Bob Bennett might be retiring as head baseball coach of a school in the Midwest instead of Fresno State at season's end, had his family not been driven west by the "dust bowl" that ravaged America in the 1930s. Love of the game
Where, when, who's pitching
still there for ‘old coach’By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com"We had a small farm outside Atwood, Okla. When the dust bowl hit, it was an emergency. It was real 'Grapes of Wrath' as we were starving to death," said Bennett of his family's move to California.
In fact, they did it three times before his father finally found a steady job in a winery.
But none of that changed Bennett's passion for baseball, something he found fascinating the first time he saw a game as a 5-year-old when a touring American Indian team came to town.
"I developed a real love for baseball, a love that has stayed with me all the years," Bennett said. "As a kid you played off the barn door. You never lost a game off the barn door. You always hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to win it."
The move to California was a blessing in disguise. He started playing baseball at intermediate school -- nothing organized, since Little League hadn't been invented -- the old-fashioned way.
"We just showed up at the playground and played all day with whatever equipment we had," said Bennett. "It was your idea to be there. You were lucky to have one good bat. The rest had nails holding them together. The balls were taped. It was truly fun.
"It's something kids miss out on today because everything is organized --and there is something to be said for that. But, at the playground, you picked sides and even the worst kids got to play."
Bennett had no thoughts about going to college after high school. He just wanted to play pro baseball. There was a Detroit Tigers scout who was willing to sign him. Then Pete Beiden, FSU's head coach and the man the campus stadium is named after, started recruiting Bennett during his senior year.
"I didn't even know who he was, but he kind of hooked me in," said Bennett. "I decided to give it a try in college and it was the best decision I ever made. I didn't get good grades the first couple of years, then the light went on and I realized I could get a degree."
Bennett did and was surprised one day when Beiden asked him if he wanted a high school job because his coach had already recommend Bennett for the position.
After 11 seasons as a high school coach and one as interim coach at FSU, Bennett took the Bulldogs position in 1970 after Beiden ended his 21-year reign.
"Sometimes you are blessed by a decision you make when you reach a fork in the road and someone pushes you the way you weren't thinking of going," said Bennett. "When you look back, you realize all the people who have helped you do something. I know I played for some great coaches. Ollie Bidwell was a great fundamentals coach. When I came to Fresno State, it was just an add-on."
A couple of years into his high school coaching career, Bennett knew he had a great job. He understood it is a tough profession, but it sure was rewarding.
"The political part of it is tough, battling to get things for the program, trying to get people to back it, but the rest is sheer enjoyment, the competition, working with the players," said FSU's 34-year head coach, who sports a 1,293-753-4 career record.
"I hear people say they have done everything they can do in baseball, but I've been in 45 years and I haven't even touched on everything you can do in coaching."
During his tenure, Bennett has guided the Bulldogs to 17 league or division championships, 21 NCAA regional appearances and two trips to the College World Series, been named conference coach of the year 14 times and NCAA Coach of the Year in 1988.
He has coached 31 All-Americans and had eight of his Bulldogs selected in the first round of the major league baseball first-year-player draft.
"If all you are in it for are the wins and losses, then you aren't worth your salt," said Bennett. "That's important, but the real reward is to see a kid struggle and finally find success. If you had any impact and helped him turn the knob to the road to success, that's the real enjoyment in coaching."
One of his career highlights was bringing the Bulldogs to Hawaii for the 1977 NCAA West Regional. It also was the beginning of a long friendship with retired UH head coach Les Murakami. Two years later, they were assistants with the USA College All-Star team that rebounded from an 0-3 start to win the annual seven-game series against the host Japan College All-Stars.
It took several seasons, but Murakami finally got the Bulldogs on the Rainbows' schedule with Bennett bringing his team here every odd year from 1985 to 1993. FSU joined the WAC in 1994 and the teams have met every year since.
"That 1977 regional with Derek Tatsuno pitching against USC at Aloha Stadium, that was the beginning of Hawaii's great run in college baseball," said Bennett.
He counts the tearing down of the backstop at the old campus facility and putting the new one up at the present stadium as a memorable moment. Then there are the players who have come through his program.
"Every single player, you have great moments with all of them and that alone is excitement enough for an old coach," Bennett said.
He plans to do a lot of writing in his retirement. When the NCAA limited the number of games college baseball teams could play a dozen years ago, Bennett wrote some 40 articles attempting to get people to listen that this was wrong.
"The first thing I'm going to do is try to organize my thoughts on how the cuts and Title IX have injured sports," said Bennett. "It's not a sour grapes thing, but scholarship cuts and cuts in practice time have done irreparable damage to our sports, not just baseball, but tennis, swimming, all sports.
"The mistake is you are taking away opportunities. The only thing I have to give to kids is time and you're limiting that. You have kids who want help and when you put a time clock on that, then you limit it. If I have any extra energy to give, you limit it. When we talk about people who affect your life, it's people who gave you extra time."
Bennett will continue to write poetry, has a couple of instructional books in mind and wants to hit the golf courses a little more often and enjoy watching the grandchildren play baseball.
"I'll stay busy," he said.
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When: Today and tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.; Sunday, 1:05 p.m. Rainbow Baseball
Where: Murakami Stadium
TV: Live, KFVE-TV (Channel 5)
Radio:Live, 1420-AM
Internet: kccn1420am.com
Tickets: $6 Orange, Blue levels. $5 Red level. $4 Seniors, children age 4-18, UH students in the Red level.
Parking: $3
Probable starting pitchers
Hawaii (14-27, 3-12 WAC) W-L ERA K RHP Chris George (Jr.) 4-3 5.93 66 RHP Sean Yamashita (Sr.) 2-5 4.82 40 RHP Ricky Bauer (Fr.) 1-4 5.46 39 Fresno State (23-21, 11-7 WAC) W-L ERA K RHP Ben Fritz (Sr.) 7-3 3.39 74 LHP Bob Runyon (Sr.) 6-7 4.83 78 Sunday's pitcher to be announced
Notes: The Rainbows and Bulldogs have played 71 games, with FSU holding a 42-29 edge. ... UH designated hitter/left fielder Scooter Martines hit .429 on the recent road trip. He had three doubles and five runs batted in. ... FSU right-hander Ben Fritz was cited twice last week after pitching a complete-game, three-hit, 1-0 shutout against Nevada. He was named WAC Pitcher of the Week and was one of four players named Louisville Slugger's National Player of the Week. ... Rice moved up to No. 2 in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls this week. Clemson is top-ranked in both polls. ... Brent Cook is the only Rainbow among the top 15 conference hitters with a .348 batting average. He also leads the league with 15 stolen bases and Arthur Guillen is tied with SJSU's Gabe Lopes for second with 12. Gregg Omori is tied with Rice's Vincent Sinisi for most doubles with 16. ... FSU's Casey McGehee has a 20-game hitting streak.
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