Baseball Coach Says Flap Over Field Led to His Ouster by Serra

Gerald Pickens recently discovered how strong a bond Serra High has with the nearby Society of Mary (Marianist).

Last month, Pickens’ contract as Serra baseball coach was not renewed because of a disagreement he had with Serra officials over Lewis Joshua Memorial Field.

The field, named in honor of Serra student Lewis Joshua, who was killed by gunfire, is where the Cavaliers play their varsity and junior varsity home baseball games.

It is also the back yard of the Society of Mary (Marianist), an international Catholic order that founded Serra in 1950 and is next to the school.

A conflict between Serra and Pickens arose over whether improvements should be made to the field.

“I think the reason I was fired was because (Serra) felt that I was going to get that field fixed,” Pickens said. “It is unsafe to play on.”

Last season, Serra third baseman Mark Crook suffered an eye injury trying to field a ground ball during pregame warm-ups. Pickens blamed the bad hop on the uneven ground in the infield.

“(Crook) was out for nearly one month and still will not play third base,” Pickens said.

Crook, a junior who will play catcher next season, has had more than one bad experience playing on the field.

“Two years ago, I got hurt sliding into second base because it wasn’t firmly in place,” Crook said. “The field is not level. It’s in pretty bad shape and needs a lot of work.”

In June, Serra Athletic Director Tim Boyer and Jim Crowell, who was principal at the time, approached Pickens to have the field repaired.

Pickens contacted Lou Johnson, former Dodger outfielder and executive director of R.B.I. (Rebuilding Baseball in the Inner City), who looked at the field and agreed to help refurbish it.

“I told Gerald that repairs to the field could begin in November and that it would be ready for the start of the 1994 season,” Johnson said. “Serra would not have to pay anything.”

But when Arthur Hernandez became Serra’s principal in August, he created a policy to minimize the use of the field by outside groups, unaware of the oral agreements.

“Out of respect to the Marianist community, we try to limit the activity that takes place on the field to control noise disturbance,” Hernandez said. “We have turned down Pop Warner (football), several fraternities and a Japanese baseball league to keep field activity at a minimum.”

There are six residents at The Society of Mary (Marianist), including two--Brother Urban Nall and Brother Frank Matthews--who teach at Serra.

“The baseball field is on the side of the residence and a lot of noise would be very disturbing to the residents,” said Brother Charles Boglitz, who does volunteer work at Serra.

Hernandez also feared that if R.B.I. renovated the field, the group would use it to play its own league games, which would cause even greater disturbance.

“I have been in situations where a group has upgraded a field or gym and then used their success to apply political pressure to get what they wanted,” Hernandez said. “I don’t want that to happen here.”

Serra officials decided in August that Pickens would not return as baseball coach.

“(Pickens’) position (as coach) was contingent on R.B.I. renovating the field,” said Kevin Cormier, director of student activities. “We couldn’t separate Pickens from what R.B.I. wanted to do.”

Added Hernandez: “Our decision was based upon the fact that we didn’t want extensive development on that field. Pickens never proposed any alternative. He never asked if he could remain as coach.”

Pickens contends that he lobbied to keep his job.

“I asked Dr. Hernandez to allow me to remain as coach, but he told me the decision had already been made,” Pickens said. “I told him that R.B.I. didn’t have to touch the field, but I still wanted to coach the team. They said they wanted to take the team in a different direction.”

Pickens coached Serra for one season, guiding the Cavaliers to a 9-10 record, a year after they were 2-24 under James Durk. Jerome Gibbs, a 1981 alumnus, is the new coach.

Crook said that Pickens’ departure will hurt the team.

“(Gerald) was like a big brother,” Crook said. “He was a person you could go to and talk about your game or talk about life. I am upset.”

Pickens, who did not teach at the school, said he has no intention of coaching again at Serra.