Central Michigan University Athletics
Gifts And Pledges Roll In For New Baseball Stadium
5/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2001
MOUNT PLEASANT -- More than $400,000 in gifts and pledges have been received for the construction of a new baseball stadium at Central Michigan University, including a $100,000 gift from Chicago Cubs pitcher Kevin Tapani and his wife Sharon and a $100,000 pledge from former CMU baseball coach and athletics director Dave Keilitz and his wife Sue.
"We greatly appreciate the show of support from Kevin Tapani, Dave Keilitz and many other former players and coaches, whose gifts and pledges will help provide a first-rate baseball facility," said CMU Athletics Director Herb Deromedi. "The excellent response from our former players for this project shows the great pride they have for CMU's baseball program and their desire to contribute to the new facility.
"We are still accepting gifts and pledges for the new facility, which will be the finest in the Mid-American Conference," he said.
The $4 million construction project will provide the CMU baseball program with a 2,000-seat facility at a new location at the south end of campus on West Campus Drive south of Kewadin Village.
The university's decision to construct a health professions building at the current site of Theunissen Stadium provided the athletics department the opportunity to relocate its baseball stadium.
The new Theunissen Stadium, which will debut for the 2002 season, will provide increased permanent seating, meet disability requirements and feature an expanded press box. There also will be concession areas, restroom accommodations, a locker room for athletes and coaches, storage for operational needs and an on-site training room.
Keilitz is the lead coordinator of the fund-raising campaign. Funds raised from private donations will be used primarily to cover the cost of the locker room as well as some other amenities that will be essential to the quality of the project, said Brett Hyble, director of development for athletics.
"Ninety-nine percent of the money pledged is from past baseball letterwinners and former coaches," said Hyble. "In terms of percentage of dollars committed by former players and coaches, this is the strongest fund-raising campaign we have ever had.
"These gifts show the outstanding loyalty that our former players have to CMU and the baseball program. It speaks well for the unity of the baseball program, its tradition and history," he said.
Tapani is the most successful Chippewa pitcher on the professional level in school history. Drafted by Oakland in 1986, Tapani played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox before joining the Cubs. A product of Escanaba High School, Tapani was 23-8 for CMU and helped lead the Chippewas to three Mid-American Conference titles. He was inducted into CMU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
Keilitz was CMU's first All-American in baseball in 1964. He became head baseball coach in 1971 and guided the Chippewas to a 456-203 record in 14 seasons. His teams won four MAC championships, earning him four MAC "Coach of the Year" awards and two NCAA Regional "Coach of the Year" honors. He served as athletics director from 1985 to 1994, when he became executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association. He was inducted into CMU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.
