Forum Blog - Legendary LaPorte baseball coach Schreiber dies at 83

Legendary LaPorte baseball coach Schreiber dies at 83 | NWI Preps Baseball | nwitimes
Today A mix of clouds and sun early, then becoming cloudy later in the day. High 42F Connor Sekas Jersey. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later at night. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Updated: November 6, 2017 @ 12:55 am LaPorte baseball coach Ken Schreiber, left, won a record 1,010 games and seven titles in 38-plus seasons in the dugout for the Slicers. Schreiber died Friday at the age of 83. Like the Frank Sinatra song, "My Way," Ken Schreiber did it his way, a firm-handed, no-nonsense coaching style that defined old school."I was on the end of some of his way," said LaPorte Athletic Director Ed Gilliland, who both played for and coached with the Slicers baseball legend. "Schreib did it his way. He broke the mold. He wanted to do things a certain way and he wasn't going to change."Why mess with success? Schreiber's regimented style guided LaPorte to unparalleled heights in the sport — an unmatched 1 James Skalski Jersey,010 wins, .823 winning percentage and seven state titles in 38-plus years. Friday, the mayor of "The Baseball Capital of Indiana" died at the age of 83. "I had the unique opportunity to play for him, coach for him and be AD for him as well," Gilliland said. "He set the bar for baseball coaches in the state of Indiana, something coaches still aspire to do. The thing that stuck out most to me was that he made baseball important in LaPorte and throughout the state before anybody else did. LaPorte baseball became recognized throughout the state and nation and that's attributed to Schreib."Schreiber was inducted into numerous hall of fames, both local, Michigan City Elston and Valparaiso University, and national. He was National Coach of the Year three times and the publication, Collegiate Baseball, tabbed him to share a Coach of the Century award in 1998."He set the standard," Chesterton coach Jack Campbell said. "LaPorte was always the team to beat. I remember, coaches would talk about coming to watch their practices and he said you'll see a group of guys hitting, pitching, running the bases and catching fungos every say. They just did it the best every day. It was just execution."Also renowned for his fiery demeanor and bluntness, Schreiber's personality was a 180-degree contrast to the age of political correctness and player-friendly coaching that followed. "One game, I'm coaching third base and here comes Schreib," Campbell said. "I'm like, all right, let's hear what he has to say. He's telling the (pitcher), 'You don't have any heart. You're never going to pitch again.' Then it's strike one, strike two, strike three. He challenged them and they answered the challenge Nolan Turner Jersey. He was an old school guy. Kids had to get haircuts just to try out. He asked a lot of his kids, but they wanted to be a part of the team."Gilliland graduated from LaPorte in 1977 and returned there to work on Schreiber's staff for six years before becoming athletic director."I have the utmost respect for all of his accomplishments, what he did for the community, for the school," Gilliland said. "It'll be hard for anybody to duplicate what he's done. One of the funniest quotes I remember from him was, 'I could go 0-30 the next 30 years and still be a .500 coach. That's pretty good." Like Gilliland, Scott Upp played for Schreiber and was on his staff."I'll always think of him as an icon of Indiana high school baseball," Upp said. "Obviously, he did a tremendous amount for many https://www.clemsonlock.com/gear/jack-maddox-clemson-jersey.aspx, many people in the community and it wasn't limited to baseball. A lot of it has to do with life, teaching young kids discipline, what respect and commitment is."Upp, a 1986 LaPorte grad, returned as an assistant in 1992 and had the enormous task of succeeding Schreiber when he stepped down in the midst of the '98 season. He won a state title in his second full spring and has over 400 victories, making a name for himself on the hallowed field named for his predecessor."It's no secret the bar was set very high and that's attributed to the way he ran the program," Upp said. "The only thing I wanted to do was carry on the program that he started, make sure he and the community stayed proud of it. It's never easy to lose somebody, but when I look at it, I look at it as a celebration of life. Schreib accomplished so much in his lifetime. I just think of what he's done what he's meant to LaPorte in general." LAPORTE — Still with the chiseled face of a military drill sergeant Cannon Smith Jersey, Ken Schreiber is more h LAPORTE | It's been a long four months of recuperating for legendary baseball coach Ken Schr Jim Peters Jim was keeping standings on his chalkboard from the time he could print and keeping kickball stats in grade school at St. Bridget's. He covers all manner of prep sports for The Times and is a long-suffering Chicago Cubs fan. Whenever Jim Peters posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.