Concord Monitor from Concord, New Hampshire • 26

CIO SUNDAY MONITOR March 30 1997 CHARLOTTE THIBAULT Monitor staff HARDAWAY Continued from Page Hardaway He had some good Scouts from the Red Sox Phil lies and Giants were watching So was University of Maine Coach John Winkin a legend in Orono The Sox offered Clark $1500 'to sign Winkin offered a full ride for four years Winkin won and he soon learned he had recruited a player obsessed with both the game and winning was always an intense com Winkin said could put up with whatever confidence he had because he believed in himself and worked at it He was very re spectful as far as I was concerned and he was a great kid to coach I respected him for his love of the game and his determination to be good at it He was one of the best left handers we ever Clark was 13 7 his final two sea sons for nationally ranked Maine with a 225 career earned run aver age He earned only 59 credits in four years at Maine but he sure couldpitch After he struck out the side a college All Star game at enway Park the Baltimore Orioles signed Clark 22 as a free agent for a $500 bonus and $750 per month In two years of A ball Clark was 5 8 with four saves while shuffling between starting and relieving He was released in June 1981 The Orioles said it was a numbers game that there simply room for Clark Clark was mad then and he still is confused as to why the Orioles cut him His num bers great but he was healthy he threw hard and he was left handed always a bonus think they gave me enough time to he said never gave me a Clark had no way of knowing he would never play pro ball in Ameri ca again He pitched professionally in Venezuela Holland Italy and Canada from 1981 to 1986 He was a star in each country earning $1000 per month living rent free compiling records like 10 0 and 12 6 and once fanning 21 Italians during a no hitter was still in my mind that I would make it (in the big Clark said opportunity that came up in the meantime I took But it got old Clark lived out of a suitcase for five years He says not hiring an agent hurt him but he must have been missing some thing While Tewksbury and Concord Joe Lefebvre went on to the big leagues Clark came home his bra vado partially chiseled away All we can do is speculate as to why the hard throwing lefty never went beyond A ball thought he had the physical Doane said a fine line between kids that make it and kids that The Joe Lefeb vres and Bob Tewksburys have something extra that drives them not taking anything away from Skip but like millions of other kids that maybe have that lit tle extra that kids like those two Clark unable to face friends and their questions about his career went to live with his brother in Iowa for a year He worked as a doorman at a bar checking IDs was very he said revealing for the first time a vul nerable side wheels were turning Where could I Concord Clark was a framer he pumped gas he worked in a mill he did paving and he tended bar CLARK Continued from Page His confidence bordering on ar 1 rogance steamrolls you hitting you with the force of one of his 1 fastballs Then you check the records and you see the guy was good Real good The 22 strikeouts a i Legion game The full baseball scholarship to the University of Maine The contract with the Balti more organization The pro career in Holland Italy and Canada The best pitcher Con Sunset and Over 30 Leagues have seen in years No he never made it to the big leagues never even came close a notion that still haunts him a these years later But Clark brought something to the mound each time he pitched Meet the new American Legion Post 21 coach hired two weeks ago to replace Averill Cate He was and at 39 still is a great pitcher and tell you so too not exactly insecure about his coach ing abilities either Example: Last year when Cate was named to replace longtime Post 21 Coach Warren Doane Clark a candidate for the job was miffed Cate who left this year be cause of work commitments had coached Post 21 back in the early he out of touch with to players? it time to bring in someone younger? Clark meanwhile is the junior varsity coach at Pembroke Acade my and a left handed pitcher who says he was clocked at 92 mph in his prime he worthy of the role a better choice than Cate? kind of irritated Clark said bring in a new guy the kids even know Averill is from the old school I think it was a good situation They wanted me to come in as an assistant coach and I told them I would only go as the head So Clark returned to his role as pitching coach for Sweeney Post 2 Post 21 which had trouble keeping its team intact last season qualify for the state tournament Sweeney did Clark liked that got a little satisfaction from Clark said feel with my background I was overlooked I had something to Even today the mellower more mature version of Clark