Baseball team threatens strike if Mooney retained

The baseball team has signed a petition expressing their dissatisfaction with Head Coach Todd Mooney and stating that they will not play for him this Spring. Athletic Director Don Hunsinger has stated that Mooney will continue as baseball coach and the program will proceed as planned.

The team has complained that Mooney is an ineffective and insensitive coach. The team has approached Mooney, Athletic Director Don Hunsinger, Head of the Athletic Committee Heather Hogan and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Clayton Koppes with their concerns.

Although Mooney, Hunsinger and Koppes declined to speak in depth, issues raised surrounding the incident have sparked much debate about the state of Oberlin College athletics.

Mooney joined the team in 1996, the fourth coach in three years. Under Mooney's leadership, the team has ammassed a dismal 5 - 51 record. Upon arriving the coach claimed in an April 1996 interview with the Review that he, "set out to eliminate negative attitudes." He also said, "I'm really happy with the way the team has adapted to my expectations." His contract is due to expire in June 1998, and it appears he has little chance of fulfilling these goals.

Roots of Dissatisfaction

The team began discussing their grievances following their final team meeting during reading period last May. "We had a succession of meetings," sophomore Matt Burns said. "At the first one we basically sat around and complained and then decided it was important to get our grievances in writing."

The petition was written up around this time in May. It consisted of five to six pages of specific incidents with Mooney and perceived disrespectfulness towards the team.

"The difficult thing was that different guys had different problems," Burns said. "Everyone who signed agreed to those five to six pages. They focused on some specific incidents and slights on Mooney's part. There were several instances where we felt the coach had not given the input or help necessary."

There were other opinions that centered around instruction. "I'm fully in favor of a changing of the guard," sophomore Zach Fine said. "It's a matter of competency. A person that is put in a tutorial position needs to teach, and we weren't receiving that. We need to receive that in order to improve."

Co-captain junior Carson Keeble described practices as a waste of time where players would only get about eight swings at bat while others sat around. "The practices were extremely inefficient," Keeble said.

Batter Up: Team presents petition

It was after this that Keeble, senior Brendan Cody and junior Jay Johnson took the petition to Hunsinger. "He said we should start at the bottom and work up," Burns said. "We should talk to Mooney first, and then if necessary Hogan and Koppes. By this time people were leaving for the summer and Mooney was out of town." Mooney was on a recruiting trip in Texas.

A few players were staying in Oberlin for a summer league and met with Mooney during June. "Carson, [senior] Nate Walsh and Johnson met with Mooney," Burns said. "It didn't seem like it was very pleasant."

"He basically said we should be looking more at ourselves and not at him," Keeble said.

About three weeks into the Fall semester the baseball team, minus Walsh and senior Raf Haciski, who are on leave, got together to pick their representatives to the administration. Keeble, Burns and Cody were chosen, though Johnson took Burns's place on occasion.

Johnson, Keeble and Cody then went to talk to Hunsinger. "It seemed like it went pretty well," Burns said. "He listened to their concerns. He said we should play this year and give Mooney another chance, We should give him time to improve things. He suggested that he could hang around at practices and at games or hire some more assistants. It seemed like an honest attempt to resolve the problem but it was not the change we wanted."

"Hunsinger said it was basically out of his hands because of the contract," Keeble said.

One to two weeks later Keeble and Burns approached Hogan. "She said similar things to Hunsinger," Burns said. "We should play this year and see how things go. If it's not going the way we think it should, then we should bring it up again when the contract expires. She was very nice and we talked to her for about two hours, but we didn't feel like anything would change."

"She said she could sympathize with our cause but her hands were tied," Keeble said. "She couldn't change the contract."

It was in mid-October that Keeble, Cody and Burns had their appointment with Koppes. "He was more receptive and said he would do something about it," Keeble said.

"The sense was that he was more interested in immediate change," Burns said. "He didn't say just play the game and see how it goes."

Koppes would only say, "No commment" when asked about the situation.

