Joe O'Hara

Tribute Page Joe O'Hara coached George Washington's baseball team for 17 seasons (1984-2000), winning 176 Public League games and six championships. The most competitive (and wild/crazy) final took place in 1995 and required nine innings. Here is that story . . . By Ted Silary Ric Mruk had to laugh. Despite the tension, despite the excitement, despite the importance of the moment and the need for the highest level of concentration, he had to laugh. He didn't bust his gut, mind you. He just emitted a chuckle. Mruk, a junior rightfielder for George Washington High, stepped to the plate at La Salle University yesterday with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth - yes, ninth - inning in a wild, supremely entertaining Public League baseball title game. Before he could hit, Mruk had to look. Not for a sign from a coach. For a sign of encouragement from his father, Richard. "I found his face . . . and then I started laughing a little," Mruk said. ''What came into my mind is what he always likes to say: 'Never give a Polack a second chance. ' I don't know if he knew why I was laughing, but . . . " Righthander Brett Rosen, who had gone the distance for Northeast in hot, draining weather, delivered a first-pitch fastball. Bang! Mruk smashed a line drive to left-center. The ball soared over the head of leftfielder Mike Ferro and thudded against the bottom of the chain-link fence near the 330-foot sign. Mark Roque frolicked home from third in half-running, half-dancing fashion and Washington had an improbable, 7-6 win in 3 hours, 17 minutes. "When I went over to hug my dad," Mruk gushed, as the celebration raged around him, "he said to me, 'Never give a Polack a second chance.' "Going down the line, I saw Mr. Bilkins (first-base coach Maxi Bilkins) jumping up and down. I knew that was it. It felt awesome. It felt great." Not for the losers. As the Eagles, 11-0 losers to Northeast in last year's final, pounded each other while racing from Roque to Mruk to winning pitcher Frank "Jaws" Jarosiewicz, who offered his freshly shaved head for rubbing, Northeast's players walked slowly off the field with blank expressions on their faces. Some had tears in their eyes. The setback was crushing, in part, because not one of Washington's runs was earned. After scoring twice in the top of the seventh to build a 6-3 lead, Northeast botched two ground balls in the bottom half and missed by inches (first baseman Buddy Grippo was pulled off the bag) turning a doubleplay that would have ended it. In the ninth, the Vikings again were burned because they failed to turn a doubleplay. After Matt Battista led off by drawing a walk, Ryan "Rusty" Share hit a bullet to shortstop Wally Herrmann. Battista had no prayer of getting back to first, but Herrmann rushed his throw and fired it past Grippo, allowing Battista to advance to third. Roque was issued an intentional walk and stole second on the first pitch to Mike Thierry. On the second pitch to Thierry, Rosen smelled a squeeze and fired a fastball about 7 feet high. Thierry could not attempt to bunt it and Battista was tagged out after catcher Terry Rooney threw to third baseman Billy Logan. Thierry grounded to short. Herrmann scooped the ball with no problem, but double-clutched before throwing to Grippo. Thierry was safe and Roque advanced to third. With Thierry (stolen base) on second and the count 2-0 on designated hitter Jeff Whitmore, coach Ben Rosner ordered another intentional walk to load the bases. That brought up Mruk, who had flied to right to end the seventh in his first shot at hero status. "It's not that Ric can't hit a curveball, but I was hoping he'd jump on a first-pitch fastball," said coach Joe O'Hara, who won his sixth championship since 1985 and the school's ninth since '78. continued right below . . . SEASON BY SEASON Public League 1984: 7-5 1985: 11-0 1986: 10-0 1987: 11-1 1988: 10-2 1989: 10-2 1990: 10-2 1991: 11-1 1992: 11-2 1993: 12-2 1994: 12-2 1995: 12-2 1996: 9-5 1997: 7-7 1998: 10-4 1999: 11-3 2000: 12-2 Total: 176-42 Overall: Unavailable --- PUBLIC LEAGUE TITLES 1985 1986 1987 