Bragg now leading Lawrence Central baseball program

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Tim Bragg takes over as head baseball coach at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis with a wealth of knowledge gained from successful diamond minds.

“I played for and coached under a lot of great baseball guys so I think I’m prepared,” says Bragg. “I’ve got all those things in my tool box.”

Bragg is a Physical Education teacher and coached eighth grade baseball at Belzer Middle School across 56th Street from LCHS the past three springs and had been named junior varsity coach at Lawrence North and was in that position for six weeks in the fall on the staff of Richard Winzenread (who won more than 500 games leading the Wildcats). 

The two men had worked together at the former Craig Middle School and Bragg led the Craig eighth grade team in 2005. 

“He’s such a great coach and a great guy,” says Bragg of Winzenread. “I’m part of his coaching tree. I’ve got a lot of his practice plans and practice book that I refer to everyday.”

One of Bragg’s Craig players was Micah Johnson, who played at Park Tudor High School and was all-Big Ten Conference at Indiana University and played in the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.

From 2006-08, Bragg was freshman coach under Winzenread and also coached an LN summer team. Winzenread announced his retirement a few weeks ago and knowing about the opening at Lawrence Central, Bragg applied and was hired.

Prior to landing at Belzer, Bragg spent a decade in Warren Township coaching football, basketball and softball at Raymond Park Middle School.

In 2004, Bragg was the Pike High School JV baseball coach. The Red Devils program was then led by Pat McCarthy.

Bragg also spent one summer coaching Hoosier Diamond travel ball in Noblesville.

As a radio and television host and producer at WNDE and WRTV, Bragg worked with Mark Boyle, Bill Benner and Ed Sorenson.

Bragg was the reporter who’s question prompted the oft-replayed “Playoffs?!” rant from Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora.

NCAA Division III power Marietta (Ohio) College — then led by head coach Don Schaly — was Bragg’s first post-high school stop in the fall of his freshman year.

“I did not make the team but I learned a lot of baseball,” says Bragg, who transferred to the University of Indianapolis. “Those guys were baseball maniacs.”

At UIndy, Bragg was a catcher for the Mark Peterson-coached Greyhounds and was named all-Great Lakes Valley Conference as a catcher in 1990 and 1991. He was team MVP and captain in ’91.

A 1986 graduate of Indianapolis North Central High School, Bragg backstopped teams guided by Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Tom Bradley (who also won over 500 games).

The Panthers were regional champions in 1984 and 1985 and were ranked No. 1 during the 1986 season.

Gary Thurman (Indianapolis North Central Class of 1983) went on to the play in the majors for the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets and was a long-time pro coach.

John Smith went from NC to the Miami Hurricanes to the Mets organization.

North Central alum Derek Henderson played at Tennessee State University then in the Mets and Toronto Blue Jays systems and in independent ball.

For a few summers Bragg played for IHSBCA Hall of Famer and former Noblesville High School head coach Don Dunker. The team went to Nashville, Tenn., and was Twitty City World Series runners-up two years in a row.

North Central teammate Mike Shebek pitched for that team.

“I learned a lot from Don,” says Bragg. “He’d work us hard. I made a lot of friends playing for him.”

Bragg, 55, was officially named as Lawrence Central head coach Nov. 28. 

“I’m really excited about it,” says Bragg.

The first assistant coach is former North Central classmate Bryan Foster, a first-team all-state shortstop who was selected in the eighth round of the 1986 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and played four seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers system and one in the Houston Astros organization before going into business.

Foster will work with middle infielders and Bragg will take catchers, pitchers and corners. The interview process for other assistant candidates has begun.

Lawrence Central (enrollment around 2,500) is a member of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (with Ben Davis, Indianapolis North Central, Lawrence North, Pike and Warren Central).

The Bears are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Ben Davis, Indianapolis Cathedral, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks, Indianapolis North Central, Lawrence North and Pike. Lawrence Central has won eight sectional titles — the last in 2004.

The 2023 LC team went 1-24.

“I know there’s a lot of talent there,” says Bragg. “I’ve coached the kids that are juniors, sophomores and freshmen already. My first goal is improvement then we’ll set bigger goals. 

“We want to build a winning culture and a team that everybody respects. We don’t want to be a pushover. We won’t be. We’re going to teach every single day. These guys are going to get better with their abilities and Baseball I.Q.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

Among the returnees is University of Alabama commit Ahmaad Duff (Lawrence Central Class of 2024).

“We’ve got an SEC player on the team,” says Bragg of the outfielder/pitcher. “I’m not going to get into his way at all. He’ll be a great leader and have a great (senior) season.”

Another returnee from the Class of 2024 is Nick Johnson. Bragg says Bryson Luter is expected to come back to baseball from track.