Hunsinger said, "We've had discussions and they should talk to the coach. Baseball will go on and Mooney is our coach. He's having try-outs in December."

When asked about how he felt about the situation Mooney said, "As far as I am concerned about this, there is no situation." Mooney refused to comment further.

b>Who's on First?: Future remains unclear

So the team is left to wonder at the effectiveness of their efforts. "The problem is that everything we have are impressions," Burns said. "We keep hearing rumors without seeing any results. We've heard everything from new assistant coaches, to big personnel switches, to more immediate changes."

"It is my belief that the Athletic Director has spoken with the coach and is working with the coach," Hogan said.

As far as the team's campaign goes, Hogan felt positive.

The healthy thing is to get a lot of their concerns on the table and that has happened," she said. "In my judgment channels of communication have been opened up."

Of the 14 baseball team members, 12 signed the petition. The remaining two players are members of the football team. One, sophomore Sean Nagle, has no problems with the coach. "Mooney's a good guy," Nagle said. "He reminds me of my high school coach. He takes a little getting used to and I don't think the guys are used to his style."

Others have considered playing again, no matter what their statements on the petition have read. "Since the signing a couple of players have decided they really want to play," Burns said. "Take Cody, he had an incredible season last year, he's a senior this year and this would be his last chance to play varsity athletics. On the other hand, though, he is very vocal about change."

Still, the majority of the team still say they will strike in the instance of Mooney's continued coaching of the team. "Of all the people who signed, only one or two will play," Burns said.

No Joy in Coaching Today

One issue raised by this incident is the Athletic Department's history of continual coaching turn-overs.

Recreation Center Director Jeff White coached the baseball team before Gene DeLorenzo, then the basketball coach. Following DeLorenzo was BJ Connelly, who left to take a football job elsewhere and so opened the position for Mooney.

Oren Gradus OC '97 recalled the decision process regarding the new coach. "Coach Wolff, I don't remember his first name, was a great first choice but Oberlin couldn't give him enough money to leave his high school job," he said. "I thought he would have been great for Oberlin, he was a good coach and a great guy. I don't understand what Oberlin wants. They want to whip the program into shape but they won't put out the necessary expense."

Gradus played for four years and under three different coaches and did not get along with Mooney. "Mooney and I did not see eye to eye," he said. "As a coach he knew what he was talking about, but I didn't like the way he handled certain situations."

As for his opinion on this latest issue, Gradus said, "I don't blame the guys but I don't think Oberlin will do anything about the petition."

Dick Michaels, the swimming and diving coach, has been at Oberlin for 27 years. "I've seen this kind of thing happen a 1000 times," he said. "Sometimes complaints have validity and sometimes they don't."

"It is an unfortunate reality that there has been a lot of coaching turn-over," Hogan said. "It would be my hope that we could work to lessen the turn-over. I wish the college could move in such a way that coach's would like to spend their careers here. Oberlin has many demands and it is hard to get people who can meet those demands. I don't think baseball is a lone ranger in this."

One concern could be that baseball might always be playing second fiddle to other sports, such as football in Mooney's case.

Hogan disagrees. "We ask a lot of our coaches. They often coach two sports, or at least help as assistants to other coaches," she said. "The amount of time that coaches put in is just a whole lot. It may be that Coach Mooney has particular strengths in football, but I don't think that the turn-over rate is particular to baseball. I would like to see it settle down in all sports."

Hogan considers Oberlin athletics to be highly important for the campus and feels that it is dangerous time for the Athletic Department. "My belief is that these teams are one of the few places on campus where students from all over the place get together and really interact," she said. "In some important ways everybody is hurting when it comes to varsity athletics. We all need to be talking to one another to truly improve the situation. It's not a happy time for those folks here who care about athletics. Constant input from all sides is what is needed."

"It's been tough and very frustrating," Burns said. "We've been a close team from the beginning and it's nice to see that we can come together as a team off the field. It shows a good team chemistry that has been present from the beginning."

"It was a lot of work," Keeble said. "I don't regret anything I did. I feel like we are doing the right thing and that's what's important."