Frye expects commitment from himself, Logansport Berries

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Giving it everything he had each time he stepped on the diamond.

That’s what Dan Frye did as a player and that’s what he does as a coach.

Frye was a baseball assistant at his alma mater — Logansport (Ind.) High School. After being away for five seasons, he is now head coach for the Berries.

The 1988 LHS graduate expects his players to share in a sense of commitment.

“The kids should get the same out of me that I expect out of them and that’s being there everyday,” says Frye, who takes over a program that was led for the past 22 seasons by Jim Turner Jr.

Frye was a middle infielder for the Berries when Jim Turner Sr., an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, was head coach.

“Both are pretty laid-back guys,” says Frye of the Turners. “It takes a lot to get them excited. They wanted the accountability to be on the players and leave it up to the players to get the job done.”

Frye considers both Turners great baseball minds.

“It’s how they think about the game and situations throughout the game,” says Frye. “We’ll continue to work on situations.

“You should be practicing the way you anticipate playing. I practiced as hard as I played. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

Three Frye brothers were standouts at Logansport and then at Indiana State University of Hall of Fame coach Bob Warn. Older brother Paul Frye played on the 1986 College World Series team and was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 11th round of that year’s Major League Baseball First Year Draft. The outfielder/infielder played four seasons in the minors.

Twins Dan and Dennis started at ISU in 1989.

“My decision was pretty easy,” says Dan Frye. “That’s where I wanted to go. I wanted a part of it.

“Bob Warn was a great coach and it was great to be around him.”

Mitch Hannahs (who is now Indiana State head coach) was a senior shortstop at ISU when Frye was a freshman second baseman.

“I don’t think Indiana State could be in better hands,” says Frye of Hannahs.

Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Frye brothers got to play against several future big leaguers.

“The competition was phenomenal,” says Frye, who counted Mike Farrell (who is now a baseball scout) as a teammate at Logansport and Indiana State.

Among the opponents during Dan and Dennis’ time were 6-foot-5 right-hander Tyler Green, catcher Doug Mirabelli, right-hander Greg Brummett, shortstop Pat Meares, second baseman Mike Lansing, infielder P.J. Forbes and catcher and future big league manager/college head coach Eric Wedge at Wichita State University. IHSBCA Hall of Famer Wedge is now the head coach at WSU.

The Sycamores beat the Shockers 4-of-6 the year Wichita State won the national championship (1989).

“Each level of competition prepared me for the next level,” says Frye. “I was not in shock about seeing a fastball.

“Everybody (in the North Central Conference) threw hard. It was not odd.”

Dan and Dennis were drafted in 1988 by the Los Angeles Dodgers after high school — infielder/outfielder Dan Frye in the 56th round and first baseman/outfielder Dennis Frye in the 57th — but opted for college.

Dan Frye was selected in the 20th round of the 1992 draft by the Cincinnati Reds and played four seasons in the minors.

That first year he played in Princeton, W.Va., and he later began his coaching coach at Princeton High School.

With two small children, Frye moved back to Logansport in 1999 to be closer to family.

A few years later, he began coaching Little League and Babe Ruth baseball around town.

He was hired by the Logansport Police Department in 2002 and worked his way up from patrolman to assistant chief. He spent nearly four years on the narcotics unit. While coaching at Logansport High School, he also served as school resource officer.

There are now three lawmen on the Berries coaching staff — Dan Frye, Clayton Frye (his son and a Logansport detective) and Chris Jones (a Cass County sheriff’s deputy) — plus other former LHS players Brad Platt, Brian Gleitz, Ron Kinnaman and Cooper Kinnaman. Clayton Frye and Gleitz will work with pitchers, Jones with catcher and Platt with outfielders. The Kinnamans and Jones are assigned to the junior varsity team.

Frye looks to have a young first squad in 2020. At this point, there are three seniors — Matt Foutz, C.J. Hallam and Drake McLochlin.

During the fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period, Frye and up to a dozen players got together for workouts.

“I saw some kids field, swing bats and throw,” says Frye. “The numbers weren’t always there to run a legitimate full practice. I was able to see what kids can and can’t do and start working on development stuff with ones who were there.”

