Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994 TAG: 9405250015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
It isn't always the right message. No matter what Chuck Hartman didn't say or do, his very successful Virginia Tech baseball teams knew what their predecessors hadn't done. Hartman's first 15 Tech teams won 554 games, but none played in the NCAA Tournament.
"I do think some players were carrying my burden and have been for quite a few years," Hartman said a couple of days ago from behind his paper-strewn desk. "Not making the NCAA has been a thorn in my side, particularly because I think we deserved to be there, and more than once."
Hartman, with 1,069 wins at High Point (N.C.) and Tech, ranks ninth all-time in victories among Division I coaches. He's sixth among active coaches. On Thursday afternoon at the East Regional at Clemson's Tiger Field, Hartman loses his frustrating distinction as the Division I coach with the most wins without an NCAA appearance.
Hartman's candor always has been refreshing, and he admits there have been times when frustration in his profession led him to find ways to relax. He loves golf, fishing and hunting, and there were days not so long ago when he perhaps was as enthused about those games as he was coaching and recruiting.
That ended in 1991, when the 24-30 Hokies had Hartman's first losing season as a coach since 1968. That is Tech's only losing spring since '65. He had been leaving much of the off-season work in his program to assistants. He was embarrassed.
"I have always considered myself a competitor," Hartman said. "That 1991 season fired me up. I decided I had to get out and work harder than I had before. The competition has picked up tremendously in recruiting.
"It used to be you could go to watch a kid and maybe you'd be the only college coach there. Now, you're sitting there among a bunch of coaches who want the same guy. Just look in our state. When I got here, VCU and Old Dominion used to be four wins. Look at those programs now."
Tech's program was successful, but stagnant. The Hokies were winning their 30-plus games annually, but getting nowhere. This season, Hartman's young club was a ho-hum 28-23 entering last week's Metro Conference tournament as the sixth seed.
Hartman thought one or two wins would be a good performance. After all, the last three Tech teams had been 1-6 in the Metro, and he said these Hokies were no better than "10th or 11th" in talent among his 16 Tech teams.
"It's kind of funny, but when I looked into the eyes of the younger players, there was no fear," Hartman said of the Metro weekend at Louisville's Cardinal Stadium. "Sure, they were nervous, but they weren't worried. There a little fear in some of the older players. You could see it."
Tech won its first Metro baseball title and the school's first NCAA regional date in 17 years. Sunday's championship victory was Hartman's best coaching moment since he guided High Point to the NAIA World Series in '72, his first of two trips to the eight-team nationals.
Hartman will be 60 in December. He said he's started thinking about retirement, and even some recruits have begun asking him about the subject. He knows he wants to coach at least several more years.
Since moving to Tech in 1979, the North Carolina native only has seriously considered one other job, in two interviews with South Alabama eight years ago. It was somewhat surprising he stayed at Tech, which in a five-year span had a pair of 50-win seasons and another with 48, but no NCAA trip.
"I've sure had days when I thought about retiring," said Hartman, whose wonderful sense of humor has probably kept his hair and mustache from graying even more. "You just never know. Earlier this year, I was thinking that next year would be one of our good shots [at the NCAA] again. And here we are."
Hartman's plans this week included planting corn and squash on the farm he co-owns in western Roanoke County and a fishing trip with his wife, Ellen, to the Outer Banks.
Instead, he'll be someplace he's never been before, and he'll remember how he got there.
He earned it.
Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010.
by CNB