was considered young and Sparky Anderson did not like young players The joke around Detroit was that if you were under 30 play somewhere else After 30 come back and be a starter 30 now and I wish that organization was still together because I would try to make Knudsen was released during spring training of the 1995 season The Giants signed him 1 1 days later In the minor league organization career suffered a setback when his spike caught on the mound while pitching Initially diagnosed as a pulled muscle a specialist in Tacoma Wash discovered that he had injured a disc in his back which required surgery was tough because the Giants had a terrible pitching staff that year and they needed help in the Knudsen said there was no way I could Last season Knudsen signed with the Anaheim Angels and had his worst experience in minor league baseball The travel was constant and the quality of Baseball in Midland Texas made Knudsen seriously consider hanging up the spikes So did a 868 ERA and 0-4 record in 35 games With spring training under way however Knudsen hopes to get one last look from scouts He throws BY VINCE VOSTI Neighbors sports writer Former Del Campo pitcher Kurt Knudsen is running out of patience and he may be running out of options Knudsen is 30 years old the prime age for pitching Yet he has been forced to wait and hope that some major league organization will see him as someone who can still throw at better than 90 mph rather than as a pitcher who is damaged goods When Knudsen was young he served as a bat boy for a team that included another Del Campo standout Rick Schu Schu knows well the uncertainty of the business of the sport having played professional baseball since 1981 Like Knudsen the 36-year-old Schu was unsure in the off-season whether he would continue his career as a utility player or make the leap into coaching Although uncertainty is part of the game many players fail to make provisional plans for when the merry-go-round finally grinds to a halt Baseball is a hard habit to break professional baseball) is definitely a job an amazing job but you play 162 games and it can Kurt Knudsen of Folsom Is considering a career change after a difficult minor league season last year in Texas Knudsen who has piched In the majors with the Detroit Tigers Is i helping the 1 American River College baseball team Joan Barnett Neighbors OR PHEW the things me to Diamondbacks a fresh Hopefully down I can get the major and coach them SCHU baseball imtrui tor Diamoiulbaiks never again would play in more than 100 games in a season odds are in your favor if you aie a high draft Schu said you have a bad year you still have a chance but you have to put up numbers every year A lot of times gone into the camp as the 24th or 25th guy trying to make the squad and I did not know if 1 would end up in Balti-m or Schu had a 24-home run season in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters but he said he was released after his second season in i 1994 as a scapegoat for an organization that did not live up to its expectations He signed with the Texas Rangers near the end of the 1994-95 strike and played that season in Triple A and the last two seasons in the farm system Schu batted 246 in 579 major league games and 286 in 1021 minor league contests "One of the things thut brought me to the Diamondbacks was getting a fresh said Schu who One of that brought the was getting start a few years the line back to leagues for RICK minor league Arizona every day in addition to helping ARC with its baseball program He is confident he could pitch at the professional level again but he thinks most organizations are wary of his back injury He had received some interest from scouts connected to professional baseball in Korea but that news came the day before the markets in Asia crashed in January Despite 10 years of professional baseball experience it is almost as if Knudsen is back to square one have changed since when I broke in" Knudsen said "I was a ninth-round pick and signed for $18000 1 have a friend who signed last year for $62 000 for the same round If they have a lot of money invested in you they are going to give you every opportunity to get to the big leagues over someone they signed for $1000 or as a free agent There are a lot of politics Schu signed before the winter draft while a freshman at Sacramento City College He played three seasons in the minor leagues for the Phillies then was called up to the big leagues in 1984 The next season Schu gained national media attention when the Phillies moved Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt to first base to make room for Schu But it was