1988 1991 1995 -- LINEUPS OF TITLE TEAMS 1985 Glen Hassett, cf Kengo Honda, s Mike King, 3b Jeff Lackman, lf Steve Lichter, c Jeff Oczkowski, 1b Ira Prince, 2b Tony Platt, rf Wally Tittelmayer, p 1986 Ira Prince, 2b Frank Rubin, cf Kengo Honda, ss Jim Hilley, c Dave Tittelmayer, lf Jeff Oczkowski, 1b Gary Levocz, rf Kevin Higgins, p Tom Devlin, 3b 1987 Scott Rosen, rf Frank Rubin, cf Kengo Honda, ss Kevin Higgins, p Dave Tittelmayer, 1b Alan Egber, lf Tim Bolwell, 3b Larry Kolongowski, 2b Tom Devlin, c 1988 Joe D�Arcangelo, lf Brent Cromwell, cf Larry Kolongowski, 2b Tim Bolwell, 3b Jim Wark, rf Eric Kauffman, p Ken Mulderrig, ss Greg Carlisle, c Chris Curry, 1b 1991 Shane Kenney, ss Ray Barnhart, p Tom Honda, 2b Rick Woertz, 3b John Plunkett, 1b Vince Trunfio, lf Doug Tuley, rf Ed Katz, c Brandon Heller, cf 1995 Rob Philippi, 2b Matt Battista, p Ryan Share, 1b Mark Roque, 3b Mike Thierry, cf Jeff Whitmore, dh Ric Mruk, rf Nick Battista, c Jim Horn, ss Mike Platenecky, lf "This is the biggest thing I've ever done! " Mruk said. "I love being up in clutch situations. My father says you can bat .500 all year, but it's what you do in these situations that matters. Time to separate the men from the boys." Meanwhile, it might be time to reverse the "u" and "r" in Mruk's name. Despite the spelling, it's pronounced murk. "My parents wanted to change it," Ric said. "They were too tired of explaining. I don't mind. So what if it's not spelled the way it's pronounced? It's Polish." Ditto for Jarosiewicz, which is pronounced jahr-uh-witz. Jarosiewicz trudged to the mound on two different occasions, both times relieving Battista. He rescued Battista from a first-and-third, two-out jam in the sixth then switched places with Battista - going from pitcher to left - with one out in the seventh after he allowed a double to Terry Rooney and issued an intentional walk to Grippo, who yielded to pinch-runner John Creighton. Battista's first pitch was crushed by Rosen for an RBI double. Ferro was given an intentional walk to load the bases and Logan grounded to second baseman Rob Philippi, who phlipped to shortstop Jim Horn for a force-out. Horn tried for a doubleplay, but his throw was late as Creighton crossed the plate. Rosen also tried to score, but was erased as Share fired to Nick Battista. Jarosiewicz returned to the mound for the last two innings, pitching no-hit ball. Like Mruk, he talked about his father, Frank, and how he had pitched for Southern in two PL title-game losses (one-run decisions to Roxborough in 1971 and Frankford in '72). "My father didn't get to win a championship," Jarosiewicz said, "but he got drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. I didn't get drafted, but I won a championship . . . For a high school kid to go through this experience, it's great." While pitching, the personable Jarosiewicz, a lineman for Washington's championship football team last fall, often removed his cap to show his shaved head. "Got it this morning," he said. "I woke up at 6:30 and thought, 'It worked in football.' I woke up my little brother, Pete - he's named after Pete Rose - and told him to shave my head. He said I was crazy. He did it, though." In 8 2/3 innings, Rosen allowed seven hits and seven walks (two intentional) while striking out three. The Vikings committed five errors and several times added unsound decisions that hurt the cause. "Stupid baserunning, shaky fielding, didn't hit the ball well," Rosen said, ticking off the failings. "We had a lot of chances to break the game open; so did they. "My arm wasn't sore. I was just tired. But I was either going to win or lose. I didn't want out." Rosner, standing nearby, chimed in with, "We were giving them five and six outs." Do that and you wind up in hot water. Yesterday, the hot water also turned out to be mruky. -- This story was written in 1987 about the tie between Washington stars Kevin Higgins and Kengo Honda . . . By Ted Silary Kevin Higgins's earliest Kengo Honda recollection does not concern a defensive gem at shortstop or a gapper resulting in extra bases. It does concern a game, however. Three