Rookie Coach Snared in Westlake Parent Trap

Dave Wilder ultimately might be called out as baseball coach at Westlake High. Perhaps he should be.

But for now, Wilder is the Warriors’ coach. And it seems some people have forgotten what that means.

More than just the Marmonte League baseball race is heating up for Wilder who, in his first season as a walk-on head coach, is under fire from parents for everything from how he fills out a lineup card to how he prepares a resume.

Wilder, 52, was hired last June after serving one season as an assistant to interim Coach Bob Wade. Last month, the fathers of players Tim Carr and Matt Riordan wrote a letter to administrators, urging an investigation of what they allege are “discrepancies” in Wilder’s coaching history.

After reviewing Wilder’s work history, Westlake Athletic Director Joseph Pawlick said he believes the coach made no attempt to deceive, only that he might have made errors of judgment.

Bernie Carr and Phil Riordan also accuse Wilder of conducting poorly organized practices and earning the “enmity and distrust” of players. Moreover, they accuse the administration of not sufficiently advertising the coaching position during the hiring process.

“If his resume is not true, then, yes, I am calling for his resignation,” Phil Riordan said.

Pawlick said he has investigated Wilder’s history, monitored practices, talked with players and would like Wilder to remain as coach.

“We’re thoroughly satisfied with his performance,” Pawlick said. “And we fully expect him to be back next year. I want Marmonte League championship baseball at Westlake High. To do that, I feel we have to have the right people and stick behind them.”

Wilder denies any wrongdoing.

“The school hired me, not the parents,” Wilder said. “I hate this. All I want to do is coach baseball. I shouldn’t have to answer to [parents].”

Wilder is right, of course. No coach should have to tolerate parental interference, especially regarding his coaching prerogatives.

Wilder said he is being barraged by criticism, particularly because of his decision to start a handful of underclassmen ahead of seniors. Some parents, Wilder said, have been audibly critical during games. On at least one occasion, he was confronted by several parents immediately after a game.

“These people, if they had a gun, they’d shoot me,” Wilder said. “My phone rings constantly, sometimes at 7:30 in the morning. I’ve tried to talk to them, but man, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Still, Wilder might have brought some of this on himself. His recollections of his employment history are fuzzy and he becomes irritable when pressed for details.

Wilder said he served as a varsity football and baseball assistant at Chatsworth High in 1971 and ’72. Min Shimoyama, a longtime football coach at Chatsworth, confirms that Wilder was his assistant. But Shimoyama never was affiliated with the school’s baseball program and neither, to the best of his recollection, was Wilder.

Bob Lofrano, a 1967 Chatsworth graduate and the school’s baseball coach from 1975-77 and 1980-89, echoed Shimoyama.

“To the best of my knowledge, that name has never been associated with Chatsworth baseball,” said Lofrano, currently baseball coach at Pierce College.

Among Wilder’s listed references is Michael Jae, president of Connie Mack Baseball in Glendale. Yet Jae said he has never met Wilder, has spoken with him by telephone only a few times and did not give Wilder permission to list him as a reference.

Wilder’s resume also makes reference to his being drafted out of North Hollywood High in 1961 by a professional baseball team. However, the inception of baseball’s amateur draft was in 1965.

Wilder also said he played baseball at Oregon

State and later was an assistant to Coach Ralph Coleman “during the mid-60s.” University records confirm only that Wilder had two at-bats in 1962 but never was a coach.

Pawlick said he is concerned with claims that Wilder might have “stretched the truth” and he continues to contact the coach’s references.

“Resumes tend to be exaggerated,” Pawlick said.

Wilder said he never claimed to be drafted, only that he had a tryout with the Boston Red Sox. The word “drafted,” Wilder said, was used innocuously by the person who prepared his resume.

As for coaching at Oregon State, Wilder said, he had a brief and informal tenure under Coleman, who

has been dead many years. Gene Tanselli, 67, an assistant to Coleman from 1962-66 and head coach from 1967-72, said he cannot recall ever meeting Wilder.

“[Coleman] asked me to help out and pitch batting practice,” Wilder said. “I was kind of a flunky.”

Interestingly, the university confirms that Wilder graduated in 1966 and his portrait appears in the school yearbook. Yet Wilder makes no mention of his college education on his resume.

“Maybe I’m guilty of putting together a bad resume,” Wilder said.

Yet even if Wilder’s employment history is accurate, he is a curious choice for coach.

Other than his one season as an assistant at Westlake, his only other verified varsity baseball experience is a two-year stint as an assistant at Verdugo Hills High from 1991 to ’92.

Striving for championships at a highly competitive level and hiring a coach with Wilder’s limited experience are an odd match. But firing him now would add to an already tumultuous season.

Westlake (7-6 overall, 3-2 in league play) remains in contention for a league title. And it would send a message to parents that their influence is heavy. Besides, Wilder, despite some players apparently being less than impressed with his skills, isn’t doing badly.

“He really doesn’t know the game as much as we’d like him to and I’ve been in better practices,” a senior player said. “He’s a great guy. He’s so positive and he really tries. But I think not too many players agree with the baseball he’s playing.”

Nor, it seems clear, do many parents.

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Not coincidentally, perhaps, Bernie Carr and Phil Riordan are parents of the team’s most-talented players and the ones most likely to be drafted in June.

Riordan is ranked as the 65th-best prospect in the nation by Baseball America. Carr is ranked 99th.

Riordan, an outfielder and last season’s Times’ All-Ventura County player of the year, has signed with University of San Francisco. Carr, a right-hander, has signed with Arizona State. Either player could pass up college if drafted, depending on what round they are selected in and the signing bonus they are offered.

Riordan is batting .438, considerably below his .560 average last season. Carr is 4-2 with a 2.97 earned-run average in 33 innings.

However, Carr, has only one hit in 14 at-bats. Last season, Carr batted more frequently and often played first base. This season, he is being used almost exclusively as a pitcher.

Bernie Carr declined to comment on the record. Phil Riordan denied that the draft is a concern.

“The issue is, [Matt] has a four-year ride and that’s what we want,” Riordan said. “If he gets drafted, he gets drafted.”

Regardless, both players appear to have promising futures. But their careers are sure to include tours of duty under a variety of coaches and managers, many of whom they might not like.

Part of the high school experience should be learning to abide by the rules of a system and showing respect for figures of authority.

Even though some view Wilder as a bad choice for a coach, he is still the coach. Deal with the issue after the season.

Right now, there are more important things to be concerned with. Like baseball.

Westlake plays three games this week, including matchups with league powers Royal and Camarillo on Monday and Tuesday.

As one parent remarked, “This thing is tearing our team apart.”

It shouldn’t. Let the guy coach. And let the kids play ball.