Seattle’s return to baseball a true team effort

When Seattle University dropped its baseball program in the mid-1980’s, everyone associated with the institution knew they wanted to bring it back sometime in the future. Perhaps it would take a few years to accomplish the goal, but few were happy to see the program go.

The ghosts of the Seattle program were alive and well through the 1990’s. The same group of former players wanted to bring the baseball team back. But again, their will and desire seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Then, as a new decade arrived, the hope of bringing back the baseball program grew stronger. And more administrators and fans seemed to be more interested in not only restarting the program, but also moving the athletics department from Division II to Division I to increase exposure and outreach.

It was in 2006 that new athletic director Bill Hogan realized that bringing back baseball wasn’t just some option that might happen. It was going to happen.

Seattle athletic director Bill Hogan has been a true visionary the past few years.

(Seattle University)

And it did. The Redhawks reopen their doors in the spring.

“There are a group of players on the ’79 team that play golf together all the time, and they’d always talk about bringing back baseball. When I first got here in ’06, I went to one of those golf outings. It didn’t take long to figure out what they were thinking,” Hogan said. “They asked me if I wanted to restart the baseball program. They also said that if I didn’t I’d win the horses ass award for the tournament we were playing in. I think they were half serious, half kidding.”

However serious those comments were, Hogan got the hint and from that point on made it his duty to carry the athletics program to a new era, which included bringing back the baseball program out of the ashes.

After announcing the sport’s return to the athletic department, Hogan had another tough chore to accomplish. He had to hire a new coach.

Hogan entered the selection process with a good track record. He had spent 15 years as the athletic director at San Francisco. With the baseball program struggling at USF, Hogan decided to hire a motivated coach named Rich Hill. Hill, of course, now is one of the most successful coaches on the West Coast at San Diego. After Hill’s departure, Hogan once again raised some eyebrows by hiring Nino Giarratano. Giarratano still is the head coach at USF and is one of the brightest baseball minds on the West Coast.

Knowing Hogan’s track record, perhaps we should assume he made another great decision by calling on former Washington assistant Donny Harrel to direct the program to Division I baseball.

Harrel spent three years as an assistant for the Huskies. But before that coaching stint, he was an assistant for Pat Casey at Oregon State. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact he was highly successful in starting a program at Lane Community College in the state of Oregon.

“Harrel is an excellent communicator and has a terrific sales personality,” Hogan said. “One thing I really like, too, is the fact he started a junior college program from scratch and really experienced a wealth of success. It’ll be pretty interesting to see what he can do with our program after four of five seasons.”

Though he has the experience of starting a program, the challenge of building a Division I program is like no other. Many coaches in Harrel’s position at Washington would’ve turned down Seattle in hopes of landing a bigger-name job in the future. But Harrel is different. He wanted a new and exciting challenge.

Harrel has absolutely no regrets in stepping in to restart a program that must now compete in the region with two-time national champion Oregon State in addition to Washington, Washington State and Gonzaga.

“There always is some uncertainty with anything you’re starting from scratch, but the fact they’re making such a strong effort to make this thing work, that made this job a heck of a lot more intriguing,” Harrel said. “It wasn’t just the fact Hogan and the school wanted to bring back baseball that attracted me. The passion was the selling point.”

Now Harrell is busy spreading his vision, passion and excitement about the program to high school recruits in the Seattle area and entire Northwest.

“I’m amazed and surprised at how many kids welcome the challenge of coming here. We’re not dumb; we know we have a long way to go. But there are many kids that want to come here and be a part of something special,” Harrel said. “We’re looking for hard-nosed, blue-collar type of kids.”

Outside of the recruiting aspect of the program, the Redhawks have other obstacles to overcome in the present and future.

Because the Redhawks are starting a program from scratch and the athletic department is moving to Division I, the program is in the midst of a transition period that lasts through the ’12 season. Seattle will be eligible for an NCAA regional berth in ’13, assuming the athletic department’s budget is in line at that point.

Hogan expects the Redhawks to essentially double their scholarships, staffs and overall budget to make the full transition to Division I. He also expects the baseball program to have the full 11.7 scholarships once the full athletic aid is factored into the equation.

There’s also the tough task of finding a conference.

As an athletic department that recently began the transition period, the Redhawks obviously haven’t found a home for their baseball program. But there are some options.

Seattle has an enrollment of 7,500 and is a Jesuit Catholic institution as with many West Coast Conference colleges. According to sources, the WCC appears to be the most logical fit. However, the Redhawks aren’t limiting their options. They want to join a conference that wants them as much as they want the conference.

Harrel appears to have a preference, though.

“I think the WCC would be a great fit for the university, but I also feel like we have to keep our options open,” he said. “There are some other conferences out there that have shown interest, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully we nail down a conference affiliation sooner rather than later.”

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same scenario likely will apply to Seattle. But for now, the program appears to be in excellent hands with a pair of visionaries in charge.

The Redhawks relish the fact they’re in close proximity to several potential opponents. They also have hopes of playing some games at Safeco Field in the near future, possibly against Big East foe Notre Dame and other regional rivals as early as ’11.

For now, though, the Redhawks are focused on spreading their name, recruiting and showing the college baseball community they truly care about bringing this program back and actually succeeding.

Bill Hogan deserves a wealth of credit.

The former players that pushed for baseball’s return also deserve much credit.

And just think, this all started on a golf course green.