City Cancels 4-A Baseball Postseason : Coaches and Players Fault Administrators for Hasty Decision

Because of a coaches’ boycott stemming from the teachers’ strike, the City Section canceled the 4-A Division baseball playoffs Tuesday, a move that featured something for almost all involved to dislike.

City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness announced the cancellation after a poll of the 16 schools whose teams had qualified for the 4-A playoffs revealed that only six were willing to field teams without the coach of record. Harkness declined to name the schools. District rules state that the school official coaching a team must be a credentialed employee.

The cancellation of the playoffs, scheduled to begin today, is the first since World War II forced the elimination of many athletic events, according to Harkness.

“It’s difficult to get adequate people to do what coaches have done for the better part of a year and not endanger students,” he said. “We just can’t come up with impostors. There’s a lot that goes into what a coach does, and you can’t just run out and find that expertise.”

A group of 18 4-A coaches voted last week to boycott the season until the strike against Los Angeles Unified School District ends. The coaches took that action despite a recommendation by the Los Angeles City Coaches Assn. that allowed coaches who honored picket lines to continue to direct their teams after school. Despite the strike, playoffs have continued in all other spring sports, including golf, gymnastics, softball, swimming, track and volleyball.

Coaches, parents and players all found fault with the announcement, although coaches applauded the district for refusing to force schools to field teams with substitute coaches. Such a move would denigrate the playoffs, they said.

In addition, San Fernando High Coach Steve Marden said that the announcement helped free players from having to choose between their desire to play and their loyalty to coaches.

“I’m glad they canceled the playoffs because they would have been a farce with impostor coaches,” he said. “This also removes a difficult decision from the kids who were in a no-win situation. Now they don’t have to wrestle with their consciences about who to be loyal to. Kids shouldn’t have been put in that situation.”

But Marden and his colleagues also chided Harkness for rejecting the possibility of resuming the playoffs if the strike is settled before end of the school year June 23.

Harkness claims that staging the playoffs at a later date would interfere with academics.

“That’s disappointing and frustrating, and another reason why teachers get frustrated with the district,” Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano said. “I’m surprised they made the decision instead of waiting to see what happens. Unless we get kicked into the last week of school during finals week, there’s still plenty of time to have the playoffs.”

Players shared that view, even if a postponement of the tournament meant losing the chance to play at Dodger Stadium in the June 1 championship game.

“Going to Dodger Stadium is not the big thing, having the playoffs is the big thing,” Kennedy shortstop Gino Tagliaferri said. “I’m mad and disappointed but I don’t blame Hal Harkness and I don’t blame the coaches. I blame the strike. I don’t know why the UTLA (United Teachers-Los Angeles) and the school district can’t settle this.”

The cancellation has so enraged some parents that they have considered staging their own tournament. Parents of Palisades and Chatsworth players will try to secure a site and enlist as many teams as possible for an informal tournament that would have no association with the City Section. But they admit they face a daunting task.

“We’re not sure all teams would want to get involved but we believe most parents want to do something for the kids,” said Rick Evans, father of Jason, Chatsworth’s shortstop. “It would be like a friendship tournament, something for the kids to remember the season by.”