Gillespie takes reins

Mike Gillespie said plainly that he would embrace the Anteater, and UC Irvine players, administrators, his colleagues and community members did the same to the school’s newly named baseball coach.

A gathering of more than 100 filled Newkirk Pavilion at Anteater Ballpark Tuesday, when Gillespie, known most for his 20 highly successful years as baseball coach at USC, was introduced as the Anteaters’ third coach in seven seasons.

Gillespie, who guided USC to 15 postseason appearances, four trips to the College World Series and the national championship in 1998, when he was named National Coach of the Year, said he was grateful for the opportunity to assume control of a program already among the nation’s elite.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for me,” said Gillespie, who fills the vacancy left when Dave Serrano left to become coach at Cal State Fullerton after guiding the Anteaters to a third-place finish in the program’s first Division I College World Series last season. “I’m looking forward greatly and with great anticipation to being a part of the continued development of this program.”

With characteristic humor and casual ease, Gillespie spoke from the cuff, answered media questions and blanketed praise on the UCI administration, the previous coaching staff, and the current crop of players, who lined the room, before heading onto the field to complete their second official workout under Gillespie and associate head coach Pat Shine.

Shine, a former UCI assistant whom Gillespie, 67, has said will be his heir apparent, perhaps as quickly as when the three-year contract expires, was also on hand.

Gillespie said he plans to name a pitching coach before the end of the week.

Gillespie’s contract is for three years with an annual base salary of $140,000. A school release said he is also eligible to earn as much as $150,000 from shoe, apparel and equipment deals. Incentive bonuses of $27,000 would also be paid for making the postseason, advancing to College World Series and being named National Coach of the Year.

“I certainly intend to complete the length of that contract,” said Gillespie, who worked as a scout for the New York Yankees and managed the franchise’s short-season Class A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, the Staten Island (N.Y). Yankees, last season, after retiring from USC following the 2006 season.

“I’ve always felt that to be able to coach, presented an opportunity to stay young, because you’re around young people,” said Gillespie, who compiled a 763-471-2 record at USC, where he also played and was a member of the 1961 national championship team. “While it hasn’t kept me from getting older, it has, perhaps, kept me from growing up, because you’re with young people and that’s energizing.”

Shine, senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein, junior shortstop Ben Orloff, Interim Athletic Director Paula Smith and UCI Chancellor, Dr. Michael V. Drake were also energetic in their praise for Gillespie, who coached the U.S. national team, comprised of college players, to a 27-3-1 record in 2002.

“We strongly believe he is the right choice for UCI; for our baseball program and for the university,” said Smith, who headed up a national search, during which former Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico, Indiana State Coach Lindsay Meggs, Shine, and Hawaii Coach Mike Trapasso were also interviewed.

“There’s an old adage that says that A players hire A players and A players recruit A players,” Drake said. “And we have an A-plus with Mike Gillespie. We are really proud of our baseball program and the direction it has taken in [six] short years [since returning from a nine-season hiatus]. We needed someone with national prominence who understands the great way education and athletics and academics work together. [Gillespie is] one of the great baseball minds and one of the great educators in the United States today.”

Shine, who guided Cal State Los Angeles to the NCAA Division II College World Series last season, said the opportunity to work with Gillespie was one of the reasons that made it easy to return to UCI, where he was an assistant from 2002-04 under John Savage, who had been Gillespie’s pitching coach at USC.

Shine left UCI to accompany Savage to UCLA. He was Savage’s assistant in Westwood for two seasons. He is the recruiting coordinator, will run the offense and be the third base coach at UCI, Gillespie said.

“I would say [Gillespie] is one of the best minds in college baseball,” Shine said. “And from having coached against him, he’s one of the best coaches ever in game management. He’s very well known for his game management style and for developing players.”

Some 28 players Gillespie coached at USC have played in the Major Leagues, a trend both Lowenstein and Orloff hope continues.

“His history speaks for itself,” Orloff said of Gillespie. “He’s a great coach who has won everywhere he has been and we’re really excited to have him on board here.”

Said Lowenstein, “The first thing he said to us, which really impressed me, was that he isn’t looking at this season as a transition year. He’s looking for this team to be right back on the beam and not skip a beat. Our main goal is to get right back to Omaha. That’s what he wants and that’s what us players want.

“When we heard Gillespie was up for the job, we were all pretty excited, because he is a well-respected coach across the nation,” said Lowenstein, who was the lone member of the current team to have played when Shine was at UCI.

“I played for Coach Shine my freshman year, so when I found out he was coming here, I was really fired up, because I love Shiner and I wanted him here with us,” Lowenstein said. “I’ve told everybody how good of a guy he is. He’s a hands-on guy with high energy. We really like the fact that he’s our coach.”

Gillespie said he plans to finalize the schedule, as soon as he hires a pitching coach.

That schedule begins Feb. 22 with a three-game series at Nevada.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].