By Vincent Liu
Town Crier Correspondent
Makjavich has run semipro team - without pay - since ‘54
At a time when greed has tarnished Major League Baseball, Tony Makjavich seems like a breath of fresh air.
In a coaching career spanning some five decades - all with the same team - Makjavich has never received even a dime for his service. Nor has he sought one.
Makjavich, 89, is the only coach the Palo Alto Oaks - a local semipro baseball team - has known since 1954. He coaches for the pure and simple love of the game.
That’s why Makjavich can’t help but be miffed by the turmoil facing Major League Baseball. He blames greed on both sides, and he has no sympathy for the players.
“They’re not playing for the game; they’re playing for the money,” he said, “and they’re not thinking about anybody except themselves.”
Makjavich’s feeling is not hard to understand.
After all, he’s a throwback to a much simpler time when baseball was still a game and not a business. It was what he called the golden era of baseball, and his sentimental journey goes back some 70 years during which he crossed paths with some of baseball’s biggest names and legends.
He fondly recalled trying out for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in the late ’30s when he met the DiMaggio brothers. He remembered the oldest of the trio, Vince, as a happy-go-lucky sort who loved to chatter and kept everybody loose in the dugout. And then there was Dominic, the quiet one nicknamed the “little professor” for his serious approach to the game. But the one he remembered the best is Joe, who later became the famed Yankee Clipper.
“I could tell this guy was special and a natural,” he said. “He had the smoothest and most beautiful swing I’ve ever seen.”
According to Makjavich, the DiMaggios stuck together and did not socialize much. They were a far cry from one of the zaniest characters he had ever coached, Dick Stuart, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ’50s and ’60s. Stuart became a celebrity of sorts when he bashed 66 homers in the minor league in ‘56 and promoted himself as “Mr. 66″ wherever he went.
“Dick was a clown, but he did a good job for me,” Makjavich recalled.
The one player who literally left an indelible footprint on Makjavich is another legend, Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers. Known as the “Georgia Peach” and famous for his hard-nosed brand of baseball and aggressive base running, Cobb was notorious for sliding into the bases with his spikes up. He once told Makjavich: “Anybody gets in my way, he’d have to eat my spikes.” One day one of Makjavich’s legs got in Cobb’s way and it required 14 stitches to close the wound.
Despite that painful experience, Makjavich called Cobb the greatest baseball player of all time. He credited Cobb for embedding in him the aggressive style of baseball that he adopted as a player and a coach. To this day, the Louisville Slugger souvenir bat bearing Cobb’s name given to him by his idol, remains his most treasured memento.
“He gave it to me on his last day in California and I never saw him again.”
Makjavich also encountered another Yankee great, Billy Martin, a batboy in the late ’30s for another Bay Area semipro team, the Oakland Oaks. A player then, Makjavich was impressed with Martin’s energy and hustle in everything he did.
“I could tell later that Billy would make a great manager after he finishes playing because he loved the game so much,” he said.
Perhaps the one baseball figure who left the greatest impact on Makjavich is the legendary coach of the Seals, Lefty O’Doul. Makjavich described O’Doul as a low-key jovial person who taught fundamentals and never barked at his players.
“Lefty was very kind to the young players and he would take them out for food and drinks,” he recalled. “He was the greatest guy in America.”
Funny, that’s pretty much how everybody associated with Makjavich, players and opposing coaches alike, described the man affectionately called “Big Tony” by his players.
Brian Faber, hitting coach for West Valley College, called Makjavich “a true gentleman who cares for and helps his players. He’s a true baseball man whose legacy will be spotless.”
Despite being an opposing coach in the San Jose WBA Stan Musial Summer Baseball League, Faber would encourage players from West Valley to play for Makjavich.
From Jerry Fontanetti, organizer of the Stan Musial League: “Tony put in his time and own money for his team. He’s good for the game and there are not many left like him.”
Perhaps the best compliment came from local American Legion coach Tony Brewer: “When you play for Tony, baseball is at its simplest. He’s a special person. Palo Alto Oaks is his legacy. He is the Oaks.”
The list of Major League notables who played for Makjavich include catcher Bob Boone, Felipe Alou Jr. and Ali Cepeda.
Born 89 years ago in Everett, Wash., Makjavich grew up a poor teen during the Great Depression. He had to scratch and scrape for everything in life.
On the baseball diamond, he played the game the only way he knew how: hard. As a coach, he expects no less from his players.
After serving in WWII, he returned to civilian life in 1946 and later joined the Palo Alto Oaks as a playing assistant coach.
One day in 1954, the then head coach of the Oaks, Monte Pfyl, approached Makjavich and said: “This is your club. Good luck.” Pfyl then walked away without giving any explanation. The rest, as they say, is history.
The only thing that has lasted longer than his coaching career with the Oaks is his marriage - and love for his wife. “Tony is a stubborn - no, make that determined - man with a one-track mind,” said Alice, his wife of 54 years.
That single track is baseball.
One of his conditions for marriage, as recalled fondly by Tony, was total freedom in baseball. He was so committed to the game that he once terminated a serious relationship with a girl because she didn’t like sports. Fortunately for him, Alice loves sports.
The Makjavich’s wed in 1948 and settled in Palo Alto in 1950. They have five children, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. None of their clan played baseball beyond little league, except for one grandson who played college ball.
Makjavich retired as a trucker in 1981 and devotes most of his free time to baseball. In the offseason, he makes the rounds to the local colleges to scout players. He’s well connected with most of the local college baseball coaches and players, who are well aware of Makjavich’s simple rules: No smoking, no drugs and no long hair.
Makjavich credits a great wife and active baseball involvement for his longevity.
“Being around these college kids keeps me young,” he said.
Being physically and mentally tough certainly helps.
Recently, he suffered a blood infection that landed him in a medical clinic. Three days later, he returned to the diamond to coach the Oaks’ season finale.
Several years ago, he was mugged by two men at the Baylands Athletic Center in Palo Alto after a game. He did his best to fight off the two thugs, but was badly beaten and suffered broken ribs. One week later, he was back in the dugout.
And Makjavich has no immediate plans to retire.
“The good Lord willing,” he said. I’ll be out there come hell or high water.”