still wants to be heard Of pitching in Con adult baseball leagues he says anyone wants to see me pitch tell them to see me win? This is when I I do this to put pressure on myself Nobody else will motivate It is this fire and cockiness that got Clark in trouble at Concord High where he played for Doane Clark says Doane threw him off the team three consecutive seasons As a sophomore in 1974 Clark says he used his prized left arm to fire a Twinkie at a teammate on the team bus Doane saw him do it and told him to move to the front of the bus basically ignored Clark said we got back he told me to turn in my Incident No 2: A year later Doane moved Ricky landers from catcher to pitcher which bit into time on the mound Clark like it and of course felt compelled to tell Doane about it sit well with Clark said had worked hard to become the No 1 See ya Skip Again No 3: senior season he says was derailed when he dropped his pants and pressed his tush against a glass door leading to Concord packed cafeteria let the door hit you on the tush on the way out Skip was the No 1 pitcher in the state that Clark said Doane who says he likes Clark and called him an overpowering pitcher in high school disputes the claim that he booted him three years in a row never kicked the same kid off three Doane said vou kiddins me? remember vividly once an in subordination thing I asked him to do something and he do it He was a free spirit back then He marched to the beat of his own drum He did what he wanted to Reflecting arrogance recedes back on he said I brought it on my self Maybe I thought I was better than I was I was cocky but I could back it up why maybe I rub people the wrong While high school ball was rocky Legion ball Clark blossomed into a star He whiffed 22 batters during a game in 1976 his final season of Legion ball He fanned 14 in Post 3 1 victory over Milford clinch ing first place in the District He struck out 15 in a 1 0 victory over Sweeney to give Concord its first state title in five years and solidify his claim to the MVP Award He had a no hitter through seven innings and struck out 12 in a 1 0 two hit loss to Vermont in the opening round of the New England Regionals threw hard and he had a great curveball and a good said the Tewks bury an eight year major league veteran who pitched for Post 21 with Clark loved to play he loved to pitch and he loved to compete He was pretty confident and he be lieved in his abilities and at the ly Hank Hardaway said timehe certainly had the right to beat Liz and also Jill is just a real The event concludes the 1997 season for Hardaway who will be aiming for a spot on the Olympic team next year There are three positions to fill with a potential for a fourth so with Battelle and Weinbrecht all but a lock Hard away will probably be battling with McIntyre and Vogtli for the final one or two spots According to Hank Hardaway his daughter has at least a couple things working in her favor the win at the Junior Worlds and the fact that she continues to improve despite the lack of competition in her age group might think stop im proving but she Hank Hardaway said skiing keeps getting better and WILDCATS Continued from Page said just glad that Arizo time Simon rejected by North Caroli na Coach Dean Smith four years ago scored 24 points and Bibby shook off a horrible start to hit four 3 pointers down the stretch as the Wildcats (24 9) won a game for the first time in three inal our ap pearances not afraid of anyone and they play that Arizona Coach Lute Olson said of his play ers think the Kansas win gave us a confidence that hey if we can beat Kansas we should be able to beat any of the teams we come up against I think our guys are walking with a swagger but the mindset we have right now is per fit in at Dartmouth? Does he un derstand that academics come be fore That was the essence of Rolfe looking out for the reputa tion as well as its record His past helped too brought the prestige of the Yankee name to the college which they said Lupien who coached baseball at Dartmouth from 1956 to 1977 the easiest man to get along with but he respected you was able to get veteran people people who had experi ence If you went about your busi ness and did your job you see him very While Concord lawyer Tom Rath was at Dartmouth the Green football team was among the best in the East winning the Lambert Trophy in 1965 as New No 1 college football team (Rolfe) was here we were a very good football Rath said dominated the se ries with (UNH) Now I think have trouble being competitive with Lupien agrees that for Dart mouth athletics the Rolfe era was special After Rolfe left went from an administration that was solidly interested in athletics to one that really care less: We were no longer a reflection of middle class Rath who graduated from Dart mouth the year Rolfe retired