By Murray Evans
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY – He's coached a team that's won 70-plus games and another that won a national championship, so milestone wins are nothing new for Denney Crabaugh.
But as the Oklahoma City University baseball coach stands on the verge of entering an elite club of college coaches with 1,000 career wins, he is trying to take time to appreciate the accomplishment, because it's not often the Stars receive much notice.
Often obscured by the attention lavished on NCAA Division I powers Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – both of which have played for a national title in the past 20 years – Crabaugh has built OCU's program into one of the elite in small-college baseball, winning the 2005 NAIA title and recording six other top-three national finishes.
"I can't imagine myself doing anything else," he said. "The guys at this level, we're not in it for the money or the glory. It gets to be a part of your soul."
In his 21st season, all at OCU, the 51-year-old Crabaugh is 999-313-2 – a .761 winning percentage – and will have his first chance to record win No. 1,000 when the No. 1-ranked Stars (13-0) visit Bacone in Muskogee on Thursday.
When the milestone win comes, he'll be one of at least 80 college baseball coaches to have reached 1,000 wins at an NCAA, NAIA or junior college. At least six of those coaches, including Crabaugh, have Oklahoma ties.
That list reads like a who's who of state baseball coaches – two Division I stalwarts, former Oklahoma and Oral Roberts coach Larry Cochell and former Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward; two coaches from junior-college powers, retired Seminole State coach Lloyd Simmons and current Connors State coach Perry Keith; and Mike Metheny of Southeastern Oklahoma State, who often dueled Crabaugh's teams before that school moved into NCAA Division II.
"You just have to stay a long time and win a lot of games," said Metheny, who considers Crabaugh – one of his former players – to be among his closest coaching friends. "Numbers probably don't mean a lot to him, because it's not his goal to see how many he can win, he's chasing national championships. But you've got to be someplace for a long time to get there."
Crabaugh, who's already been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, said that while he's been tempted to make the jump from the small-college ranks to Division I, he "never thought the grass is always greener on the other side. I've got great support here ... and a great university to recruit to."
The Del City native arrived at OCU – a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church – in 1987 as an assistant to Charley Lodes. Two years later, Crabaugh ascended to the top job and brought in Keith Lytle, who has remained as Crabaugh's right-hand man ever since. Lytle works with the Stars' hitters, Crabaugh with the pitchers.
"I tell him to go get 15 (runs) and I'll hold 'em," Crabaugh joked. "It's been a good philosophy."
It's worked well enough that OCU never has had a losing season under Crabaugh. Then known as the Chiefs, OCU went 29-25 in 1990. The next season, they improved to 41-22, and since then, they've won fewer than 40 games only once and have made the NAIA World Series eight times.
The last 10 years have been spectacular, with OCU winning at least 50 games each season. From 2002 to 2004, the Stars lost in the NAIA championship game each season, finishing 73-7 in the latter campaign and setting an NAIA single-season record for wins.
In 2005, Crabaugh expected to endure a rebuilding campaign, but the Stars went 67-12 and captured that elusive NAIA title. He was named the NAIA coach of the year that season for the second time, having also received the honor in 2003.
"I'm proud of the fact that we've been consistent through the years," Crabaugh said. "You don't want to be a one-hit wonder."
Crabaugh has seen three of his former players reach the major leagues, most notably Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 2006 National League batting champion.
"He's unbelievable," Sanchez said of Crabaugh. "I only played at OCU for one year, but that's where I say I went to school. I learned how to play the game of baseball there. Crabaugh is amazing.
"Everything he gets, he deserves because he works his butt off for it."
Crabaugh's history of success developing players like Sanchez and the coach's winning attitude have helped attract current players, said Brent Weaver, a current infielder for the Stars.
"His reputation is, he's going to win," Weaver said. "There's nothing flashy about it. The record speaks for itself."
And it's a record Crabaugh wants to build on.
"We've just got to keep going," he said. "We're never content, never satisfied. ... Winning never gets old."