years ago, before Higgins knew that Honda played baseball, and also before Honda, fresh from Japan, knew more than a few words of English, the twosome that now forms George Washington's backbone found itself assigned to the same advisory (public school lingo for "homeroom"). "Kengo was always playing with this little, battery-operated karate game," Higgins said. "I always used to take it off him." Then, one day Higgins peeked at Honda's desk and noticed that Karate Man No. 1 no longer was tormenting Karate Man No. 2 with well-placed kicks to the stomach. "He was trying to tell me that the batteries weren't working anymore," Higgins said. "He was trying to ask me where he could get new ones. After that, we just started talking and . . . " They haven't stopped since. Higgins, more than anyone else, can provide the definitive report on the Americanization of Honda. Honda and Higgins not only share the shortstopping and front-line pitching duties for Washington, which yesterday frolicked to a 19-1 Public League victory at Abraham Lincoln. They also share life, and enjoy it. Higgins, after allowing four hits, fireballing his way to 14 strikeouts and maintaining a shutout until a wild pitch with two outs and two strikes in the seventh inning, was asked whether Honda has yet become one of us - as in, an American. Laughingly, Higgins noted, "I think he's passing us." The comment, as Higgins quickly made clear, was made with respect to Honda's girl-catching ability. But as everyone who has watched Honda knows, it also would fit in a baseball vein. From the complete-package standpoint - soft hands, strong arm, range, quickness, fluid actions and know-how, combined with a bat featuring pop - Honda is the creme de la creme (sorry, no Japanese here) of city league infielders. With all due respect to Penn Charter's Ruben Amaro ('83), Roxborough's Rob Patete ('84), Cardinal O'Hara's Ted Dezzi ('84) and Father Judge's Kerry Cahill ('86), it is even fair to say that Honda, a Daily News first-team All- City pick as a junior, has blossomed into the city's best overall infielder of the 1980s. "Simply, he's the best (Washington) has ever had," coach Joe O'Hara said. ''We've had guys who could maybe field better - just a little - but they couldn't run, throw or hit like Kengo. He does everything right mechanically and he works like a dog. I feel he's a draftable player." In America, that is. Honda, who moved here with his family in September 1983 and is adamant about staying, never will know what would have happened had he remained in Japan. "I don't think I would have had a chance (at being eyed by Japanese pro scouts)," said Honda, who yesterday cracked a two-run homer, flied deep to center, singled and collected an RBI double. "There are so many people. It would be so hard to get noticed. "There are something like 43 states in Japan and each one has 500 to 600 high schools. Once a year, they have a big tournament where the champions of each state come to the same stadium. The scouts draft the guys that do the best. " "Kengo's dad showed me videotapes of that," Higgins said. "It's wild. Mostly what you see is all these Japanese people going nuts over baseball. " To date, though they unequivocally appreciate his skills, U.S. pro scouts have failed to go nuts over Honda, who claims he was "only an average player" for his age in Japan. His problem is stature, though at "between 5-9 and 5-10" and 160 pounds, he won't wilt away any time soon. (A check of major league rosters reveals that successful middle infielders such as Glenn Hubbard, Wally Backman, Marty Barrett, Dick Schofield, Tony Bernazard, Ozzie Smith and Jose Uribe stand 5-10 or less.) "My height. I guess that's it," Honda said. "Or maybe my baseball skills aren't good enough. For somebody to draft you, they really have to like the way you play. " La Salle University coach Gene McDonnell, according to O'Hara, likes Honda so much, he has gone on record as saying, "He's somebody we have to have. " "I'm thinking heavily about La Salle," said Honda, who was able to score 770 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test