Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG-Sentinel Story on volunteer Falcon Coach and Former Major-Leaguer Chris Hoiles
August 14, 2001 | Baseball
Aug. 14, 2001
Bowling Green - By KEVIN GORDON Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune Assistant Sports Editor
Chris Hoiles is returning to organized baseball.
His passion to play the game still runs deep, but the former star at Elmwood High School is changing roles.
Instead, he's turning to coaching.
Hoiles, who retired in 1999 after 10 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, has accepted a volunteer coaching position with the Bowling Green Falcons. The chance to join the Falcon coaching staff came following a series of discussions with BG head coach Danny Schmitz.
"I was pretty much interested in anything they had to offer," said Hoiles, who still lives in Wayne with his wife and three sons. "Bowling Green was a good choice because it gives us a chance to stay at home and not move."
Hoiles admits retirement hasn't been easy, but he's helped ease the transition by being at home year-round and privately tutoring baseball players of all ages, from Little League teams to college-age players.
"The timing was right this year," Hoiles said. "Last year, I was still making the transition from player to coach. But last winter, I got a taste in my mouth for it. Coaching is my way of giving something back."
Hoiles is breaking into coaching at the perfect time. Tim Newell, who shared the starting duties last season, is the Falcons, only returning catcher. BG will have three first-year catchers on its roster.
"Having a catcher like Chris with us will really help our young catchers," Falcon assistant coach Tod Brown said.
Hoiles finished his career with a .262 batting average in 894 games, hitting 151 homers with 449 RBI. He was named the Most Valuable Oriole in 1993 when he hit .310 with 29 homers and 82 RBI.
"The biggest thing I can pass onto the players is the knowledge I gained having played at the major league level," Hoiles said. "It'll be a lot of fun to pass that knowledge onto other players to help them improve. I've also played with a number of big-name players and even though I didn't follow their style or what they were doing, I can still pass on how they did things.
"I have an understanding of what has to be done to be successful and how to handle failure -that's a big part of the game and getting back to the positive side is a big part of it. You have to be able to handle the bad with the good."
Hoiles was an All-Mid-American Conference player at Eastern Michigan where he lettered from 1984-86. He was drafted in the 19th round by the Detroit Tigers in 1986 and traded to the Orioles in 1988. He made his Orioles, debut in 1989.
The 36-year-old still attends several major league games each year in Detroit and Cleveland, and still visits Baltimore several times a year. He primarily follows the game reading box scores and stories in the newspaper.
Hoiles said he normally doesn't make it a point to watch a lot of games on TV. He continues to follow the careers of B.J. Surhoff and Mike Mussina, who were teammates in Baltimore. Surhoff is with the Atlanta Braves now and Mussina plays for the New York Yankees.
"I miss the game in all aspects ... the competition, the guys I played with because you were together from February to October, you're almost like a family because you,re with them almost more than you're with your own family. You develop great relationships with a lot of people.
"I miss the daily grind of playing and you never get to the point where you never miss it. It doesn't matter what level you're at because your competitiveness always come out."
In addition to spending time with his family and doing projects around the house, Hoiles also has been busy with his racing team.
Chris Hoiles Motorsports sponsors a car, driven by Elmwood graduate Gus Wasson, that competes in the NASCAR Busch Series, the equivalent of baseball's minor league series to NASCAR's Winston Cup.
Unfortunately, not having a sponsor has meant Wasson has only run in two Busch races this season, the March race at Darlington (S.C.) and last weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The race team also has been involved in sprint car races, as well as the ARCA and ASA series the last five years.
"We're trying to find money to run the car," Hoiles said. "It's pretty simple. If you don't have a sponsor, you don't do it. We're talking to and meeting with potential sponsors, so we're exploring our options. We're running when we can."
Being with his wife, Dana, and three sons ~Dalton, 5, Derek, 2, and Drew, born July 20 ~on a full-time basis has eased the transition to retirement. Hoiles, career ended April 2, 1999 when he was placed on waivers, in part because of a degenerative left hip bone and bulging disk in his back.
"I'm not fully adjusted to not playing, but I'm getting better," said Hoiles, whose oldest son began his baseball career this summer. Hoiles helped coach the team.
"Coaching my son was a lot of fun and being away from Baltimore has helped. It's a lot easier being retired in Ohio."
Hoiles admits to thinking about returning to the major leagues in the future, the next time as a coach or manager.
"That is a place I'd love to be at," he said. "As a player, you always looked to the next level ... being a coach or a manager ... so, yes, that's a very intriguing possibility."
