Posted on: Friday, August 23, 2002

Coach's change of heart pays off in dream season

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Waipi'o coach Clyde Tanabe and his son, Kurt, look over some of the memorabilia they brought back from the 2002 Little League World Series. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The most memorable season of 47-year-old coach Clyde Tanabe's life almost never happened.

Before it began this year, Tanabe felt he had been placing too much pressure on his son to the point he feared the boy would quit. Perhaps it was time to give up coaching, he thought.

"He'd make an error and I would take him out afterward and make him field 100 to 200 ground balls," the father said. "I was hurting him more than helping him."

Tanabe's wife, Bess, and 15-year-old daughter, Shannon, talked to him about his behavior, but it was Kurt who persuaded his father not to quit and helped him learn to leave the game on the field.

"Kurt told me, 'You coached everyone else and now you're going to quit before my (last Major Little League) season,' " Tanabe said. "He told me he wanted me to coach him. Now, I don't tell him let's go hit or field balls, he tells me. I finally grew up."

The relationship between father and son — coach and star pitcher — allowed both to enjoy and savor a remarkable ride with the Waipi'o Little League All-Stars to the Little League World Series for 11- and 12-year-olds in South Williamsport, Pa.

It also gave a Hawai'i and a nationwide ESPN2 audience a chance to see the plain-speaking, cool-and-collected coach at his best in helping his team in its two stirring come-from-behind victories. In an impromptu team meeting in the bottom of the sixth inning of the eventual 3-2 win over Worcester, Mass., he told the players they were going to win the game, "right here and right now ... in front of millions of people" watching.

Kurt Tanabe, who celebrated his 13th birthday Wednesday, posted a 9-0 record as a pitcher through the district playoffs, state tournament on Moloka'i, Northwest Regionals in San Bernardino, Calif., and World Series pool play.

But for the coach, what he treasures most is that his father, Kenneth Tanabe of Salt Lake, was able to watch his grandson play for the first time because the games were on television. Kenneth Tanabe is legally blind and cannot see well enough to attend a game but can watch on television because the camera angles are close enough to watch Kurt pitch.

"It was special for me, too, because of what Kurt did," the coach said.

The team returned to Hawai'i Wednesday night after being on the road for nearly a month.

"It's not going to last forever but reality still has not set in," said Clyde Tanabe, who plans to return to work as a recreational therapist at the Hawai'i State Hospital on Monday. "They say everyone has 15 seconds of fame. For me and Kurt, it's lasted a month.

"It was a great ride and there may never be another time. That's why I told our players (when they were on the field at the World Series) to look around and savor the moment of being there."

A Kalihi native, 1973 Farrington High graduate and high school second baseman, Tanabe began coaching youth baseball while in college. He spent six years with Moanalua of the Police Activities League before taking leave in 1978. He didn't return to coaching until his son began playing in 1993.

Tanabe has been coaching his son and also the Major Division (ages 10-12) Waipi'o Red Raiders for nine years. He made his first trip to the then-Western Regionals in 1998 as an assistant coach to Clem Hew Jr.

Lessons learned from that first experience paid off for Tanabe the second time around.

"I knew what to expect this time so we were able to shut down problems before they occurred," the coach said.

The first thing Tanabe did was to explain to parents accompanying the team that the Little League regionals have strict rules governing players and coaches and they were not free to come and go individually from their assigned dormitory areas.

"I think it was important that he put it up front at the beginning so everybody knew the boys were there to play baseball," said Susan Jones, whose son Travis was a first-year player in the Waipi'o Little League.

Tanabe advised parents that he would make time for them to spend time with their children.

"Once you're out of the tournament you can do or go wherever you want but while you're in the tournament, (Little League) does not allow for parents to take their children to Disneyland."

There's even a curfew of 10 p.m. imposed on all teams, he said. "We went to a Dodger game and on the way back our van broke down so we didn't get back to 2 a.m.," Tanabe said. "We called to tell (Little League officials) and they checked on us all the way. There are very strict rules."

The team and parents, however, did a lot of barbecues at San Bernardino, where the team was hosted by Ray and Mikki Rucker. A group of Hawai'i supporters in the area treated the team to kalua pig and lomi salmon one night, Tanabe said.

Media covering the World Series found it interesting that Tanabe carried 14 players where most teams had only 11 or 12.

"When I was asked about it, I told them it was because if we ever won this thing, we would have 14 players with memories instead of 12," he said.

The Waipi'o Little League is composed of three teams and the all-star roster was selected from 21 eligible players. Seven came from the Red Raiders: Kurt Tanabe, Travis Jones, Cory Yuh, Kyle Kobayashi, Alex Goya, Daniel Nishimoto and Dominic Macanas. Isaac Moises, Tony Fernandez, Sean Clark, Kelsey Outram, Jonathan Abe and Sanoe Aina represented the other teams.

"They jelled in the first week of practice and I knew then this was a special team," Tanabe said. "I talked to every player (individually) and explained their roles to them. Like I told Abe that he was my special runner and basically would not hit. They accepted their roles."

The players had to return their game uniforms but were allowed to keep their undershirts with a special "We Made It 2002" logo. Williams-port also provided 12 bats, a bat bag and eight helmets to the team.

On behalf of the team, Tanabe awarded new bats to the three 11-year-olds on the team, another to 10-year-old Bronson Sagon, a Red Raider player who followed the team all the way to Williamsport with his family, and will turn the rest over to the league for use next season.

Beginning today, Tanabe will be assisting Hew with Pearl City High's winter league team and is not sure whether he will move up and coach next season with Kurt's team or return to the Major Division.

"My reward from coaching is seeing (former player) Grandon Costa (of St. Louis High) get a scholarship to HPU and having him come down four days a week to throw batting practice to our team," Tanabe said. "Watching our former players go on is the reward."