Just a few weeks before he died, former Seton Hall baseball coach Mike Sheppard Sr. \u201958 spent the day doing what he\u2019d done throughout his life: watching baseball with his family. His son Rob Sheppard \u201992, the current Pirates coach, drove him to watch the scrimmage between Seton Hall Prep, coached by Mike Sheppard Jr. \u201981s, and Morristown-Beard School, coached by John Sheppard \u201987. They sat in the car, parked behind the left-field fence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so the last baseball game he was at,\u201d Mike Jr. says, \u201che was sitting with one of his sons who brought him and watched his other sons\u2019 teams play against each other. Pretty fitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baseball and family were defining aspects of Sheppard\u2019s life, which ended April 6 when he was 82. \u201cFamily came first,\u201d Mike Jr. says about the Sheppard clan that includes his mother, Phyllis, him and his two brothers, and sisters Susan \u201982 and Kathleen \u201983.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe was a man of great faith. He was a Marine, a tough guy. <\/em>
\nBecause he had a rough exterior, people thought he\u2019s not a<\/em>
\nvery emotional guy, but that\u2019s far from who he is when you\u2019re <\/em>
\na family member or a\u00a0friend. He\u2019d do anything for you.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\nAt his father\u2019s wake, pictures showing a lighter side of the imposing figure surprised mourners. \u201cPeople
\nsaw the photos,\u201d Rob says, \u201cand they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, my God. That\u2019s Shep dressed as a clown [on Halloween.] That\u2019s Shep dressed as Santa Claus.\u2019 He had a really good sense of humor.\u201d Sheppard Sr. loved the pool, the shore and his boat. \u201cHe loved to be out in the water and he loved the beach. He loved life.\u201d<\/p>\nBut there\u2019s no question about the importance of baseball, with a career that started in 1973 when he\u00a0replaced Owen T. Carroll, who had been his coach. Coach Sheppard won 998 games before his 2003 retirement. His teams made the NCAA Tournament 10 times and the College World Series in 1974 and 1975. He earned BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors in 1985, \u201987 and \u201989. Thirty players became Major Leaguers \u2014 guys like longtime Yankee Rick Cerone, former Red Sox star Mo Vaughn and Baseball Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. The \u201987 team put together a remarkable 45-10 record.<\/p>\n
An early recruit, a Long Island kid named Ed Blankmeyer \u201976\/M.A.\u201983, excelled on those College World Series teams. \u201cHard-nosed guy,\u201d Blankmeyer says. \u201cDemanding, very tough, no nonsense. He wanted players to be team-first kind of guys and didn\u2019t accept anything else.\u201d Blankmeyer became Sheppard\u2019s longtime assistant before carving out his own legacy as the coach at St. John\u2019s. And he joined the family, marrying Sheppard\u2019s daughter Susan. \u201cHe was a hell of a grandfather, and as tough of a guy as he was, he was a family guy first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone around the coach heard him command, \u201cNever lose your hustle,\u201d a saying he got from his father, who raised him after his mother died when he was young. \u201cMy dad had a tough upbringing,\u201d Rob says, \u201cand I think that\u2019s why he related to a lot of different kids. So he always said to \u201cwork hard, never lose your hustle,\u201d and it became his mantra.\u201d\u00a0Mike Jr. recalls, \u201cAs a young kid, you hear that \u2014 in one ear out the other. Maybe laugh a little. But\u00a0as you get older, and I know his players do the same thing: in tough situations I find myself saying those words, and it motivates you to pick yourself up and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
That all three Sheppard sons followed their father\u2019s coaching path wasn\u2019t surprising. When Rob replaced Senior, \u201cMy dad was never overbearing. But I would be crazy not to listen to somebody with his experiences. He was a mentor. He was my coach. He was my dad. He was my best friend at times, and I was really fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Jr. adds that his dad never wanted to be known as just a coach. He also served as an assistant professor in Seton Hall\u2019s Department of Education. Once Mike asked, \u201cDad, why don\u2019t you become a full-time baseball coach?\u201d His father replied, \u201cI\u2019m a teacher. I want to make a difference in the regular students\u2019 lives as well as baseball players\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.<\/i><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just a few weeks before he died, former Seton Hall baseball coach Mike Sheppard Sr. \u201958 spent the day doing what he\u2019d done throughout his life: watching baseball with his family. His son Rob Sheppard \u201992, the current Pirates coach, drove him to watch the scrimmage between Seton Hall Prep, coached by Mike Sheppard Jr.…<\/p>\n