Bradley Baseball Coach Nears 1,000

Baseball coach Dewey Kalmer knows how to put his 800th win into perspective. "First of all, 800 means youre an old man," quipped the longtime Bradley coach who passed the 800 win milestone last Tuesday with a 7-0 win over Illinois Tech. His two wins over Southern Illinois this weekend increased his BU win total to 804. Now hes honing in on another milestone. "I never really looked at milestone until I won by 900th overall. Then I started thinking how cool it would be to win 1,000," said Kalmer who has 994 all-time victories. Kalmer, 60, coached ten years at Quincy College before coming to Bradley in 1979. The veteran coach realizes coaching has changed quite a bit since he started 39 years ago. "Baseball is a mental game, perhaps more than any other sport. So you need to spend time there. In my years of coaching, Im finding few coaches touch that subject. Its important. I think toughness previals over talent," said Kalmer, now in his 29th season at Bradley. His players appreciate Kalmers cerebral approach to managing. "We have weekly mental talks. He stresses it. And we learn the mental aspects of the game," added pitcher Mike Christl. "Not just the stuff about getting a hit or throwing strikes." Si x more wins and Kalmer might blow his own mind with his achievement. "Being a coach for all these years is like having 30 kids (each season). Ive raised a lot of kids in my day," said Kalmer.