Senske, Eagles prepare to make state history

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- On May 28, 1994, New Ulm High School baseball coach Jim Senske became Minnesota's winningest high school baseball coach in the state's history when the Eagles beat Chaska.

The win was Senske's 510th of his career, which broke the state record of 509 career victories set by Austin's Dick Seltz.

Now, Senske is one win away from an unheard of 700 career wins and will enter that neighborhood with the Eagles' next win. That could come this weekend when they host Park Center, Forest Lake and Lakeville in the New Ulm Invitational Baseball Tournament.

The Eagles play Park Center at 5 p.m. and then tangle with Forest Lake at approximately 7 p.m. Both games are at Johnson Park.

"That is unbelievable," said former Waseca head baseball coach and long-time friend "Tink" Larson in referring to Senske's impending 700th career win. "He has established a record that I am sure will never be broken in Minnesota high school baseball."

Just how hard is it for a coach to reach the kind of milestone that Senske will cross with his team's next win?

"I spoke at a clinic a few years ago, and I was telling some people stories about Jim Senske," Larson said. "And I asked how many people in here have won 20 games in a year and there had only been about a half a dozen because that is quite a few. I then asked how many had done it say, four or five times? Not a single coach out of the 200 there raised their hand.

"So I said for them to keep this in mind for you young coaches who have a goal," he said. "If you can win 20 games a year each year for 35 years, you have a chance to get close to Senske's win record."

Larson added that Senske's win record "is even more remarkable, because he has not backed away from competition. He has gone out and found the toughest non-conference games that he could possibly find."

"He has played the Cretin's, the Minnetonka's and the Edina's," he said. "If they were good, he tried to schedule them. And he would beat them, too."

Not only has Senske established a record that will in all probability stand forever, he has a program that has produced young men that have followed in his footsteps.

Five of his former players are head high school baseball coaches -- four in Minnesota and one in Mississippi. Mark Zeise, Brian Raabe, Jeff Stoll and Kurt Moelter are head coaches at Lakeville, Forest Lake and Park Center respectively and Paul Wyczawski is the head coach for nationally-ranked Hillcrest Christian Academy of Jackson, Miss.

"When you reach that kind of win mark -- whether it be professional or college baseball -- it is an unbelievable accomplishment," said Raabe. "To get 700 wins you have to be a very good coach, and he is that. That is why New Ulm baseball tradition is so superior throughout the state. He influenced me as a player and a coach."

"To put this in perspective, I am at 15 (career wins) at St. Peter High School," said Kurt Moelter, who is in his second year with the Saints and will play the Eagles here Monday afternoon. "He has been coaching for 40 years and I am 28 years old -- in 12 years I will be 40. I think that his record is amazing. He has not lost his passion for the game -- he is a teacher of the game of baseball."

Zeise said that "you just have to sit back and admire the record. You admire and respect what this man has done for baseball in New Ulm - he has found a way to succeed and made a blue-print of success by it.

"Jim Senske just sets the tone for the way that high school baseball needs to be played," he said.

While former players and coaches praise Senske's impending accomplishment, Senske himself downplays the whole scene.

"It is just a number," he said. "I guess the more important thing is that it means that we have had a successful program over a long period of time. Maybe it will mean more to me after I retire."

But 700 wins by a coach is a number that can boggle your mind when you consider the number of years and the annual success that it takes.

New Ulm High School has 902 baseball wins in its history, with Senske having 699 of them.

And everyone who is in attendance for Senske's next win will witness history. Although Senske said that his record will someday be broken (and his win count is going to go over 700), one has to seriously doubt that it will ever occur again -- or even be tested.