thanks almost exclusively to his prowess in math. Imagine what he would score if he were better versed in English. "If they give me the (scholarship) money, I'll definitely go," Honda said. "I'm just waiting to hear whether they'll accept me. "We're staying here. We're definitely not going back to Japan. We just bought a house (the Hondas have been living in an apartment) and we should move in by August. "The first year was kind of rough. I spoke almost no English. When you can't do that, it's hard to make friends. But I picked up English little by little - Val (Kaplan, assistant coach) helped me learn my taking me to the movies a lot - and when I could start talking to people, I started enjoying it here. Now, I'm having a great time in high school, and with baseball. " EXTRA BASES: Washington had six homers (two by Frank Rubin, one each by Kengo Honda, Kevin Higgins and subs Ed Neeld and Ken Mulderrig) . . . With Washington leading, 14-0, the 10-run rule should have come into play after five innings, but Lincoln coach Jim Hayburn told Joe O'Hara that he wanted the game to continue . . . Leadoff man Gary Coughlin had two hits for Lincoln, including a seventh-inning triple. He scored on a wild pitch, one pitch before Bill Campbell fanned to end the game . . . Higgins, on Honda: "I feel great with him behind me. If it's hit his way, it's an out. All the time." This story was written after Joe guided Washington to the 1986 crown . . . By Ted Silary Like the other members of George Washington's baseball team, junior centerfielder Frank Rubin left Temple's Erny Field yesterday afternoon with a Public League championship. If Rubin also left the premises with, say, eight out of 10 personal possessions, he probably hailed the occasion a complete success. "Last game," he said, "I left a bat and a glove. I usually lose things. It's because I get so excited." As Rodney Dangerfield might say, if you were to look up "hyper" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Frank Rubin. His parents could lay claim to having invented the long-elusive perpetual motion machine. Rubin contributed two hits and two stolen bases to Washington's 7-1 victory over Central, a victory that yielded a second consecutive championship for third-year coach Joe O'Hara, as well as the school's fifth in nine years. At the very beginning of the season, Rubin had started to help himself and the Eagles by losing not a bat or a glove or a pair of spikes, but his admitted annoying ways. "Because of my mouth, I was a pain in the butt all last year (on the junior varsity)," Rubin said, smiling. "Mr. O'Hara hasn't had to say much to me this year because I've improved my attitude 100 percent. I used to be cocky, but to play varsity, I knew I'd have to keep my mouth shut and play ball. "I put my emotions more toward baseball than toward being . . . You know what I'm trying to say? Obnoxious. That's the word. That's it. " When an athlete can perform as Rubin does, a coach, within reason, can accept a character flaw or two. In the third, although two men were out, Rubin was brassy enough to bunt for a base hit against lefthander Rich Fernandez. Rubin stole second, held there as shortstop Kengo Honda was walked intentionally, and scored as catcher Jim Hilley singled past diving first baseman Derek Whitaker. In a four-run fifth, Ira Prince led off with a triple to center and Rubin chased him home with a single to right. ave Tittelmayer and Gary Levocz also collected RBI in the outburst (one run scored on a wild pitch), and only a sensational, sprawling catch by centerfielder Carey Edwards on a line drive by Hilley prevented the inning from becoming totally ugly. Once Washington was able to rough up Fernandez, who seemed to lose his concentration ever so briefly, even those never able to guess an answer on ''Wheel of Fortune" could have predicted the outcome. Junior righthander Kevin Higgins limited Central to three hits, none after the third inning, and benefited from two step-on-the-bag, throw-to-first doubleplays pulled off by third baseman Tom Devlin against catcher Jordan