School, former players to honor Winstead
By Dick Sparrer
How do you thank a man for dedicating more than 40 years of his life to high school baseball?
Well, former Los Gatos baseball players and the high school think they have found a way.
Los Gatos High and the former Wildcats will celebrate the coaching career of longtime Gatos baseball coach Joe Winstead with the dedication of a plaque in his honor at the high school field where he spent so many afternoons from 1959 through the end of the century.
And on hand for the 3 p.m. ceremonies on May 10 at the high school field will be many of those people who have firsthand knowledge of Winstead's dedication to young people and the game of baseball--his former players.
At least two members of Winstead's first varsity team in 1962 will be on hand for the event--Johnny Mesa, class of '62 and John Taughinbaugh, class of '63. Mesa was the captain of that first club coached by Winstead, and Taughinbaugh was named the team captain a year later.
Steve Shank, the most valuable player of the 1965 squad, and Chris Benson, the MVP in '66, are other former players expected for the ceremonies, along with Bob Allen ('65), Mike Denevi ('71 team captain), Matt Vaughan ('74) and Dan Vaughan ('78 team captain).
Denevi was one of the 23 players who went on to sign professional baseball contracts after playing for Winstead at Los Gatos. And Denevi captured his feelings about his former coach in a letter that ran in July of 1999 in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, not long after Winstead's retirement.
"This letter is a tribute to a man who has been a friend and mentor to thousands of Los Gatos High School students over the past 40 years," Denevi wrote in his letter. "He has been a varsity baseball coach and had a remarkable record. But, more importantly, Joe Winstead has been a great person."
"I had the opportunity to both play for and coach with Joe," Denevi went on. "He is as fine a person as I have ever had the good fortune to meet and know."
During Winstead's 38 years as the varsity head coach at Los Gatos, his clubs recorded 545 wins in 933 games for an impressive .584 winning percentage. The Wildcats finished first, second or third in 24 of those 38 seasons, including seven league championships.
But for Winstead, Los Gatos baseball was about more than just winning.
"I never felt that winning a ballgame was ever the most important thing," he said in an interview with the Weekly-Times following his retirement. "When you walk onto a field, there are so many important things for a young man to learn."
Winstead, a member of the San Jose State University Spartan Baseball Hall of Fame, went on say, "I've been at a great school, and I've had some great kids. I've been blessed with so many things."
And there's more to come with the dedication ceremonies this Friday at the Los Gatos baseball field.
Cats playoff bound?
The game that will follow the presentation on Friday could be a big one for the current Wildcats.
Los Gatos won a pair of games last week, including a 17-10 win over league-leading Wilcox, to get right into the thick of the race for second place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Gatos edged Cupertino 8-7 on Friday, just two days after the win over the Chargers, to improve to 9-7 in the division.
With two wins in the final week of the regular season, the Cats could finish 11-7 in the division, which should be good for a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs. The Wildcats were to visit Milpitas on Monday and will host Fremont on May 10, 3:30 p.m.
Wilcox leads the pack with a 15-1 record, and Gunn heads into the final week with an 11-5 mark and a firm hold on second place. Gatos is third with its 9-7 mark, with Fremont close behind at 8-8. Cupertino slipped to 6-9 after the loss to the Cats last week.
Los Gatos coach Don Ardissone handed a baseball to his ace, bulldog Alex Rollin, last Friday, and the big right-hander went the distance, scattering seven hits and striking out 11. Rollin ran his mound record to 7-3 with the win.
It was a home run by senior co-captain Chris Eagen that was the big hit of the game for the Wildcats.
Alex Anderson homered twice and doubled to drive in seven runs and Eagen homered twice and singled to knock in six to lead the Cats to the big win over Wilcox earlier in the week.
Anthony Frangadakis ripped three hits for the Cats in the slugfest, and senior co-captain Steve Sweeney was the winning pitcher.
Los Gatos had dropped two games the week before, losing 4-3 to Gunn and 5-4 to Milpitas.
Anderson doubled home a couple of runs against the Titans.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
