Our lives are made of complex puzzles, and sometimes the pieces that fit together best are often forgotten, probably because they fit together the best.
I consider the five years I returned to work at Fordham University that easy fit into my complex puzzle, and I was reminded of how much fun, and formative that fit was with the passing of baseball coach Dan Gallagher this week.
Now during my five years at Fordham we had great coaches who were also amazing people and really impressive teachers. Don Galluzzi in swimming, Frank Schur and Declan McSheffrey in men’s soccer, a little bit of the legendary Pat Rooney in women’s tennis, Bob Hawthorne in men’s tennis, Chris Wielgus in women’s basketball, Suzanne Shea and Tom Dewey in men’s and women’s track and field, Ted Bonanno in crew all were so much fun to be around, and frankly as I look back, each had some amazing level of storytelling that we were able to amplify to a wide audience.
However, the three that really had a profound impact on my professional life were Larry Glueck in football, Nick Macarchuk in men’s basketball and Dan Gallagher in baseball, each for different reasons. Coach Glueck, a Villanova guy, was a gentleman and leader by example in so many ways. He was handed a tough deck rushing Fordham to Division 1-AA from Division III without the proper resources and talent in many ways, but he still found a way to keep his head held high and never sacrificed his integrity. Coach Macarchuk and his staff and those wonderful student athletes took Fordham on a ride that the school has never come anywhere close to since, but it was his leadership, and his empathy, that I will always cherish. He is a man I always wanted to aspire to be, and was an amazing, and realistic teacher.
Then there was “Skip” as Dan Gallagher liked to be called. A baseball lifer, he literally built the program at Fordham brick by brick, and I don’t mean metaphorically. When he was told dugouts and a better field were an issue, he built them himself, and transformed the nations oldest, and most successful baseball program into a powerhouse once again. Rough around the edges? The edges Skip had could cut glass they were so sharp. Politically incorrect? Ha. Tough on his players? For sure. But in a time when athletes were starting to maybe be coddled a bit too much Dan Gallagher found a way to get the most out of his players and knew how to GSD…Get Shit Done…in his own style and his own way. Not pretty many times, but so successful and fun to watch. He knew the value of team, he knew how to put his players in a position to win, and win and help a legion of young people get to be successful in life because they were a part of the program he literally built.
Now Dan was known, and cherished I think, the idea that he was a crusty old-time coach. But he had a side many around the program will never forget. Some examples. In the 1987 NCAA Regionals in Georgia, Fordham had a real chance to go to the College World Series. They beat the top seed Bulldogs the first time they played and had a 2-1 record in the regional when they faced Georgia in an elimination game. The Bulldogs chose to throw their ace Derek Lilliquist on two days rest, and Gallagher could have done the same with his ace Pete Harnisch, who beat Lilliquist in the opening game. Gallagher decided that Harnisch’s career wasn’t worth the risk, and the Rams lost, but Harnisch went on to have a solid MLB career. He didn’t sacrifice the player over the potential.
That was just one of many examples of how Gallagher and his staff…Tony Mellaci and former Mets pitcher Mike Bruhert…constantly got the most out of his players. A narrow 19 inning loss to Clemson the next year in the regionals was followed by a tough loss to eventual NCAA Champion Stanford which again left Fordham just shy of the College World Series, and then their were successful runs through the MAAC and ECAC Tournament to get Fordham to even more NCAA success in the time I was actually working at Fordham that made spring in the Bronx just as fun off of Southern Boulevard than it was off of River Avenue where that other baseball club in The Bronx played.
However away from the over 500 wins there were some really personal memories I had of Dan that made you see a bit of a different side away from a grouchy persona. On a trip to Hawaii we were at the stadium and I was walking around the outfield trying to take in the grandeur of all U of H had done with baseball, and Dan came up to me and smiled and said “You look like a little kid looking to find some toys,” as he saw how special that moment was for me. He would always pop by the office to make sure his media guide was being done and that his players were getting the attention they rightfully deserved, more so than maybe any other coach I had met then or since. And stories they had…a pitcher one year who threw underhand, another who led the nation in ERA, a flaky hard thrower named Miguel Jimenez (who went on to pitch for the Oakland A’s) who threw a no-hitter in of all places Roberto Clemente State Park near the Harlem River and on and on. Great players, great people, amazing success.
Now was all about Dan Gallagher fun and roses? Nope. He knew how to tweak people in many ways, but I do feel that he always had the best interests of his players at heart, no matter how much he busted their stones. He also really embodied, like coaches Glueck and Macarchuk, the grittiness that helped make me who I think I am, and what made Fordham, a solid Jesuit institution, what it was and still is.
So, when Skip passed away this week it made me think of those puzzle pieces, maybe sometimes they are a little rough hewn, but they help make you who you are. I loved that time at Fordham…thanks to the leadership of athletic director Frank McLaughlin and others I got to where I am today because of my time there, and a good part of that time and the success I was able to build on was because of the baseball program.
Lots of fun times, stories and lessons learned, mostly for the better, that I always cherish and will never forget.
Thanks Skip, I got to go along for a little of your ride, it is very much appreciated.
