Top-5 Mac Musings – September 10, 2025

HIT OR ERROR; EARNED OR UNEARNED?
Got news yesterday of the passing of one of my favorite coaches. More on the life and legacy of University of San Diego legend John Cunningham later. 

One of the tougher jobs in college athletics is official scorer for baseball. Baseball is a sport with lots of rules left to the scorer to interpret and, you’re not going to believe this, but these “interpretations” can lead to arguments. At times it can be parents, coaches, players, opposing coaches, players, parents, fans all squaring off against an official scorer that may have been given a hotdog for working the game.

I walked on to the campus of the University of San Diego as the newly minted assistant sports information director in August of 1998. It was my first “real job” after graduating from Gonzaga. What a time to be alive. There was no social media. We printed out press releases and faxed them to media. We even copied them, stuffed envelopes and hand delivered them to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Our website was… a work in progress. 

On my first day on the job, my boss – SID legend Ted Gosen – turned on the computer that would be my nemesis for the next 16 months, opened up the volleyball media guide from the previous year and said, “Get started on this year’s”. 

Then baseball season rolled around with a new head coach, a new staff and a brand new official scorer (me!). 

STORY TIME
The first home game of the 1999 season rolled around and I was about to get a baptism by fire. I was handed an official baseball scorebook, instructions for how to run the PA system and the scoreboard. I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

Friday was the first day of a 4-game series against Sacramento State. My boss came down to the field with me to teach me how to score a baseball game. What followed was about the cleanest collegiate game ever played. Every ball put into play was either an out or a hit. There was no mistaking who was the winning and losing pitcher… it was simple. 

Following the game, Ted says to me, “Great. Well I think you’ve got the idea now. You’ve got Saturday’s doubleheader… Go get ’em.” 

As it turns out I absolutely did NOT have the idea now. Saturday’s game one looked like two teams who had only heard lectures about how to play the game with a baseball which apparently was covered in vaseline because no one could catch it or throw it properly. Both games featured an endless parade of hitters to the plate, fielding errors, throwing errors, catcher’s interference and Coach Hill’s first ejection of the year. 

Working my first baseball games as an official scorer was not going well. At all. Complicating all of it was that not only was I scoring the game in an official scorebook and electronically on a laptop, I was also doing the PA, introducing the batters, the lineups, substitutions, etc. I also got to pick the music. So I was kind of busy doing way too many things. I was not doing any one thing particularly well, either. I enjoyed watching baseball, but I never played the sport and was just starting to learn that baseball parents are… different.

Midway through the second game, I got a tap on my shoulder and it was John Cunningham, who was in his first year in reluctant retirement after more than 30 years as head baseball coach at USD. He asked me how I was doing and if I needed any help. Asking for help when you are in your 20s and trying to survive in your first job is not an easy thing, but I recognized that I was really and truly drowning and I said “YES”.

J.C. sat with me for a while and gave me some important lessons on scoring and at the same time some great life advice which I have reflected on often. I would like to tell you that this short instruction session made me an outstanding official scorer. It did not. But, he would continue to work with me and I would continue to pick his brain on how to score properly.

I will never forget that tap on the shoulder and the kindness and wisdom that followed. 

Thanks, Coach. You will be missed.  

REMEMBERING COACH JOHN CUNNINGHAM | USD TRIBUTE

John “JC” Cunningham passed away Monday, September 8, 2025, at the age of 88. Cunningham didn’t just coach; he was the architect behind Torero baseball, building the program from the ground up. He started at USD in 1962 in multiple roles – intramurals, basketball, and assisting in baseball – before becoming head baseball coach in 1964. Over his 35-year coaching career, he compiled a record of 843-839-18, guided the team to 16 winning seasons, and led them to NCAA Division II College World Series appearances in 1971 and 1978.

USD’s baseball grew under his leadership: they moved into Division I in 1979 and excelled in the West Coast Conference – he notched 343 conference wins and earned Co-Coach of the Year honors in 1993. But his legacy isn’t just numbers. In 1988, the university named the baseball facility Cunningham Stadium in his honor; after updates, the field reopened in 2013 with his name and iconic #33 prominently displayed on center field. Beyond coaching, he stayed with USD Athletics for over 60 years, including nearly two decades as Director of Transportation, driving Torero teams across the region. His impact earned widespread recognition – from “Citizen of the Year” honors to the prestigious Lefty Gomez Award in 2005.

One of the many fascinating elements to J.C.’s life was his college athletic career. A two-sport letterman at the University of San Francisco, Cunningham played on the Freshman team the year USF won its second straight NCAA Championship in 1955-56. Cunningham practiced against All-Americans Bill Russell, KC Jones and Mike Farmer. He also played baseball at USF.

Mac Musings for Wednesday, September 10.

1. At times, simply determining the winning and losing pitcher for a game can break the souls and minds of official scorers everywhere. Be kind.
2. If you are a parent of a relief pitcher that throws less than 90 mph, a scoring decision is not going to make the slightest difference to any professional scout watching the game.
3. I had a parent come to the press box once wanting to fight me for a “%$#%$# bad score”. I told him I would make the change for $1.000. He said ‘It’s not worth that!’ and I responded by saying ‘You’re right and it’s not worth having your son see you escorted out of the ballpark because you threatened a university employee. Now leave and never come back’.
4. When I was working San Francisco Giants games for wire services my seat was right next to the official scorer. One of my favorites was Bay Area local legend Chuck Dybdal. He would take a seat and say, “It’s time to get 18 grown men mad at me”.
5. In addition to his coaching duties, J.C. also worked as a longtime official scorer for the San Diego Padres.

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