Seldom does a coach tell his player to fail. Yet, Gordie Gillespie, recognized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as the “Baseball Coach of the Century,” did exactly that. Catcher Ron Fordonski was ordered to strike out.
Baseball players hate striking out. For me and for most every hitter, that long walk back to the dugout can be humiliating and disheartening. “I failed the team and was an easy out.” The opponent’s cheers seem to accentuate each step back to the bench.
The Scene: 1962 in Rainy St. Joseph, Missouri, NAIA National Championship
The Flyers lost the first game to Sam Houston State University 4-1 and were now in the losers’ bracket. One more loss and we go home after only two games in our first national tournament.
The next game was against the Florida A&M Rattlers in a tournament where rain could threaten at any time. A&M had a student population of roughly 10 times larger than Lewis, the smallest school of the eight teams. The visiting Flyers fell behind after 6 innings 4-1. For the previous two innings, rain clouds were ominously gathering in the west which meant that if the rains came down, we would soon be in the vans on our way out of Missouri on our way to Lockport. It would be considered a complete game.
In the top of the 7th, Lewis rallied behind the hitting of Ed Spiezio to tie the game at 4 with freshman shortstop Tony Delgado on 3rd and 2 outs. With Ron Fordonski at the plate, the A&M pitcher had been using a long, windmill type windup and Gordie saw an opportunity to have Tony steal home and put us ahead. But this time he used a shorter windup and Tony would become an easy out at the plate.
The A&M catcher caught the pitch and immediately dove in front of Tony and would have tagged a sliding Delgado. Instead of sliding, Tony leaped over the catcher, landing on his stomach 5 feet beyond home plate without tagging it. The A&M catcher was also on the ground 5 feet on the other side of the plate.
With both the runner and the catcher lying on the ground, the scramble began to see who could get to the plate. Both players were literally speed crawling, but Tony, with one hand, touched the plate a second before the catcher could get him. We were ahead by a run.
Now the black clouds were nearly overhead and if the rains came down, the inning would be washed out and revert back to the 6th. We would lose the game. Now our challenge would be to retire Florida A&M in the bottom of the 7th and our 4 runs would stand up. But we were still batting with two outs ahead 5-4.
Strike Out, Ron!
Gordie knew we had to move the game along quickly and we needed Ron, who was still at bat to make the third out. He told Ron to swing at the next two pitches and strike out. Instincts being what they are, the next pitch was outside the strike zone and Ron took it for a ball. This time, with the Flyer bench joining as a chorus with Coach, yelled in unison, “Strike out, Ron!” Ron finally did and the A&M team came to bat in the bottom of the 7th.
The rain seemed to wait until we retired A&M in the bottom of the 7th as the deluge pored down, drowning the hopes of the Rattlers. Lewis won the game 5-4 and stayed in St. Joseph, Missouri for at least one more game.
Although the rain delayed games for two more days, our next game was against the same Sam Houston State team that had beaten us 4-1 in our opener. But as it would work out, that next game would be the classic “Legendary Game” of 13 innings with Bob Bachman and Tom Dedin pitching us to a 1-0 victory.
The Flyers went on to win another game, beating Wisconsin State 5-3 before losing their final game 8-1 against Portland State University. Terry Bruns pitched a masterpiece in the first game and Tom Dedin, on only two days’ rest, lost the last game despite striking out 13 batters.
Lewis as a Baseball Power
Although the underdog Flyers were finally eliminated, their first national tournament was a huge success, coming home with the 3rd place trophy. Ed Spiezio was named Most Valuable Player in the tournament.
Under Coach Gillespie’s leadership, Lewis would participate in the NAIA World Series 9 more times, winning the national championship for three consecutive years, 1974, 1975, and 1976. But the 1962 Flyer team of upstarts marked the initial recognition that Lewis would demand a new respect in the baseball world.
Gordie Gillespie: “NAIA Baseball Coach of the Century”
The 1962 baseball team launched Gordie Gillespie as one of the most extraordinary coaches in the United States. He would go on to actively coach until he was 85 years old and set the standard for others in the coaching field.
The video below by Ripon College captures the essence of Coach Gordie Gillespie.
Braidwood Beginnings 
One thought on “The Game When Gordie Ordered His Hitter to Strike Out”