Veteran Wausau baseball coach heading into State Legion Hall of Fame
WAUSAU – Tom Magnuson wasn’t sure at first why the retiring Bob McCain offered him the chance to take over his position as the Wausau Legion baseball coach in 1983.
“I had just spent the previous summer coaching a Babe Ruth (youth) team in Wausau and we went 0-12, so obviously I was qualified to head a legion team,” joked Magnuson, who had played centerfield for McCain’s Legion baseball team a few years earlier.
He accepted the offer, and as a 25-year-old rookie coach, Magnuson led Wausau to a 16-22 record that summer — a team in which Dave Paulsen, the current George Mason University men’s basketball coach, was one of the top hitters for the team.
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It was just the beginning of his un with the Post 10 baseball program.
Magnuson is still on the Bulldogs bench more than three decades later. This summer, he guided the team to a Class AAA District 2 regional championship and the program's 10th state tournament berth in his coaching career.
The veteran coach will also be among the recipients inducted into the Wisconsin State American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Milwaukee, a day before the State Legion All-Star Game at Miller Park.
Local players in the All-Star Game area Wausau's Payton Nelson, Merrill's Ryan Golisch, Antigo's Hunter Kirsch, Marshfield's Paul Maguire, Stevens Point's Andy Tepp and Medford's Trenton Woebbeking.
“The old line is, ‘You hang around long enough, they start giving you stuff,'” said Magnuson who will coach the North squad in the All-Star Game along with Kimberly's Tom Carney. "But I am going into a Hall that has a lot of really good people in it that I competed against when I first started – guys like Eddie Kardach and Don Friday from Stevens Point and Don Hawkins from Appleton. It’s just an honor to be put in (to the Hall) among that group.”
Magnuson has a 761-586 record in 35 seasons and led the Bulldogs to a state championship in 1998, 2009 and ’10. The Bulldogs also finished as the state runner-up in 1995.
He also is to the point in which he is coaching a second generation of players on the Legion team. Scott Schubring and Mike Weise played for Magnuson in 1985 and ’87, respectively, and both had sons on the 2016 squad (Ben Schubring and Paul Weise). Both of his assistant coaches this season - Pat Meverden and Greg Grunenwald — played for Magnuson as well.
Magnuson said he has changed almost as much as his rosters over the years.
"I'm not nearly as excitable as I was back in the early days," Magnuson said. "I would argue with umpires in a lot of games and was a holy terror when I first starter. But I've certainly mellowed over the years as I concluced that arguing with umpires is mostly counterproducitve. You're never going to win those arguments."
But his passion to remain coaching has not wavered.
"A lot of times you go into a Hall of Fame or something like this and it's like the end of the line. I don't have any plans on (not coaching)," Magnuson said. "When I took the gig, I didn't have any idea of how long I would do it. I just got into it and it was so enjoyable that they years just piled up.
"I feel good, the competitive juices are still there and this season was great fun," Magnuson said. "I don't have any plans on hanging it up any time soon."
Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or twjohnson@gannett.coml; on Twitter @timmyjo11