Win number 400 goes on the record for Mac Pitt after thirty-five years of basking in the sun of success with 'his boys' on the baseball field by Jennings Culley Sports Editor, Richmond New Leader
Spring com es to Virginia in many forms . . . a robin on the wing . . . a blooming dogwood . . . a sprig of wild onion popping from the ground. But on the rolling green of the University of Richmond campus, spring comes when the Gray Fox goes on the prowl. Only when Mac Pitt dons his rubber windbreaker, pulls that baseball cap down on his ears and starts pacing nervously up and down the sidelines of the baseball field, can one really be sure winter has passed. For 35 years, as Spider baseball coach, Pitt has been gathering "my boys" together on the windy, cold days of March for the start of practice . And for 35 years Pitt and his boys have enjoyed basking in the sun of success by the time May rolls around. Pitt and success have made a happy blend , like ice cream and hot fudge, and the alumni have eaten it up! So it was heartwarming, but not surprising when Pitt reached a coaching milestone on a blustery March day . On a day that made you wonder about spr ing, the Spiders whipped Buffalo and th e victory went on the ledger as the 400th win in Pitt's brilliant and inspiring career as coach and counselor. A kindly, soft-spoken leader of men, Pitt never measured his success by victories on the field, despite 16 state championships and three Southern Conference crowns . And he has never measured his success by the stars he's produced and sent into professional baseball, many of whom made it to the big leagues . Pitt is the breed of man who likes to measure success by the helping hand he's held out for others . Th ere, Pitt 's victories are countless. "l don 't know where I'd be today," a form er player and now successful businessman proudly admits , "if it hadn't been for Coach Pitt. 8
"He taught me all I ever knew about baseball. But more important, he pulled me back from a bad road and gave me a purpose in life. "I know it sounds trite, but he was a father to me when I needed one." An incident some years ago show vividly the nature of the man. A father stopped by Millhiser Field with his five-year-old son to watch the Spiders practice . It was one of those raw March days when Pitt wouldn't think of endangering a pitcher 's arm with batting practice, so he had the team drilling on defense. He 'd set the ball on a rubber tee and have the players hit a roller or line screamer and then run the bases. 'Come here, son," Pitt yelled to the youngster and the kid sheepishly walked up to the plate. "Now take this bat and knock the ball as far as you can." The kid swung mightily and tapped the ball about as far as a good bunt would go. While the catcher and pitcher stood looking at each other, the runner beat it out. "You gotta be ready," Pitt screamed. " You gotta be ready for anything." The episode points up Pitt's two greatest attributes as a coach-his love for the boy and his insistence on learning the game's fundamentals. To this day, the boy has never forgotten "the day I played for Richmond" and the man who took time out to be nice. No doubt, the pitcher and catcher have never forgotten the way they pulled an Alphonse-Gaston act on the bunt. And if they're still playing baseball, you can bet-they're ready for anything. On the technical side of baseball, Mac Pitt has few peers-even in the professional managerial ranks. He 's always ben a stickler for perfection of baseball's basic plays, those little things that mean the difference between winning and losing.
To this day, he drills his team hard and long on defensive technique . . . to be sure that, under pressure, they can instinctively make the right relay throw, hit the proper cutoff man and throw to the proper base. Offensively, he works a team just as diligently. Every man must know how to bunt, how to hit behind the runner, how to take the extra base. Spider teams have always been marked by exceJlent pitching and that, too, is the result of Pitt's experienced hand. He's always handled pitchers with cunning and care, even risking defeats on cold days rather than tamper with an overworked arm. Like all managers, Pitt probably feels he 's never blessed with an abundance of good hitters. But even without fence busters, Pitt's teams have always managed runs with their uncanny skill on the bases. The squeeze play is one of baseball 's prettiest plays-and it's won more games for Pitt than rivals like to remember. Over the years, Spider teams have been so sound in all phases of the game, many fans wondered how Pitt would have done as a major league manager. Chances are he would have been a winner. But Mac Pitt's life has been with "my boys." Sure, he takes justifiable pride in the many players he's sent into pro ball, especially those who made it to the bigtime like pitcher Lew Burdette (Milwaukee Braves), pitcher Porter Vaughan (Philade lphia Athletics), pitcher Herb Hash (Boston Red Sox) and pitcher Bucky Jacobs and first baseman Jack Sanford ( Washington Senators) . But Pitt's greatest satisfaction has come in the hundreds of boys he has developed into young men . Every player who has donned a Richmond uniform has been richer when he hung it up. You can't play for Mac Pitt without some of the man rubbing off on you.