A player meeting was slated for Thursday, Nov. 30. The first Limited Contact Period practice is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 11.

As a way of growing the program, a winter youth camp is scheduled for Dec. 27-28.

Youth players come from Fall Creek Softball & Baseball and Oaklandon Youth Organization with its Oaklandon Bombers travel team.

Lawrence Central is getting a brand new baseball stadium with field turf and generous dimensions plus two batting tunnels and is expected to be ready by the beginning of the 2024 season in April. The old varsity field will become the JV diamond.

Lawrence North is also getting a new field.

“It’s an exciting time to be a coach in Lawrence,” says Bragg expects that summer tournaments played at LC and Belzer will be stream of revenue.

Ted Bragg, Tim’s grandfather, went from Marion, Ind., to what was then the Eastern Division of Indiana Normal School (later Ball State University) and was on the first basketball team. He earned a baseball letter in 1924.

“I got my athletic genes from him,” says Tim Bragg.

Bragg resides in McCordsville, Ind., and has two children — Brianna Bragg (20) and Preston Bragg (16). 

Brianna graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville. Preston, who is autistic and has played in the Challenger Division at OYO, is a Mt. Vernon sophomore. 

Tim Bragg. (Lawrence Central High School Photo)

Lawrence Central High School.

Coil blending enthusiasm, knowledge as Memphis Redbirds broadcaster

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Alex Coil was a baseball player for as long as possible.

The day before he headed to Arizona State University the Valparaiso, Ind., native competed for the Crown Point-based Northwest Indiana Rippers in the 2018 Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown, N.Y. 

Once in Arizona, Coil immersed himself in sports journalism, radio, television and digital communication. 

“I knew I wanted to be around sports as much as I could,” says Coil, who also played at Valpo Americans Baseball and for Valparaiso American Legion Post 94, Valparaiso High School and other travel teams. “It’s the way my brain comprehends things. My brain has always looked through the lens of sports. Playing was the No. 1. When it got to the tail end of that it was always (broadcasting).”

For two semesters, former baseball commissioner Bud Selig was one of Coil’s professors at ASU. Starting as a freshman, he did play-by-play for many sports and also wrote for the school paper.

He was director of broadcasting and media relations for the Joliet (Ill.) Generals in the summer of 2020. 

He also partnered with Crown Point High School graduate Andrew Mild, who is now a broadcaster with the Atlantic League South Maryland Blue Crabs.

After graduating ASU in 2022, Coil was hired by the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds and as the play-by-play voice for the International League team and Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and is now in his second season. He is the lone on-air talent for games on the Bally Live app, also serving as pregame and postgame host.

“We have a tremendous production crew,” says Coil. “We pride ourselves on the product. It’s really elevated since the beginning of the season. We go all-in for all 75 of our home games. 

“We’re seeing progress in getting as close as we can to a major-league quality TV broadcast.”

When the Redbirds are on the road, Coil is involved with public relations and communications, putting out press releases and game recaps and feeding social media. In 2022, he went on three road trips, including Indianapolis where he got to meet longtime Indians play-by-play broadcaster Howard Kellman.

Cincinnati Reds color analyst Chris Welsh — who pitched in parts of five MLB and seasons became a mentor for collegian Coil — pitched for Indianapolis in 1984 with Kellman calling the action.

Coil, who turned 24 earlier this month, goes into every broadcast looking to bring the energy of a fan with the knowledge of how baseball is supposed to be played.

“That doesn’t come from me,” says Coil. “It comes from everybody I’ve surrounded myself with growing up in baseball.”

Alex, the son of Wayne and Traci Coil and older brother of Nolan Coil, comes from a baseball family. Wayne Coil coaches at Valparaiso High School and for Post 94. Nolan Coil is a pitcher at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

While his friends were watching cartoons growing up, Alex was taking in SportsCenter on ESPN and now constantly consumes the MLB Network.

“I try to take pieces of everybody I’ve watch and try to apply that to what happens in the game,” says Coil.

Not wishing to force it, Coil does not yet have a signature call.

“I want it to happen organically,” says Coil. “Where I’m at now if I just came up with something it would fall flat.

“With a home run call there is a rhythm to it I’ve got consistently down. But when that home run is hit I’m not automatically going to something.”

In 2021 while calling games for the Frontier League’s Florence (Ky.) Y’Alls, Coil had a phrase he’d used after victories.

Years before, the words on the town’s water tower on I-75/I-71 went from “Florence Mall” to “Florence Y’All” since advertising was not allowed on a public utility. When the Florence Freedom went through a name change the team became the Y’Alls and its mascot is a costumed representation of the striped water tower.

“When we won I’d say, ‘Paint the W on the water tower,’” says Coil. “That’s as closest to a signature call as I’ve ever gotten.”