re membered him as humble about his Yankee past had competed at the high est level in the world and you nev er heard anything about Rath said had a gaunt spare face and he smoked a corncob pipe If you looked at him probably think he could have been an ath lete But he never let you know about Not that past was forgot ten by others Once Rolfe was invited to an English Department dinner Rob ert rost was at Dartmouth for a couple of days talking to students and giving lectures never been invited to an English Depart ment Rolfe told Randall He was seated next to rost and all rost wanted to talk about was baseball Rolfe told Randall that professors were firing questions at him about poetry and rost tinaiiy was reauy ruue wiui them He said talked poetry for two days been in your classes talked to your students given a few lectures gonna talk baseball Red said know he knew a lot I early 1967 poor health began to catch up with Rolfe who was 58 years old time to call it he said seen too many people wait too He had intended to stay out the academic year but he entered the hospital for surgery eb 11 com plaining of stomach pain He stayed three weeks In 1969 Memorial ield at Dart mouth was renamed Red Rolfe ield Later a top athletic award at the school also took his name and Rolfe was elected to the college athletic Hall of ame Less than a month after the field was named for him on July 8 1969 Red Rolfe died in Gilford His widow Isabel attended the unveiling of a plaque at Red Rolfe ield two springs later In a tribute with an Ivy League touch the plaque calls twite "a compieai uig successor as ath letic director Seaver Peters gave a speech that day man is more deserving of this honor than he said achievements as an athlete and as an administrator make him one of the great figures in athletic A cold wind blew over Wood lawn Cemeteiy this winter A thin sheet of ice still covers Red grave a plain gray slab lev el with the ground hardly visible from 10 feet away But the ice hides nothing spec tacular for the stone makes no mention of his time with the Yan kees or his Manager of the Year Award It mention the 13 votes he received for the Baseball Hall of ame in 1958 or the span of 18 straight games in which he scored a run or the countless times he just plain did his job His widow Isabel remembers those times fondly Everyone who knew him does Penacook does In his obituary Red Smith of the New York Times called Rolfe Every major newspaper in the Northeast ran news of his death thought he was a real good Boston Hall of amer Bobby Doerr said echoing the thoughts of countless ballplayers during the Rolfe era hustled he had persever ance courage he played every day sick or Lupien said how Red should be He was a regular man among giants with the Yankees a giant among regular men in his home town Ballplayer teacher friend neighbor Red Rolfe the pride of Penacook MdlhgA' Better Newspaper tage He have all the tools for a pennant run in 1949 so Rolfe laid the groundwork for the next sea son had to crack the whip when I took over in he said years later inherited a complacent ballclub ew nlavers were in the habit of going all The rules Rolfe instituted in cluded: no shaving in the club house before or after games no beer in the clubhouse even on road trips and probably the oddest no eating Detween games of a doubleheader except or anges got to the point where ask a player what the schedule looked like and say we got two in Cleveland and then got an Orange two time MVP Hal Newhouser said rule make any Not shaving in the clubhouse may not seem like such a bad idea players should come to the ball park ready to play But Newhouser said catchers sometimes waited to shave until after the game for good reason a pop fly goes up the first thing (the catcher) does is take off his mask and hold it in his hands until he sees the New houser said he finds the ball he flings his mask to the ground That mask runs in the ros in and in the foul lines and then the catcher puts the mask back on and it makes them break out So some catchers tenure in Detroit came at a time when players often took their families out for dinner after games As Newhouser put it going to wear a jacket and a tie and make your hair nice and then you walk in with a Despite the quirks Rolfe saw results initially and the Tiger brass liked them Rolfe got a $6000 raise after the season and earned every penny during the 1950 sea son bringing the Tigers to within three games of the pennant win ning Yankees He was named American League Manager of the Vaof hv Thn Snnrtina News uture Hall of amer George the next thing you Kell third baseman naa the best season oi ms career 1950 leading the league with 218 hits and 56 doubles while batting340 Art Houtteman led the pitch ing staff with a 19 12 record and had a 354 ERA the pitchers pitch and the