Upper St. Clair manager records 400th career win
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jerry Malarkey retired as head coach of the Upper St. Clair baseball team with 433 career wins and one WPIAL championship.
Jerry Malarkey coached and taught at Upper St. Clair High School since 1976.
Forgive Jerry Malarkey for becoming nostalgic. The Upper St. Clair baseball manager after all recently registered his 400th career victory.
“Thirty-four years as a head coach is a long time and sometimes you get caught up in the season and what great kids and team you have this year that you don’t get a chance to stop and think,” Malarkey said. “But this (achievement) has given me an opportunity to think about all the special people and quality kids that have come through the program.
“It’s really given me a chance to reminisce and reflect back on so many memories.”
Malarkey’s memories date back 56 years, actually. That’s when his love affair with the game commenced. He was then 8 years old, reveling in the glory days of the Pirates, fresh off their 1960’s World Series championship, and pretending to be Roberto Clemente or Bill Mazeroski when his buddies got together to play ball on the sandlots in Scott Township.
Although he was more a first baseman, attempting to replicate the “Dr. Strangeglove” antics of Dick Stewart, than an outfielder, Malarkey honed in on Clemente as his hero. He remembers attending games at Forbes Field and his father filming the Hall of Fame right fielder on his 8-mm video camera.
“Back then you played every position so you’d take turns being those players,” Malarkey said. “Clemente was the man. When a fly ball was hit to us, we’d simulate his basket catch.”
Though he played for some decent teams at Seton-La Salle High School, Malarkey knew he had arrived when he made the American Legion all-star team.
“I loved the game,” he said.
Malarkey, however, loved people and philanthropy more.
Because he worked as a recreation director at George Junior Republic, a reform school for kids adjudicated by the courts, Malarkey did not play baseball while earning his bachelor of arts degree and teaching certification from Grove City College. After a year as a permanent sub at Keystone Oaks, Malarkey embarked on his education and coaching career at USC.
In 1977, he taught social studies, coached the freshman baseball squad and worked as an assistant on the varsity football team. By 1985, he had become a guidance counselor and the varsity baseball manager at USC.
By 2018, he accumulated his 400th career win on opening day, March 23, when he reached the milestone after the Panthers defeated Valley, 6-1, in Myrtle Beach. USC won five straight during the Ripken Experience before dropping its Section 3 opener, 11-4 against Canon-McMillan on April 4 at Consol Energy Park near Washington.
Included in Malarkey’s 405 victories are nearly a dozen section titles and three appearances in WPIAL championship games. USC won its only district banner in 1992.
During his high school tenure, Malarkey had difficulty pinpointing a particular highlight. He noted that when you teach and work with kids for a full year, you get to know them and develop relationships. It’s the same way with being their counselor or coach.
“It’s not the wins and losses that you remember, you remember the relationships,” he said. “It’s the relationships that are most memorable.”
Nothing means more to Malarkey than when someone shoots him a text out of nowhere or invites him to a milestone celebration. He has attended a number of former players’ weddings and “unfortunately” some funerals, including those for Kevin Matthews and Chris Wittgartner.
Recently, Malarkey attended a 50th birthday party for Dave Bulger. At the event, many alumni from the Class of 1986, which included among others Lance Morgans, Steve Tazza and Nick Cullen, shared stories of the glory days. While Malarkey’s first class included Eric Sandberg and Rick Dunham, who tossed back-to-back no-hitters for the Panthers, John Carroll and George Urban, Bulger’s group was the first squad to take a spring training trip. The clan traveled to Lynchburg, Va.
“We stayed at Harvey’s Motel. It was as classy as the name sounds,” deadpanned Malarkey. “We joked about that at Dave’s party. We didn’t remember anything about the games we played, whether we won or lost, but we bonded. In that regard, the trips were beneficial.”
More often than not, Malarkey said, it is classes like 1986 that “bond” together that he views as the most successful.
“There are times when you can have talent and that does not necessarily result in a winning season because of bad bounces or players don’t share the same goals and objectives.”
Malarkey cited competition as an example.
“If someone beats me out at shortstop, I need to view that as a win-win situation. It’s not a loss for the kid but we both win because it makes the team better,” he explained.
While Malarkey declined to pick out a memorable team, saying they are all memorable in their own way, the 1992 club reached the greatest heights in the history of USC high school baseball. The team, which featured future Major Leaguers Sean Casey (Cincinnati) and Mike McHugh (Texas), defeated Butler, 7-2, and captured the only WPIAL championship in school history.
“On paper the 1992 team did not look like it would be in the WPIAL championships but a big part of how successful it was correlated with the bond between the players and the parents of the players on the team. There wasn’t a selfish player on that team. The players celebrated each other’s accomplishments. Everybody got along. The team was like other teams that had been successful because of the bonding of the players and the parents as well.”
During his entire time at USC, Malarkey has been “fortunate” to coach with great assistants and to guide young ambitious players; seven of whom were drafted. In addition to Casey and McHugh, Jerry Berteotti (LA Dodgers), Kevin Orie (Chicago Cubs), Kevin Slowey (Minnesota Twins) and Tom Sullivan were all selected in the MLB amateur draft.
“Work ethic, attitude, natural ability,” Malarkey said. “All those things combined made them special. They also were an example to others.
“I don’t think just making it to the major leagues is what it’s all about,” he continued. “What they brought to the table as young men, their drive, determination, dedication and unselfishness, and what they set the bar at for themselves and everybody else is what made the difference.”
Family has made a difference in Malarkey’s life. He will celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary this summer. He and his wife, Laurie, have two children, Jeff and Jenny. Jeff played for Malarkey and Jenny helped out during his summer baseball camps.
“Anybody who is a coach of a high school sport has to have the support of family. My wife has been wonderful and understanding because in the spring especially schedules can change on a dime and there are a lot of late dinners,” Malarkey said.
“I have also been fortunate to have had a son that played for me. Not all coaches can say that and my daughter has been invaluable to me. To share my baseball experiences with both of them has meant the world to me.”