Hesbacher. And then there was the second-inning pickoff play, which caused guffaws on one side, red faces on the other. Whitaker (second) and Zach Matzkin (first) were the one-out baserunners when Higgins attempted a pickoff at second by throwing to Honda. Whitaker was safe easily, but his problems were just beginning. Next, Higgins again wheeled toward second to throw the ball, and Whitaker, as is the custom of most runners, turned his back while getting back to the bag. Honda lightly bumped Whitaker, then turned toward the outfield as Rubin and rightfielder Levocz broke toward right-center and everyone in a Washington uniform hollered "Get the ball! Get the ball!" In the greatest con job since "The Sting," Higgins had not thrown the ball. He had no problem racing off the mound to tag the shocked Whitaker near third base. The play had been suggested to O'Hara early in the season by Bob Vivian, Olney's JV coach and O'Hara's partner in a summer baseball camp. "It has been successful four out of six times," O'Hara said. "One time, we just missed getting the kid and the other time was against Olney. I guess Bob tipped them off. "That was a big plus. They were coming at us. It helped get us out of the inning." "The pickoff try right before was a play between Kengo and me," Higgins said. "But there are times when we'll do it (with no purpose except to bait the trap). It's amazing how it works. The guy just runs, then you go over and tag him. " Higgins had special cause to enjoy the latest championship. Last year, because O'Hara used Wally Tittelmayer, now at Ursinus, and Honda almost exclusively, Higgins seldom pitched, although he did fire two no-hitters in non-league games. He finished this season unbeaten - "I'm 9-0 or 10-0; I'm not sure" - for the 18-4 Eagles, and his playoff stats show 14 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (unearned), 6 walks and 20 strikeouts. "If I had gotten more experience last year, I would have been even better this year," Higgins said. "I didn't know what to think (of how O'Hara handled the pitching), except that he was probably going with the two guys he felt were best. " "Last year was tough on Kevin," O'Hara said. "We almost threw him against Mastbaum (in the semifinals). Sure, he was itching to pitch more in the important games, but he knew he had his junior and senior years left " Washington is the first school since Southern (1974-75) to win consecutive PL baseball championships, and has won 28 consecutive league games and playoffs during the past two seasons. The presence of five junior starters - Rubin, Higgins, Honda, Devlin and Tittelmayer (Wally's brother) - already makes the Eagles next year's early favorite. "This team is better than last year's because we're older at key positions - like Kengo at short and Ira at second," O'Hara said. "Pitchingwise, we had two great ones last year and we had two great ones this year, too." The Eagles also had a toned-down Frank Rubin. "I dressed varsity for the playoffs last year," he said, "and when we won the championship up here, all I could do was sit in a corner of the dugout. I wanted to yell and scream, but I was already hoarse. "I have to keep moving, keep active. If I do that, I won't get tight. Maybe if I stay loose, the other guys will follow my lead. I can never sit down. Even in the outfield, I have to keep walking around." TITLE TIDBITS: Washington did not make the playoffs in 1984, but won its last two regular season games. Thus, its total league streak is 30 . . . Central started two juniors (Dom Nardini, Rich Fernandez) and two sophomores (Bud Wray, Zach Matzkin). Below are the players who earned first or second team Coaches' All-Public honors during Joe O'Hara's 17 seasons (1984-2000) as the coach at George Washington. Pos. FIRST TEAM Year Pos. SECOND TEAM Year C John Gabel 1984 3B Mike King 1984 3B Mike King 1985 SS Kengo Honda 1985 OF Glen Hassett 1985 OF Jeff Lackman 1985 P Wally Tittelmayer 1985 2B Ira Prince 1986 SS Kengo Honda 1986 C Jim Hilley 1986 OF Frank Rubin 1986 2B Larry Kolongowski 1988 P Kevin Higgins 1986 3B Tim Bolwell 1988 SS Kengo