hitters hit and the players field a very good said Tony Lupien whom Rolfe sent to Toledo during spring training of 1950 and eventually hired as his baseball coach at Dartmouth in 1956 got good mileage out of rvirain Trucks and (Dizzv) Trout PfAWT mm a 1 ana iNewiiuuaei very good year what it part was that Boston the club am Uahooc wcrht nAvt tn RAPn oth taKes io run up a pennain Lupien said Rolfe was like many managers of the day was very i Lupien said was not a man who exuded personality like (Ca i sey) Stengel Rolfe knew his 1950 team had over achieved say we will have to put up a real battle to fin ish fourth next he said He far wrong The Tigers finished fifth (73 81) 25 games be hind the Yankees little black book hardly looks worn the only hint of age coming from the gold number ing on the front 1952 It was not a good year for Rolfe In the book he mapped out each game and the pitchers he used Newhouser lost a 3 0 deci sion on July 2 dropping the Tigers to 23 49 On July 3 Rolfe had pen ciled in Ted Gray but rain washed out the game setting up a double header with Cleveland on the ourth of July Houtteman and Trucks were to pitch There were no fireworks for Rolfe that day it was his last as manager of the Ti gers Things been going the right direction from the outset of the year After breaking up a club house fistfight Rolfe said wish my players would confine their fighting to other American League The fighting might not have been fault Newhouser said but the rules he imposed caused him to lose the respect thought Red was a great Newhouser said Uke his The policy that grated most was the clubhouse ban on beer on the road Newhouser said the team could understand there being no suds at Tiger Stadium most players went home after the game But a beer after a road game kept things on an even keel Louis probably had the worst clubhouse in baseball worse than any bush league ball park out there Newhouser said of Park was no fan hardly any windows It was a stifling hot day and you bring in 25 warm txidies and these guys are tired and they have any By 1989 Clark had regrouped The transformation is ongoing He works as a aid at Pem broke Academy and coaches the junior varsity team He married and he and his wife are expecting their first child in Au gust when also earn his Bach elor of Arts degree in general stud farm PranVlin Piprpp CnllnA But while Clark has found sol younger players were capable of ace and built a life for himself his and planned to use it to his advan insides DuDDie wnen rewKsuuiy is mentioned not that he like him Everyone likes Tewks bury But Clark is not fulfilled He fig ures he was better than his pro re cord shows and it bugs him Tewksbury who signed to pitch for the Twins this season for $2 mil lion displays framed stories on himself by The Sporting News and The New York Times in his base ment accomplishments are logged in an old tom scrapbook filled with yellowed newspaper clippings from the Bangor Daily News the Concord Monitor and the Maine school paper feel I could have been doing thp same things Clark says know I could have been there making all that money I guess why so bitter I make it and was never told why I have an eternal burning in my adult leagues have helped Clark vents with each pitch as he tries to show the base ball community as well as himself that the baddest pitcher around He is too even at 39 He was named the Sunset No 1 pitcher three times in five years and last season in the Over 30 League he had 62 strikeouts and an 056 earned run average in 48 innings had a full count on me said Skip oy Legion team mate in 1976 and an opponent in the Over 30 League figured finally get a fastball and a fast ball hitter and he threw me a change up on the inside on the black smart astball change knuckleball drive you crazy a competitive son of a bitch tell you said Bill Butterfield teammate in the Over 30 League got it all also a baseball nut His pro career long gone Clark has thrown himself into his amateur career like a cliff diver Last summer he bolted after his wedding rehearsal dinner arriving at his Over 30 game in time to pitch the final few innincrfi This spring coaching the Pembroke junior varsity then play Sunset and Over 30 and coach Post 21 for the first time Clark says players will stick with him something they do for Cate last season He says his goal is to get Post 21 into the Le gion World Series which has never happened important to he said is where I got my start It seems to be all tying together for me looking to develop that team like Pembroke Academy try to win over with my experi ence and let do the rest be an educator like I was taught un The man has the accolades background and determination to whip the Legion program back into shape Just ask him The later jears 1942 46 Coaches baseball and basketball at Yale i A University