1,000 wins for Hofman?

Piper baseball coach Rich Hofman, inducted Sunday into the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame, has plenty of numbers:

• Ten state championships (eight at Miami's Westminster Christian, two at Fort Lauderdale's Westminster Academy)
• Two national titles (at Westminster Christian)
• Ten state coach of the year awards
• Seven national coach of the year awards
• More than 200 former players who went on to play college baseball
• Forty professional baseball draftees
• Even one honor as Baseball America's High School Coach of the Decade (in the 1990s)

But Hofman, who entered Monday with 963 career wins, said he has an "arbitrary goal" of 1,000. Whether he gets there, though, is to be determined -- and not because he's on Piper's hot seat.

The 63-year-old native of Racine, Wis., came to South Florida in 1967 and has been coaching since, leading players such as Doug Mientkiewicz and some guy named Alex Rodriguez to big, big things. But, Hofman told The Miami Herald on Monday, the game might be passing him by. He loved being honored for his past, but wasn't as optimistic about his future.

How much longer does he plan on coaching? "Not too much," he said.

"The game is changing," he said. "The whole dynamics of coaching [are] changing."

What's changing: the rise of travel baseball and showcases, which Hofman said have "increased the ability level of a small group of players," but mostly are eroding the fundamentals of young players. Also, they've decreased the importance of the high-school coach.

"The high school coach isn't looked upon as the person that is most needed to be successful," he said, "and I think that has hurt the game quite a bit."

Travel baseball isn't all bad, to Hofman -- "I'm not opposed to kids playing baseball a lot," he said. "I'm just opposed to them not being taught the fundamentals of the game." -- but it's just not a game Hofman plays.

So that's what Hofman said he's trying to figure out. How much does he want to "fight" this trend? Enough to grab about three years' worth of wins, enough to get to that magic number?

Maybe, Hofman said. But if not, he still wanted to make one thing clear:

"I'm a little disappointed in the way high school baseball [is changing] and the direction that it's going, but I am absolutely ecstatic about the opportunity and the privilage that I've had in my career."

--Patrick Dorsey

Comments

[Alfonso J. Otero ( Coach Flaco )]

Andre : I had the priveledge to be Coach Hoffman's assistant from 1995-1997 baseball seasons. And of course in 1996. When the baseball team went 36-0. And we were NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Alot of people in Miami talk about having great teams. And that their team was the best. Till this day It has been that 1996 team that has been the only team in dade county to go undefeated. I must say that this team was pretty special because it never lost a game that year. And that's very tough to do in 36 games. WOW!! Yes, we had alot of talent, but overall he always kept that team very close knitted. Also within that 2 year span we went 60 games in a row without a defeat. That's also something that goes un noted. And yes, people will say that we didn't play against good competition, well how's this for you. That year we played KEY WEST which at the time was undefeated and ranked #1 in the high baseball polls, it was probably the best ever high school match up at Mark Light Stadium. We were ranked # 2 at the time. We ended up winning 5-3. Then we went up to play at The Dole National Classic. Which at the time was the best high school tournament in the country. We ended beating everyone, and we gave John Garland his only loss of the year. We ended up beating the # 3, 4 and 5 teams in the counrty that year. The bottom line is that when we played in the final game that year, with us winning that game we were crowned Baseball National Champions at that moment. WE EARNED IT!!! And something very hard for other players, coaches and parents to accept. But it's the reality of it. Everyone was gunning for us that year, and they couldn't do it. It's been 12 years since that, and I still come across former players like Manny Crespo and Javy Lopez and Jason Moore, and they all say the same thing. We never lost that year. Coach Hoffman. Thanks greatly for helping me to become a better coach.

[Alfonso J. Otero ( Coach Flaco )]

Andre : I had the priveledge to be Coach Hoffman's assistant from 1995-1997 baseball seasons. And of course in 1996. When the baseball team went 36-0. And we were NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Alot of people in Miami talk about having great teams. And that their team was the best. Till this day It has been that 1996 team that has been the only team in dade county to go undefeated. I must say that this team was pretty special because it never lost a game that year. And that's very tough to do in 36 games. WOW!! Yes, we had alot of talent, but overall he always kept that team very close knitted. Also within that 2 year span we went 60 games in a row without a defeat. That's also something that goes un noted. And yes, people will say that we didn't play against good competition, well how's this for you. That year we played KEY WEST which at the time was undefeated and ranked #1 in the high baseball polls, it was probably the best ever high school match up at Mark Light Stadium. We were ranked # 2 at the time. We ended up winning 5-3. Then we went up to play at The Dole National Classic. Which at the time was the best high school tournament in the country. We ended beating everyone, and we gave John Garland his only loss of the year. We ended up beating the # 3, 4 and 5 teams in the counrty that year. The bottom line is that when we played in the final game that year, with us winning that game we were crowned Baseball National Champions at that moment. WE EARNED IT!!! And something very hard for other players, coaches and parents to accept. But it's the reality of it. Everyone was gunning for us that year, and they couldn't do it. It's been 12 years since that, and I still come across former players like Manny Crespo and Javy Lopez and Jason Moore, and they all say the same thing. We never lost that year. Coach Hoffman. Thanks greatly for helping me to become a better coach.