Catching up with ... John Savage

Amara Aguilar

John Savage has been thrown a few curves in life and has had to

make some Big League decisions.

As a high school baseball pitcher he had to choose whether to sign

with the New York Yankees after being drafted in the sixth round in 1983

or go on to college.

“It was a very difficult situation,” Savage said. “In the early 80s

$100,000 was first-round money and there was that type of talk in terms

of money being thrown around. It was a big decision because it was the

New York Yankees and it’s probably the most prolific sports team in the

history of baseball.”

There was a risk either way. If Savage went to college, he would need

to have a great career and avoid injuries to make it to the Major

Leagues. Then again, at 18 years old, maybe he was too young to be

playing professional baseball.

After weighing his options, he chose to attend Santa Clara University.

“My mom and dad helped me with that decision and certainly I feel like

I made the right decision,” Savage said. “I wasn’t ready to go out and

play professional baseball.”

The choice paved the way for a pro baseball career, but it was a short

one. Savage signed with the Reds in 1986 and played for the

organization’s minor league team. An arm injury limited Savage’s pro

career to only a year and a half.

“Certainly, you still think you can play in the Major Leagues, but it

didn’t work out for me,” Savage said.

His dream was shattered. Savage started playing baseball when he was a

4-year-old and always wanted to play in the Majors.

But even though his career as a pitcher was over, a new one was

inadvertently thrown into his life.

“I knew the road was about to end so I got into coaching and just took

the passion I had as a player into the coaching ranks,” Savage said.

Savage coached at the high school level and ended up at the University

of Nevada in 1992 as a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his

five seasons with Nevada, the Wolf Pack had an overall record of 177-82

and won the Big West Conference title in 1994.

As soon as Savage got into coaching, he knew he wanted to make a

career out of it.

“I love being a coach,” Savage said. “I love the everyday challenge of

inspiring young players, the organization, the process of practice, game

day, rebounding after a loss and how to handle a victory. I knew coaching

was in my blood.”

Another coaching opportunity presented itself in 1996. This one was at

USC.

“I had the opportunity of a lifetime when I went to USC,” Savage said.

“I had to make a lifetime career decision to move my family from Reno to

Los Angeles. So I went to USC and was there for four years. Things took

off from there.”

As a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at USC, Savage guided

Pac-10 Pitchers of the Year three consecutive seasons (Seth Etherton,

Barry Zito and Rik Currier).

The Trojans’ 1999-2000 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation

by Collegiate Baseball.

The honors kept pouring in. In 1998 when USC won the College World

Series, Savage was named one of the Assistant Coaches of the Year by

Collegiate Baseball and last summer was an assistant coach for the USA

Baseball National Team of collegiate all-stars.

Still, more career decisions were on the horizon. Savage had an

opportunity to be the head baseball coach for UC Irvine’s reinstated

baseball program and he couldn’t pass it up.

“It’s really an opportunity of a lifetime,” Savage said. “You had to

design the uniforms, form the schedule, hire assistants, help with the

facility and deal with the brand new budget. Everything was so new. It

was pretty neat how it all evolved.”

The Anteaters begin the season Friday after a 10-year hiatus. The UCI

baseball program was dropped in 1992 because of budget cuts.

Savage, who said the two most important things in his life are family

and baseball, will lead the Anteaters on Opening Day while the people

closest to him sit in the stands. His wife and four children along with

his parents and two brothers are expected to attend.

“After being an assistant for that many years, I’m still young, and

I’m excited to be a head coach and happy that a lot of people who had a

lot to do with my upbringing will be there Opening Night,” said Savage,

36.

As Savage’s career comes to fruition, he doesn’t regret any of the

decisions he has made along the way.

“I wish I could say I went to college and went to go to play in the

Big Leagues and pitch there 10 years, but it didn’t happen,” Savage said.

“I got into coaching younger than I thought and really had a huge passion

for coaching and a huge passion for learning the game. Things fell into

place and things happened the right way for me.”