PSU Magazine Fall 1994

interested in people and in what was going on in the area while most everyone else was sleeping on the bus." His interest in history never waned. He majored in the subject in college and graduated with honors and a 3.57 GPA. He later earned a master's degree in secondary education also at UO. Hugh Springer, a senior-year player on Dunn's first Cleveland High team in 1956, notes Dunn's influence away from the field. "We'd heard on the team that the new coach was also a history teacher in his mid-to-late 20s. As seniors, many of us were on our way out of high school and expected to breeze through by taking his class," Springer recalls. "He laid out the law. 'You will work in my class,' he told us." Springer, now president of Cougar Manufacturing in Oregon City, had raw athletic talent but no formal pitching instruction until Dunn came on board. Dunn taught him techniques that took him beyond being a "thrower." Springer later became Dunn's first player to play pro ball, spending several years in the Orioles organization. Dunn also influenced Springer's academic leanings. 8 PSU Magazine "Jack said there was more than being a jock. He really directed me toward the area of liberal arts and history, and I eventually got my degree in history at University of Oregon." Adds Trebelhorn, "Jack Dunn taught us lessons in humility, friendship and loyalty. These are the things that last longer than the baseball stuff. Jack was the most influential guy in my baseball career." There have been dozens of Springers and T rebelhorns in Dunn's years as mentor-coach. "I've said thousands of times that baseball is only a vehicle-a motiva– tional vehicle for kids to complete their education," Dunn says. Dunn has been blessed with exceptional athletes over the years. Several of his players have graduated to the major league level, including seven-time National League All-Star and two-time Most Valuable Player Dale Murphy (coached by Dunn at Wilson High). Three former major– leaguers made stops at PSU under Dunn: Eric Gunderson, Jeff Lahti and the late Steve Olin. But Dunn earned winning seasons by making the most of his entire team, not just by playing talented athletes. "I don't think it's important how much skill you have. It's how well you struggled to reach your capability– whatever that is," Dunn says. "You can be equally successful just by being able to get a spot on the bench or by being a star, if you've worked to your full capability. "As my knowledge increased over the years, I could see more things going wrong," Dunn says. "In the past few years I particularly rubbed players the wrong way who didn't give it their best shot. Players who wanted something without really working for it didn't like me. " It's ironic, perhaps, that many of today's top executives and business gurus tout the team approach to business. For years, sports advocates have said that athletics is an essential part of a well-rounded education. Retirement will open up new avenues to Dunn. He'd like to arrange coaching clinics in Europe, and has talked with an athletic equipment manufacturer about putting clinics together in countries where baseball is beginning to emerge as a more popular sport (Holland, Belgium, France and Australia). At a retirement program for Dunn late last May, it wasn't difficult to fathom the scope of his popularity. More than 300 people packed the Multnomah Athletic C lub. Recent PSU players and members of his first team at C leveland High swapped stories with friends, family members and fans, recalling Dunn's presence in their lives. The program was filled with irreverent kidding, quips and barbs-much of it provided by Roy Love, former PSU baseball coach (1962-1974) and PSU athletic director (1972-1986; 1989-92). But Love managed to slip a serious accolade Jack Dunn's way at the program's end, just as the well– humored guests were getting ready to leave. "Jack," Love said, "The guys who will miss you the most are the ones who will never play for you." D (Brian White is a staff writer in PSU's Office of Public Relations.)