Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey

A few years ago, I had the good fortune to interview legendary USC
baseball coach Rod Dedeaux, who died yesterday of complications from a
recent stroke at 91 years old. Bill Lee was one of his students, along
with so many others including Tom Seaver, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson,
Dave Kingman, and Fred Lynn. When we spent time with Bill in Cuba, he
spoke so highly of Rod that we knew we had to meet with him, given the
opportunity.

We scheduled an appointment through his friendly assistant and drove
to downtown LA, to the offices of Dart Trucking, the company he owned
and operated for so many years. In fact, he would run his company in
the mornings and then make the short commute daily to USC for
afternoon baseball practices.

We were greeted by a man who, although in his late eighties, was tan
and fit, outfitted in a crisp white dress shirt with suspenders
featuring cartoon baseball players fielding ground balls and pop ups.
He leaned on a Louisville slugger that had been fashioned into a cane
with a rubber stopper on the bottom and a curved handle at the other
end. Rod ushered us into a large conference room, the walls lined
with hundreds of framed photos, clippings, and messages. There he was
with Sparky Anderson on the field before one of the 1975 World Series
games: Sparky was one of his batboys way back when and Lee and Lynn
were of course starring in the series. There he was with Madonna,
teaching her the mechanics of throwing on the set of “A League of
Their Own.” There were numerous photos with his “brother” Tommy
Lasorda. For a baseball fan, this was like visiting the Vatican.

We sat down at the same conference room table where Rod played a key
role in getting baseball into the Olympics. There was a glimmer in his
eyes as he recounted different teams, games, and players that he had
been a part of. He talked about University of Minnesota pitcher Dave
Winfield and his amazing fastball in Omaha. He remembered ball and
strike counts, scores, and who was on base from games in 1968.
Incredible. It was clear that he and Bill Lee understood each other,
and Rod’s friendship with Casey Stengel may have been a big reason
why. We didn’t mind when a phone call from Peter O’Malley interrupted
the interview. He talked about values, self-discipline, and doing
things the “right way.” I was proud when he called me “Tiger”, his
term of endearment.

Rod may not have gotten as much of the publicity or fame as his
cross-town-colleague and friend John Wooden, but the numbers and his
legacy speak for themselves: In his 45-year tenure at USC, he led the
Trojans to an unprecedented 11 national titles, 28 conference
championships and an overall record of 1,332-571-11, for a superb .699
winning percentage. He put USC baseball, and probably college baseball
itself, on the map. I’m just glad I got to spend a couple of hours
with him in his conference room.