Coil quickly adapted to the pitch clock, which was enacted to take out the down time in baseball.

“We played with pitch count last year,” says Coil. “For the first couple of series it was about trying to find the rhythm. Once you get used to that, it’s really just part of the game. 

“I don’t even notice it any more.”

While his father and brother pulled for the Reds, Alex came up as a “massive Chicago Cubs fan.”

His other rooting interests are with Notre Dame and Arizona State in college sports as well as the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

For a long time his Cubs favorite player was Darwin Barney.

“Partially because he wore the No. 15 (one of Coil’s travel ball numbers) and because he was so good defensively,” says Coil. “He was a really good person.”

His appreciation went with Anthony Rizzo when he played for the North Siders.

Growing up, Coil’s Cubs broadcasters were Len Kasper on TV and Pat Hughes on the radio.

“With Len Kasper it’s more of that fan,” says Coil. “It’s the energy. His voice will crack sometimes because he gets really, really excited about things. He also has a very analytical approach.

“With Pat Hughes it’s how polished and the command of a broadcast he has. When he says his first word you know who’s talking.”

Coil also took any plenty of Reds games with Marty Brennaman at the mic.

“He was the perfect mix of professional broadcaster and having that hometown fan approach,” says Coil. “He wouldn’t back away from criticizing things. If you do it in the right way, it raises your credibility.”

During spring training and Reds’ regular-season visits to play the Arizona Diamondbacks, Coil got to work with Welsh and Thom Brennaman (Marty’s son) as a statistician.

He plans to broadcast Arizona Fall League games for the second straight year and return in February with college baseball’s MLB Desert Invitational. Both are on MLB.com. He also worked the 2022 home run derby during AFL Fall Stars festivities.

The 2023-24 season will be Coil’s second on the Arizona State hockey broadcast. He serves as a color analyst to play-by-play man Tyler Paley and occasionally fills in as play-to-play for ASU baseball on the Sun Devil Radio Network.

As far as players he’s worked with, Coil points to two faves — one in baseball and one in hockey.

Luken Baker, who made his MLB debut with the Cardinals in June, has 31 home runs this season for Memphis.

“It’s how approachable and how open he was to me last year,” says Baker. “He went through his struggles, but no matter what he was the same person. 

“He would start the conversation with me early on.”

T.J. Semptimphelter is an Arizona State goaltender.

“He was my first interview last year for our pregame show,” says Coil. “He transferred in (from Northeastern University) and didn’t know too many people around Phoenix. He was such an easy guy to talk to.

“After the recorded interview was over he would carry on the conversation and be a normal person.”

Coil gets to weave history into his broadcasts when he talks about Memphis teams of the past. Every Thursday home game the Redbirds — in their 25th season — take on the alternate identity of the Memphis Chicks. In his time with the team, the franchise has also given nods to the Memphis Turtles and Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League, Negro National League and Negro Southern League during contests at AutoZone Park.

Alex Coil and Bud Selig.

Tyler Paley and Alex Coil.

Alex Coil with Northwest Indiana Rippers.

Alex Coil’s broadcast view at AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn.

Daniel brings 1980 baseball season back with lively “Phinally!”

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

J. Daniel was just shy of 13 when the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series for the first time in 1980.

Even though he was in southwestern Ohio, he followed the Phils from “Mike Schmidt to Ramon Aviles.”

Growing up when he did, Daniel appreciates baseball and pop culture in the 1980’s.

He is a big fan of Dan Epstein — author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ‘70s — and his style.

So much so that the Brownsburg, Ind., resident decided to write a book about baseball and more in the decade he knows so well.

“I’m a total stat geek,” says Daniel, who recalls devouring the box scores in the Cincinnati Enquirer during his youth. “Everything’s interesting to me.”

With so much material, it became books — plural.

Phinally!: The Phillies, the Royals and the 1980 Baseball Season That Almost Wasn’t (McFarland & Company) was published in 2019.

It was 1980 that gave us ….

The primetime TV drama “Dallas” and the cliffhanger summer question of “Who Shot J.R.?”

Movie-goers saw comedy in the “The Blue Brothers” and “Airplane!” and horror in “The Shining” and “Friday The 13th.”

In one scene from “The Shining,” Shelley Duvall wields a Carl Yastrzemski model Louisville Slugger.

Basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was cast as the co-pilot in “Airplane!” If not for filming during the baseball season, it might have been Pete Rose.

A former weatherman — David Letterman — also read for a part but did not land one.

Roberto Duran topped “Sugar Ray” Leonard in a 15-round bout in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

Free agent Nolan Ryan became the first baseball player to sign for $1 million a season, signing with the Houston Astros.

Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, was about to make his clients a lot of money.

The average minimum salary at the time was $20,000.

