ARCADIA SPORTS PAGE ARCADIA SPORTS PAGE Page 58 June 2012 Ken Rudolph wore number 14 and was baseball coach at Arcadia High School for 14 years before stepping down after this past season. He was 266-146 with 12 playoff appearances. Rudolph steps down as baseball coach at Arcadia By Nathan Humpherys After 14 seasons, 266 wins, 146 losses and 12 playoff appearances, Arcadia High School’s dugout will be without its number 14 jersey. And for the rst time in a long time, b a s e b a l l will be without Ken R u d o l p h as he steps down as the Titans’ coach. A r c a d i a had a winning record every season of Rudolph’s tenure as head coach, and in a surprise ceremony on May 29, the team was scheduled to retire Rudolph’s number 14 jersey in recognition of his service. “That’s one thing I wanted to have, that when Arcadia came to play, we came to play” Rudolph said. “We might lose, but we’ll make a tough out.” Booster club president Don MacWilliam said Rudolph was very accessible for parents and described Rudolph’s retirement as “bittersweet.” “He’s been a wonderful high school coach and mentor for 14 years,” MacWilliam said. For Rudolph, one of the most fullling parts of coaching was when his players started to enjoy playing more because their hard work paid off. “It’s just rewarding to see kids develop to a certain point and have success, and that’s what makes it fun,” he said. As a coach, Rudolph was always looking for opportunities to teach his players things they could use on and off the baseball eld. “Hopefully you make them a better player and give a few life lessons along the way,” he said. A second-round pick by the Cubs in the 1965 amateur draft who made his rookie debut in 1969, Rudolph was in the Majors before Nolan Ryan pitched his rst no-hitter, before Ken Griffey had a junior and before anyone heard of Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies, Diamondbacks or designated hitters. His rst hit came in a road game against the Cincinnati Reds, when he hit an RBI- double then scored the winning run. He hit his rst home run in a home game against the Pirates, scoring two runs to tie a game in the sixth. The Cubs went on to win in extra innings. “I don’t put much stock in things that aren’t relevant to the game,” Rudolph said. Not that he would have minded hitting a home run when the team had a 10-run lead, but helping his team out was what made the hit special moment for him. “That’s what mattered the most,” he said. “It put us back in the ballgame.” Rudolph played for the Cubs for ve years, then went on to stints with the Giants, Cardinals and Orioles. His nal appearance was with the Orioles in 1977. He was a coach and manager in the minor leagues before he came to Arcadia in 1998. Rudolph will continue to teach physical- education classes at Arcadia and coach boy’s golf. And though he’s done coaching baseball, it might prove difcult for him to stay away from the ballpark for too long. Though he said speculation about whether he will remain active in baseball, and how he might do so, would be “premature,” there’s a good possibility he’ll nd a way to keep a hand in the game. “I’ll tell you this,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of gas left in the tank.” The number 14 had special signicance for Rudolph By Nathan Humpherys Fourteen isn’t just the number of years Ken Rudolph was the baseball coach at Arcadia or a random number he picked to go on the back of his uniform. When Rudolph fell in love with baseball as an 8-year-old boy, his biggest hero was Gil Hodges, who played for the Dodgers. And guess what number Hodges wore? Though Rudolph fondly remembers some of his personal achievements during his professional career, it was being on the same eld as the Hall-of-Famers he admired growing up, playing with and against legends like Willie Mays, that made it a special time for him. Hodges managed the Mets when Rudolph was playing for the Cubs. As the teams prepared to face each other, Rudolph saw him out on the eld during the Mets’ batting practice. Rudolph took a chance. “I walked out there in the middle of batting practice, when you’re not supposed to fraternize with the other team,” Rudolph said. “I decided I didn’t care about the ne. I was going to shake his hand and tell him he was my hero.” He did just that, and was pleasantly surprised that Hodges knew his name. To this day, it’s Rudolph’s favorite memory of his Major League career. It’s a good thing Rudolph took the opportunity when he did. Not long after, Hodges suffered a fatal heart attack and died at the age of 47. During his career at Arcadia, Rudolph had a great many players, such as Jake MacWilliam, who looked up to him. “Jake loved Ken,” his father, Don MacWilliam, said. Rudolph had a great wealth of baseball knowledge to pass on to his players, with an expertise that came from playing in the major leagues for nine years, but his inuence extended beyond baseball. “When you have a man as well rounded as Ken is, you always hope your boys are picking up lessons from him,” MacWilliam said. Rudolph felt his players always gave him their best effort, and it was rewarding for him to see the looks of condence and the smiles on their faces as they saw their hard work pay off. “What I enjoyed most (about coaching) was the players,” he said. “I always felt they appreciated me as a coach and as a person.” Rudolph never missed a chance to share his love of baseball. After the Titans suffered a stinging loss at home to Saguaro this season, Rudolph made his way to the dugout while the team jogged in the outeld. There he took a baseball and a ballpoint pen and, doing his best to make sure no one was watching, signed the ball for a boy who was about 5 years old. The kid couldn’t have been more excited to have it. After all, what’s baseball without boys and their heroes?