Mike McRae
Canisius Golden Griffins |
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In the past three years Canisius has gone
47-109, while not dreadfully awful, it’s certainly not
the most impressive record in the country. With that being
said, why have Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coaches
selected the Golden Griffins as the 2008 team to beat in the
annual preseason poll?
 To
understand why so much is expected from Canisius in the future
one has to simply take a quick look as the past. As unimpressive
on the surface as the .301 winning percentage has been over
the past three seasons, it is way above and beyond the accomplishments
the three year prior. From 2002 to 2004, the Griffs went an
abysmal 12-119-1, consistently ranking not just as the bottom
of the MAAC, but at the depths of all D1 college baseball.
However there is nothing but optimism in
Buffalo these days as a change in Canisius’ fortunes
coincided with the hiring of Mike McRae as the head coach
of the Golden Griffin baseball program. In his first year
at the lead the win total doubled (albeit from just four to
nine, but doubled nonetheless). In year two, the wins once
again increased twofold as the team finished 18-36. Last year
the team finished 20-35, and made its first MAAC Playoff appearance
since 1994 (and just the second in school history) by compiling
a 13-12 conference record. The Griffs closed out the conference
schedule strong with 11 wins in their final 15 games, including
nine straight at home. Additionally, ever since McRae arrived
the Griffs have made it to the Big 4 Baseball Classic championship
game every year and won the tournament featuring Buffalo,
Niagara and St. Bonaventure the last two seasons.
Under McRae’s leadership, both the
Golden Griffin’s offense and pitching numbers have dramatically
improved. The team batting average has gone up from .229 in
2004 to peak at .285 last season. Additionally the team ERA
has dropped from 9.01 in ’04 to a manageable 5.82 last
year.
McRae’s triumphant turnaround at Canisius
isn’t the first time he’d helped a school down
on its luck. He was head coach at cross town Niagara for three
seasons, taking the Purple Eagles from a 12-34 in 2002 record
to establishing school records for wins in back to back seasons
(26 in 2003, 27 in 2004). The 2003 edition of Niagara baseball
team finished third, while the 2004 team advanced to a second
place finish. Additionally one of his coached players, Josh
McCurdy, was the 2003 MAAC Player of the Year. McCurdy raised
his batting average from .291 to .403 (34th in the nation)
and ranked in the top 50 in the country in slugging percentage
(.668) while under McRae’s tutelage. Also while at Niagara,
McRae also recruited the 2003 MAAC Rookie of the Year, James
Avery. Both McCurdy and Avery were drafted and played professionally
after leaving Niagara.
McRae attributes his much of his success
to surrounding himself with the right people – not just
at the diamond, but at home as well. "The credit for
our recent rebuilding efforts should definitely be shared
by many – some terrific assistant coaches and an amazingly
patient and understanding family," McRae confessed.
He also acknowledged that the turnarounds
at both Canisius and Niagara were both far from easy and hardly
an overnight success, "Often it is hard to see the light
at the end of the tunnel as we are all products of the 'I
want it now' generation. Nonetheless, I am very proud of the
efforts we made with both programs. It was a challenge to,
'Get the right guys on the bus and the right guys off' - both
parts of that statement are equally important."
Part of getting the right players, "on
the bus" has had McRae mining his native Canada to play
for him. McRae, a native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, has served
as an assistant coach for the Canadian National Youth Team,
which competed in the World Championships in 1996 and 1997.
The current Canisius Griffin baseball roster has 16 student-athletes
from the USA's neighbor to the north, an obvious, but somewhat
unintentional result of McRae’s intervention.
"My Canadian background has definitely
been an asset to our recruiting efforts," McRae admits,
"I have been fortunate to make some terrific contacts
across the country. These people have been a joy to work with
and extremely excited about sending and recommending their
best athletes. Of equal importance, they understand the type
of character and work ethic I am looking for. As a result
they will steer me away from players who may not be a good
fit for our program."
However despite the potential pipeline of
players available from Canada, McRae doesn’t necessary
drape himself in the maple leaf flag looking for the next
Justin Morneau, Érik Bédard or even the second
coming of Richard "Stubby" Clapp.
"Believe it or not I really try to downplay
our Canadian influence," McRae confessed. “I am
happy to take talent from anywhere. Obviously our location
and proximity to Canada make it a natural recruiting ground.
Sometimes it is difficult to convince players from New Jersey,
Long Island and Pennsylvania to go north, but with the Canadians
we are actually getting them to come south!”
This season, Canisius boasts three preseason
All-MAAC honors, the most of any school in the league. Junior
third baseman Kevin Mahoney (.284, 6, 35), junior catcher
Kevin Reimer (.358, 4, 38) and sophomore outfielder Ian Choy
(.358, 1, 26) were each selected to the 12-man squad. Both
Reimer and Choy hail from Canada and last season Choy was
named to the inaugural All Ping! Freshman Team as well as
the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team.
Coach McRae and the Golden Griffs start their
season February 22nd against Long Island in Gastonia, N.C.
They’ll play three games against the Blackbirds while
also squeezing in a Saturday contest against rival St. Bonaventure.
From there they’ll travel across the South, facing both
Appalachian State and Morehead State in a pair of four game
series.
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