In the spring of ’80, they went on a mini-strike that wiped out 92 spring training games.

Elias Sports Bureau introduces Game-Winning RBI as a statistic in the spring. The first one credited in a game went to the Cincinnati Reds’ George Foster in the first inning of a 9-0 Opening Day romp against Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta would get off to a 1-9 start and owner Ted Turner (who launched CNN in 1980) benched Gary Matthews and sent Bob Horner to the minors.

It was also on Opening Day, that “Kiteman” hang-glided his way onto the field at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium.

Ken Landreaux of the Minnesota Twins enjoyed a 31-game hit streak — the longest in the American League since Dom DiMaggio’s 34 in 1949. A few seasons’s prior to Landreaux’s feat, Aqua Velva gave $1,000 per game to the hitter with the streak. But that changed in 1980. Things were worked out for Landreaux to give the money to charity.

San Diego Padres shortstop Ozzie Smith wasn’t looking for charity, but extra income. He took out a newspaper ad. He had many offers, including one from Joan Kroc, wife of Padres owner Ray Kroc, to assist her gardner. He eventually got supplemental pay from a company on Los Angeles.

There were many bench-clearing brawls and knockdown pitches in 1980.

Fergie Jenkins of the Texas Rangers joined Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Gaylord Perry as pitchers with 100 wins in both leagues.

Freddie Patek of the California Angels hit five home runs on the season and 41 for his career, but he popped three in one game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Left-hander Jerry Reuss did not begin the season in the starting rotation for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but tossed a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants.

On his way to a 25-7 record and the AL Cy Young Award, Baltimore Orioles right-hander Steve Stone started the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium and worked three inning in just 24 pitches.

The game also featured the debut of the massive Diamond Vision video boards.

Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench passed Yogi Berra for the all-time lead in home runs by a catcher.

Houston fireballer J.R. Richard suffered a stroke.

The Chicago Cubs fired manager Preston Gomez and replaced him with Joey Amalfitano.

“Super Joe” Charbonneau became an icon for the Cleveland Indians.

A white-hot George Brett was hitting .401 on Aug. 17 and finished with a .390 average. The Kansas City Royals third baseman’s back side was likely warm during the end of the season and the postseason. He finally had to have surgery for hemorrhoids prior to Game 3 of the World Series.

Maverick owners Charlie Finley (Oakland Athletics) and Bill Veeck (Chicago White Sox) announced the sale of their teams.

The White Sox did the unusual when they used the left-handed Mike Squires as a catcher.

Montreal Expos right-hander Bill Gullickson set a rookie-record with 18 strikeouts against the Cubs.

Oakland’s Rick Langford tossed 28 complete games, including a modern-record 23 straight. The Athletics staff completed 94 starts.

Three of the four division races were not settled until the season’s final week. Kansas City rapped the AL West up early. The Philadelphia Phillies edged out Montreal in the NL East. Houston topped the Dodgers in the NL West. The Yankees bested Baltimore in the AL East.

Games 2-5 in the National League Championship Series went extra innings before the Phillies prevailed over the Astros.

New Jersey’s Army staff sergeant Craig Burns took a three-day pass and flew from Germany to see his Phils play the Royals in the first game of the World Series. With Schmidt and Tug McGraw among the heroes, Philly won its first title.

Daniel is shopping his next volume about the 1982 season. The working title is Suds Series: The Brewers, the Cardinals and the year the ’80s became the ‘80s. He is grateful to author and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis journalism professor Chris Lamb for his help and encouragement.

That era is also kept alive on social media by Daniel with his website (80sbaseball.com), Facebook (Facebook.com/80sbaseball) and Twitter (@80sbaseball) pages.

Daniel, a graduate of Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, and Ohio University, is now employed in communication for IUPUI parking services. More than 20 years of his working life was spent in sports television, including four years as the producer/director of “Rays Magazine” on Fox Sports Florida.

J. and wife Sue were engaged at Clearwater’s Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, a place where he spent two seasons at official scorer for the Clearwater Phillies. The couple has two seasons — Brady (19) and Michael (16). Brady played travel baseball with the Indiana Outlaws and Indiana Hurricanes. Michael played at Brownsburg Little League.

Daniel is an assistant coach this summer for the 17U Indiana Expos with Kevin Barnhart (father of Cincinnati catcher Tucker Barnhart) as head coach and Tim Hampton as another assistant.

J. Daniel, a Brownsburg, Ind., resident, has written Phinally!: The Phillies, the Royals and the 1980 Baseball Season That Almost Wasn’t and has other books planned about the 1980s.

Phinally!: The Phillies, the Royals and the 1980 Baseball Season That Almost Wasn’t by J. Daniel chronicles not only what happened on the diamond pop culture. The author resides in Brownsburg, Ind. (McFarland & Sons Image)