difficult following in footsteps He hit 252 in 1 12 games for a team that finished fifth in the Eastern Division Although Schu played with Baltimore Detroit California and Montreal during his nine-year major league career he mi i i 5 i GOOD HEALTH IB programs and that does not always happen in other The timing of announcement to his players was no accident He did not want to clutter their thought with his imminent departure during the regular season Yet he wanted to give them extra incentive heading into the playoffs The timing for the announcement he decided would be perfect if it were done leading up to their first round playoff game with West Hill As Morphew passed along the news some of the players bowed their heads in disappointment He lives in El Dorado Hills get a lot of guys that are ith organia- tions forever waiting in the wings for a coaching slot But with Arizona hopefully a few years down the line I can get back to the major leagues and coach for Schu said it took him awhile to adjust to his new role as coach The uniform fit just fine but carrying a stopwatch and a fungo bat was an alien experience And the complexity and thoroughness of off-season meetings was an eye-opener biggest challenge is working with these (prospects) who are really raw" Schu said" played ut the top level for so long I could not believe how young these guys are really got to help them figure out how to put on a uniform and how to swing a bat You forget after playing so long thut ut one point you were the same way" Schwinn Johnny 0 Splnnar fro i IVj! rr iwi ru 3 ii r4 "'ll rti i at it i a' j' 99 SCMWINM lrTNESS Roseville FAIR OAKS 0320 Fair Oak Blvd M14700 (Fair Oaks at Sunrise) ROSEVILLE 1079M Sonrtaa Blvd ft 7 (In bet Air Snopfang Center) Opo 7 Days ONE STORE WITH ONE IDEA: YOUR GOOD HEALTH had hoped the announcement would spark the team not turn the postsea-son into a Win-One-for-the-Morphew melodrama Sure it is his last run but Morphew knew it was also the last community college run for three of his players "I was shocked" Benford said know how much he loves to coach He expected a lot out of his players and I liked the fact that he challenged us to improve every day We want to win (state) because a lot of players here have never won the ultimate But we also want to win one for I i i i a JT ntiftianH UNfiu mnramoN ccMTtas More Than Just Good Luck! Continued from page to up-tempo style of play since his first coaching job at Sutter the role ds a community college coach was dn adjustment for Morphew He was surprised at the caliber of athlete he had at his disposal at ARC Yet despite the upgrade in talent the declining community interest was a shock for him Morphew was used to coaching in front of standing-room-only crowds of 2500 when he was at Cordova During his first season the Beavers traveled to Menlo College for a game Morphew could count the fans and needed only one hand to do so There were three spectators for a tournament championship game Though ARC typically plays in front of 200 to 300 fans this season Morphew is disappointed by how little interest his teams generate among the community and the media week we had Jim Frasier of Channel 10 out to a practice and he did an excellent job" Morphew said was the first time in about six or seven years we have even been on television A lot of coaches will recruit kids out of district but the philosophy at American River College is that it is a community college for our community after year 98 percent of our kids are from Sacramento The same kids who got all kinds of ink while in high school people know where they are because they get no coverage once they come Chemistry is very important to Morphew both on and off the Court On the court he said this team did not find proper team chemistry until the pre-season had ended Off the court Morphew will be missed as a coach who sought cohesiveness with the various athletic programs as well was very instrumental in making the transition to coaching here easy for me" ARC basketball coach JR Matsunami said communicate and understand each particular situations as a coach support each GCNtfcAL NUtiON CENTER 7 ft 26 Tennis Courts ft CLINICSLESSONS TOURNAMENTS ft 2 Heated Pools ft BASKETBALL ft Squash ft Babysitting ft kids' Club ft Exercise Classes ft water Aerobics ft Full Fitness Facility ft Instructors ft Free Fitness Program ft massage Therapy 't Open 7 Days a Week AT 5 AN AT THE PLAZA GNC A HA APT? purchase of '2000 Ur Jl or more with this ad Valid only at Plaza GNC Not valid with any other offer BIO BEL QBOfsJjj) RACQUET FITNESS CLUB it 1 1 9 Scripps Drive Sacramento 488-8100 2519 Fair Oaks Blvd 971-3081 i r-i rw 0.