Dick Siebert: A Life in Baseball

SOMETHING THAT I’VE ALWAYS SAID is that one of the reasons I was fortunate to make it to the big leagues quickly (after just one season in the minors) was because I knew that I would not embarrass myself fundamentally after playing for Dick Siebert for three years. I was an eighteen-year-old kid when I arrived on campus. Coach Siebert came to watch me at Cretin High School during my senior year. We had short hair and were clean cut. He offered me a partial scholarship. I didn’t see him over the summer. In the fall when I got on campus, I walked in to his office with a full beard. He looked at me and said, “Who the hell are you?” He said, “I just want you to know we run things different from the Oakland A’s.” So my rebelling from the rules over the summer came to an end. Playing for Dick, he was guarded and we didn’t have a lot of insight
into what made him tick. I’m sure that he had the potential to do other things in baseball than coach college baseball. When I played for him, I never thought about him leaving the U. I don’t know, but maybe he wanted to leave his mark. He established a program, which he was prideful in—that his program, which was made up mostly of Minnesota kids, was able to compete against the top programs. I’m speculating. I’m not sure. But he was not about won-loss records. Loyalty was very important to him. My last year (1977) was the last Gopher team to make the College World Series. I remember attending Dick’s funeral, right after my rookie season in the big leagues. I had fun playing for Dick.
—from the Foreword by Paul Molitor