Frye is catching up on the pitch count rule (1 to 35 pitches requires 0 days rest; 36 to 60 requires 1 day; 61 to 80 requires 2 days; 81 to 100 requires 3 days; and 101 to 120 requires 4 days), which was not in place the last time he was coaching high school ball.

“I agree with it,” says Frye. “It’s a good rule. It’s about the safety for the kids.

“We have to develop more pitching.

“It’ll be interesting to see how people coach a little differently with the pitch count and all that. I’m sure I’m going to learn some valuable lessons from coaches around here”

With the pitch limit, strike-throwing has become extra important.

“How many pitches can you waste anymore?,” says Frye. “When I played, I didn’t want to stand around taking pitches. One pitch and we’re headed around the base paths. I wanted to hit.”

He recalls hitting the first pitch of a game against Marion out of the park during his sophomore season.

“Walks put runners on base and I see it differently now.”

Logansport (enrollment around 1,250) is a member of the North Central Conference (with Anderson, Harrison of West Lafayette, Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, Kokomo, Lafayette Jeff, Marion, McCutcheon, Muncie Central and Richmond).

The NCC tends to play Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Saturday doubleheaders.

The Berries are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Harrison (West Lafayette), Kokomo, Lafayette Jeff and McCutcheon. Logansport won its 29th sectional crown in 2019. The Berries have been in the State Finals 10 times with state championships in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1991 and a state runner-up finish in 1989.

Logansport plays on an artificial turf surface. Jim Turner Field has been covered since the 2016 season.

Dan Frye, 49, is married to Cynthia and has four adult children — Clayton Frye and Krista Frye in Logansport, Dustin Clements in Nashville, Tenn., and Katie Clements in Denver, Colo.

Cynthia and Dan Frye are surrounded by children (from left) Katie Clements, Krista Frye, Dustin Clements, KyLeigh Frye (daughter-in-law) and Clayton Frye. Dan Frye is the head baseball coach at his alma mater — Logansport (Ind,) High School.

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Indianapolis native McClain helped change athletic training in baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Ron McClain was on the forefront of change in athletic training for baseball. The Indianapolis native worked with some of the best players of all-time in a career that went from 1973-2004. He plied his trade with the Indianapolis Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos. He was the National League trainer for the All-Star Game in 1982 (Montreal), 1989 (Anaheim) and 1997 (Cleveland).

A National Athletic Trainers Association member beginning with his college days, McClain helped found the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.

McClain’s accomplishments will be recognized Friday, Jan. 18 at the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and awards dinner. It will be held during the IHSBCA State Clinic at Sheraton at the Crossing in Indianapolis. Contributor McClain will be inducted along with player Fred “Cy” Williams, coach Pat O’Neil, contributor Bob Schellinger and player Scott Rolen.

McClain grew up on the south side of Indianapolis near the Silver Hills Riding Stables and took an early appreciation of horses. He was also into sports of all kinds. He played varsity football and was a reserve for basketball and baseball at Warren Central High School, where he graduated in 1968.

Combining an interest in athletics and medicine, McClain studied physical education and training at Indiana University and graduated in 1975.

While he was still in college, he was driving a truck as a summer job in 1973 when he learned of the Indians’ need for a trainer and served a few months as a volunteer then turned to IU for the fall semester.

McClain impressed enough that he was invited to serve with the parent Reds in spring training and the Indians during the season in 1974 before again returning to IU in the fall.

From 1975-79, McClain trained for the Reds in spring training and Indians during the season then returned to Cincinnati each September to assist head trainer Larry Starr.

“That was quite a thrill,” says McClain. “It was the Big Red Machine era and I was a fan.”

Johnny Bench and Pete Rose were among his favorite players.

“I really came to admire Joe Morgan,” says McClain.

In his first season in Indianapolis, the team featured Ken Griffey Sr., George Foster and Dan Driessen. Ray Knight came along the next year.

McClain and the elder Griffey shared a birthday (April 10) and were fast friends.

“He was a real genuine guy,” says McClain. “He was just a good guy and a family man.”

Images of Ken Griffey Sr. instructing his tiny son — Ken Griffey Jr. —  are still etched on McClain’s memory.

He also recalls Griffey Sr. and Foster taking him out for ice cream after games.