gi 47 Coaffis1rbhtd1B Huskies in first yearofthe)g National Basketball 1947 49 Serves as director of scouting for Detroit Tigers 1949 Named manager of the Tigers team finishes 87 67 fourth the American 4 League 1950 Named American League Manager of the Year by the Sporting News finishes in second i place three games behind Yankees 1951 inishes below 500 4 (73 81) for first time 1 1952 ired by Tigers after starting the season 23 49 1953 67 Serves as athletic director at Dartmouth ne 20 1969 Memorial ield in renamed Red Rolfe field Jtriy 8 1969 Dies at age 60 in Gilford May i 1971 Plaque in his honor is unveiled at Red Ro'fe ield 1976 Inducted into the Notional Association of Co leg'ate Directors of Athletics Hal of ame thing So all of a sudden one of our players got the clubhouse boy to get him a couple of beers says care whether I get fined or not I played a double header and going to have two beers and going to go in where they dry the As Rolfe left the showers the clubhouse boy opened the door to the uniform drying room by mis take There was the player wrapped in a towel downing a brew the best conversa Newhouser said The breaking point came 39 games into the season on a road trip to Boston club was going bad and Know ujrenerai Manager) Dick Bartell came through our train and said Red wants to talk to New houser said then Kell comes back with a long face and Bartell would say Red wants to talk to The news they were receiving was that they had been traded to thp Red Sox Detroit sent Kell Trout Johnny Lipon and Hoot Ev ers to Boston for Walt Dropo Johnny Pesky red Hatfield and Bill Wright lost mentis we nunteu wiui and fished with and golfed said the worst 1 A A houses are ngm next io wui uui er so their players just walked right over and our players were right next to The bitterness the players felt did not extend to Rolfe think the world of New houser said knew baseball as well as anybody else He was a great manager and a great man He worked himself into one of the best third basemen in the league He could have been one super Cleveland Hall of amer Bob eller said that colitis an illness that affects the bowels con tributed to his decline had diarrhea all the time euui ncuu man echoed Newhouser have trouble bringing the lineup cards out to the umpires before the game came and often come out of the ballpark after a game looking like a When Rolfe and Bartell were fired and red Hutchinson was named manager me nrsi nung Hutchinson did was walk into the clubhouse and say will be beer in the got the greatest round of applause ever heard in your Newhouser said olfe was through with profes sional baseball but he out of work long He jumped at the chance to join his alma mater Dartmouth College as athletic di rector in 1953 In his years there he maintained long tradition of athletic excellence Don Randall nephew remembers his criteria for hiring coaches Rolfe once took him to a Boston Celtics game at the Garden Rolfe knew Red Auer bach the Celtics coach and after the game Randall Rolfe Auerbach and another coach went out to din ner Rolfe used the occasion to do some business guess Dartmouth had an opening for a freshmen basketball coach and they were interested in Dick Randall said was a guard for the New York Knicks But what Red was interest ed in no questions about Mc ability to coach but What kind of person is he? Is he going to ROLE Continued from Page Rolfe said of his new job had time to start organizing many plans Most of what I know I learned from Joe McCarthy when I was with the Yankees probably emphasize hard work and speed the way he The accent Rolfe said would be on youth Having been director of scouting Rolfe knew what the and 31 year old Donna Weinbrecht the five time World Cup champion were better than Hardaway who is fast becoming the future of moguls skiing in this country finish behind Donna and Ann nothing wrong with said Hank Hardaway Han father both ranked in the top five or six on the World uup" Battelle fin ished with a score of 2599 followed by Weinbrecht at 2493 and Hard away at 2395 a lot of that is a matter of Hank Hard away said ex plaining that the older stronger women are able to power through the moguls is closing the gap on them speed wise If you take the speed element away she skied with Hardaway whose best prior Na tionals finish was a second at Snowbird Utah" in 1995 earned a pair of moral victories in beating fourth place Jill Vogtli who had edged out Hardaway for the most recent World Championship team and fifth place Liz McIntyre The 31 year old McIntyre along with Battelle and Weinbrecht are considered the Big Three in United States moguls skiing while Vogtli 23 is thought to be closest to Hard away on the next tier told us coming up here that Hannah would finish behind all three (Battelle Weinbrecht and McIntyre) have been perfect a.