Honda 1987 OF Eric Kauffman 1988 OF Scott Rosen 1987 2B Chris Curry 1989 OF Frank Rubin 1987 C Greg Carlisle 1989 P Kevin Higgins 1987 1B John Plunkett 1991 SS Ken Mulderrig 1988 DH Vince Trunfio 1991 3B Jim Wark 1989 1B John Plunkett 1992 OF Eric Kauffman 1989 OF Steve Harris 1993 INF Tommy Honda 1990 OF Ric Mruk 1995 P Ray Barnhart 1990 INF Rory Miller 1996 2B Tommy Honda 1991 C George Vafiadis 1996 SS Shane Kenney 1991 P Andy Gartner 1996 OF Doug Tuley 1991 INF Harry Ley 1998 P Ray Barnhart 1991 INF Jason Guzik 1998 3B Rick Woertz 1992 OF Mike McBride 1998 1B Ryan "Rusty" Share 1993 OF Rob Slobodian 1999 2B Mike Curry 1993 DH Dan Spitzberg 2000 SS Keith Kabrhel 1993 1B Kevin Wiener 2000 P Jordan Nicgorski 1993 INF Chris Drobish 2000 1B Ryan "Rusty" Share 1994 OF Ivan Kosty 2000 INF Mark Roque 1994 OF Frank Grabon 1994 P Jordan Nicgorski 1994 1B Ryan "Rusty" Share 1995 INF Rob Philippi 1995 OF Mike Thierry 1995 P Matt Battista 1995 OF Ric Mruk 1996 INF Jesse Gauer 1998 P Karl Safran 1998 INF Jesse Gauer 1999 INF Harry Ley 1999 OF Mike Pike 1999 INF *Harry Ley 2000 OF Joe Sannutti 2000 P Brett Merves 2000 -- Recaps of Wins in Public League Championship Games . . . 1985 At Temple's Erny Field Washington 14, Frankford 1 Glen Hassett went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer, four RBI, two steals and three runs scored and Ira Prince went 2-for-4 with two RBI as Washington coasted. Wally Tittelmayer pitched a four-hitter with eight strikeouts. Matt Szychulski had an RBI triple for Frankford. 1986 At Temple's Erny Field Washington 7, Central 1 Kevin Higgins pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts while Frank Rubin went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Third baseman Tom Devlin started two doubleplays. In the second inning, Washington used the fake bad-throw pickoff play to erase Derek Whitaker. Higgins pretended to throw to second, everyone yelled "Get the ball" and ran toward center. Whitaker had gone back into second with his back turned. Higgins tagged him near third for an easy out. Central's Rich Fernandez allowed nine hits and seven walks, but fanned 10. 1987 At Temple's Erny Field Washington 14, Roxborough 1 Kengo Honda went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and three runs scored as the Eagles won their third consecutive title and raised their three-year record against PL opposition to 42-1. No. 8 hitter Larry Kolongowski had five RBI on a two-run single and a three-run double. Kevin Higgins struck out 11 in six innings. Chris DiMidio pitched no-hit ball for Roxborough over the last 2 1/3 innings. 1988 At La Salle University Washington 7, Central 3 The Eagles made it four in a row and seven in 11 years as Larry Kolongowski went 3-for-4 with two RBI and reliever Ken Mulderrig got the win with 3 2/3 innings of two-hit, one-run ball. Tim Bolwell and Jim Wark had two hits apiece. Central's Jason Lavala had owned a 20-0 varsity record. 1991 At La Salle University Washington 18, Lincoln 8 The Eagles collected 19 hits and scored eight in the home fifth to expand a 10-4 lead. Vince Trunfio went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a three-run, inside-the-park homer. Ed Katz went 3-for-3 with three RBI while John Plunkett and Brandon Keller also had three RBI. Tommy Honda went 3-for-3. Ray Barnhart fanned nine while pitching his third straight complete game in the playoffs. For Lincoln, Keith Michalak homered and Pete DiDonato went 3-for-3 with a triple and four RBI. 1995 At La Salle University Washington 7, Northeast 6 (9 inn.) With two outs and the bases loaded in the home ninth, Ric Mruk smacked a 330-foot single off the bottom of the leftfield fence to end it. All of Washington's runs were unearned. The seventh inning featured two runs by Northeast and three for Washington. Jeff Whitmore had a two-run single in the first and an RBI fielder's choice in the seventh. Frank "Jaws" Jarosiewicz, sporting a freshly shaved head, won in relief. For Northeast, the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Bryan Latino and Rob MacMullan, both went 2-for-4 with an RBI. --