“It’s hard to find an ice cream shop open at 11 p.m.,” says McClain.

“The best person as a superstar I ever met was Tom Seaver,” says McClain.

Sparky Anderson was the manager for McClain’s first five years he was associated with Cincinnati. John McNamara was Reds skipper in 1979.

Starr and McClain brought strength training into baseball with the addition of Nautilus equipment in 1975.

Players who had gotten where they were within such training were hesitant at first.

McClain says the Reds did not stretch before games in 1974. They did some stretching during spring training then began throwing the baseball.

In 1976, the training staff added long distance running and modified sprints to the spring regimen.

“To a baseball player, long distance means two times around the field (about a half mile),” says McClain. “Everything is so slow to move in baseball. Managers are older ex-players. This is how I did it. Players wanted to conserve their energy.

“Conditioning was at a very low level. By August, a lot of these guys were wilting. They didn’t keep up their strength.”

With Indianapolis, McClain worked with managers Vern Rapp, Jim Snyder and Roy Majtyka.

Rapp after 1975 and joined the coaching staff at Montreal, where they were looking for a trainer with baseball knowledge and experience.

“They were having trouble finding one that wasn’t a hockey trainer,” says McClain. “They were not knowledgeable enough about shoulders and throwing arms in their opinion.

McClain received a referral from Indianapolis general manager Max Schumacher and Reds executive Sheldon “Chief” Bender that helped him land the head trainer position in Montreal and he held that job from 1980 until 2004.

“I aced the interview and got hired,” says McClain. “I spent the next 25 years in the big leagues, which was quite a thrill.”

Expos managers during his tenure were Dick Williams, Jim Fanning, Bill Virdon, Buck Rodgers, Tom Runnells, Felipe Alou, Jeff Torborg and Frank Robinson.

When McClain started in Montreal, the club had just a few pieces of strength equipment.

“I changed all that,” says McClain, who saw 20-by-30 strength training room go in. The Expos did stretches and used free weights as well as Nautilus and Cybex machines for strength training at a time when some teams only had stationary bikes

“Some were slow to get on the bandwagon,” says McClain. “It takes awhile for most teams to abide by good advice. You don’t know if it’s good advice for a few years.”

In June 1980, McClain gave Andre Dawson a simple device which helped his Hall of Fame career.

Dawson had injured his knees in football and had surgery while in high school. They took a beating in baseball, particularly on the hard artificial surface of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

“I was like running on padded cement,” says McClain.

Dawson’s knees really swelled on airplane flights.

“Cabins are pressurized at 10,000 feet,” says McClain. “He would have inflammation (a build up fluid) and it was hard to play the next day.”

McClain gave the outfielder a neoprene compression sleeve and that took care of the swelling and discomfort.

It was also 1980 that the Expos brought in Bill Sellers as a exercise science and nutritional expert.

“It all kind of goes hand-in-hand and now every team has to have a certified chef for the home team and the visiting team,” says McClain. “But it’s a tough thing to get a superior athlete to change their ways. They already think they are the best. They have to fail first.”

It was common for players to insist on being in the lineup even when injuries slowed them down.

“Guys like Dawson and Gary Carter, they will always tell you that they want to play,” says McClain. “They would aggravate things a lot. Especially with soft tissue injuries. They think they can play then the tear in further.”

The Expos had speedsters like Tim Raines, Indianapolis native Rodney Scott and Ron LeFlore.

“They would aggravate injuries and be out an extra week,” says McClain. “You almost have to prove to each guy individually what’s going to happen.

“As a young trainer they didn’t listen to me as much as they did later.”

Players weren’t the only ones to turn a deaf ear to the expert.

“Dick Williams didn’t listen to anybody,” says McClain. “Bill Virdon was a tough one to deal with.”

Later managers like Rodgers and Alou had a better understanding of the role of training in baseball.

McClain says it was the training staff that was dictating to the coaching staff the limits that should be placed on pitchers to keep them healthy.

Bill Sampen, who now lives in central Indiana and runs Samp’s Hack Shack training facilities in Brownsburg and Plainfield where McClain takes 11-year-old grandson Andrew for lessons, pitched for the Expos 1990-92 and was used mostly in long relief.

“You can overwork them pretty easily in that position,” says McClain, noting that attention should be paid to the number of pitches and consecutive days these pitchers throw. (Expos pitching coach) Galen Cisco welcomed stuff like that.

McClain also witnessed the strain put on pitchers’ elbows, wrists and shoulders in throwing the split-finger fastball.

“They snap the elbow really hard,” says McClain. “That’s why there were not throwing it that much now.”

McClain was in the ballpark when history was made July 18, 1999 as David Cone tossed a no-hitter for the Yankees against the visiting Expos on Yogi Berra Day.

“I remember how good he was with a bum shoulder,” says McClain.

It was also in New York that McClain was in the middle of a dust-up that got him suspended for the final seven games in 1997.

McClain, manager Alou and second baseman Mike Lansing were all tossed by plate umpire Larry Vanover after a disputed ninth-inning play at home plate. The Mets beat the Expos 1-0 at Shea Stadium on Sept. 14.

Montreal’s David Segui tried to score on a Darrin Fletcher double. After taking a throw from Rey Ordonez, New York catcher Todd Pratt resulted in an out call. But Expos, including McClain, saw the ball lying on the ground.

At the time, base umpires in the field could not advise the home plate umpire’s call, a rule that changed in 1998. McClain recalls that crew chief Harry Wendelstedt said to Alou within earshot of Vanover: “I can’t tell him if he won’t ask.”

“He still didn’t ask,” says McClain of Vanover. “That wasn’t right.”

Remembering something he saw in a movie, McClain used his finger and thumb to make the shape of an “L” on his forehead and said, “You are a loser and a cheat.”

“My idea was let’s get the call right no matter whose feelings get hurt,” says McClain, who had suspected that the umpires were in a hurry to catch their flight out of town.

McClain enjoyed his time away from the ballpark in Montreal.

“It’s an international city,” says McClain, who lived in a condo there during the season then came back to wife Pamela and daughter Ashley in central Indiana the off-season.

He learned enough French to be passable and also spoke some Spanish, which helped him communicate with Latin players.

McClain got to watch Vladimir Guerrero in the early part of his career.

“He was one great player,” says McClain of the former Expo. “He never did master English. All he wanted to do was to eat, sleep, play baseball and video games.”

McClain notes that Rusty Staub — aka “Le Grande Orange” — already knew French from growing up in New Orleans. Catcher Carter did his best with the language.

He also remembers something of a hometown advantage.

There were many games played in April and September where the temperature was below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 Celsius).

“It was always so cold in Montreal,” says McClain. “It hurt the other team. We were more used to it.”

McClain is a classic car enthusiast (he’s owned a 1961 Corvette “Fuelie” and 1934 Ford Victoria). He also enjoys shooting and has taken up golf since retirement. Ron and Pamela McClain reside in Franklin Township on the southeast side of Indianapolis.

The McClains of Indianapolis — Pamela and Ron — enjoy their travels. Ron McClain is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019.

The McClains of Indianapolis — Pamela and Ron — see the Grand Canyon. Ron McClain is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain of Indianapolis enjoys Alaska. McClain, who was with the Expos for 25 years, is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain of Indianapolis visits the Grand Canyon. McClain, who was with the Expos for 25 years, is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019.  He also trained for the Indianapolis Indians.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain of Indianapolis enjoys Alaska. McClain, who was with the Expos for 25 years, is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019. He also trained for the Cincinnati Reds.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain of Indianapolis enjoys Alaska. McClain, who was with the Expos for 25 years, is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019. He is an Indiana University graduate.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain of Indianapolis enjoys Alaska. McClain, who was with the Expos for 25 years, is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019. He is a Warren Central High School graduate.

Two former Montreal Expos — catcher Darrin Fletcher and athletic trainer Ron McClain — meet up. Fletcher played 14 seasons in the big leagues with the Los Angels Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Expos and Toronto Blue Jays. McClain was with the Expos for 25 years.

Former Montreal Expos athletic trainer Ron McClain (center) shares a moment with Amy and Bill Sampen at Samp’s Hack Shack in Plainfield, Ind. Indianapolis resident McClain is going into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2019. Bill Sampen pitched for the Expos 1990-92.