Central Michigan University Athletics
A 'Tremendous Passion'
4/5/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2018
The second of two features before the special ceremony Saturday to honor former CMU baseball coaches Dave Keilitz and Dean Kreiner. Today, a look at what Dave and Sue Keilitz have meant to CMU Athletics.
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - There are people, rare as they are, who simply have it.
Dave Keilitz is, indeed, one of those people. In fact, he epitomizes it.
"He made everybody feel like they were special," said Dan Rohn, who played baseball for Keilitz at Central Michigan and earned All-America honors in 1977. "Whether you were a freshman walk-on or a four-year senior starter, he treated everybody the same.
"He always knew your name, never forgot anybody, whether you were a superstar or the last player on the team."
Superstar or last player on the team. Dave Keilitz remembers them. All of them. Chances are, anyone who ever came on contact with Keilitz, be it on the baseball diamond or off, remembers him, too.
Keilitz, who retired from CMU in 1994 as one of the iconic names in its long athletic lore, will be honored with his wife, Sue, and children prior to the Chippewas' baseball game with Kent State on Saturday, April 7 at Theunissen Stadium. Sue and Dave Keilitz recently made a significant leadership commitment in the university's capital campaign, and the field at Theunissen Stadium will be named for the Keilitz family.
Also, Keilitz will have his uniform, No. 34, retired along with his former assistant and successor Dean Kreiner (No. 33) for their accomplishments as leaders in the baseball program. Both former coaches will throw a pre-game pitch. The ceremony will begin at 1:45 p.m. Saturday before the Kent State at Central Michigan baseball game.
"Central has been such an important part of our family's life," Sue Keilitz said. "It's given our family so many wonderful opportunities. We just wanted to give back in any way that we could, and we want to provide opportunities to others. We're very, very proud to give and we're very, very proud to be able to do it."
Dave Keilitz played for Theunissen from 1961-64, becoming the Chippewas' first baseball All-American in 1964. Keilitz spent 14 years in charge of the baseball program, building it - alongside Kreiner - into the preeminent program in the Mid-American Conference.
"Dave and Sue were among the first to greet my wife, Laura, and me when we arrived at CMU last summer," Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said. "Both remain dedicated to the university and the city of Mount Pleasant. Dave set the foundation and expectation for success in CMU baseball, and there is no more fitting name for the field."
After leaving the diamond after the 1984 season and a fourth Mid-American Conference title in a seven-year span, Keilitz spent 10 years as the university's director of athletics.
"This is such an honor for me, both of these honors," Keilitz said. "Bill Theunissen has meant more to me than any person other than my family members, and so now to have my name connected with his name at the ball field means a great deal."
Dave Keilitz has meant a great deal to so many in and around Central Michigan.
"He had that calmness in his voice," said Rohn, who went on to play in part of three Major League seasons and has put together a long career as a professional baseball manager, most recently with the Traverse City Beach Bums. "Even when he was mad at you, you knew he loved you. The calmness, attention to detail were just phenomenal. He had a respect for the game - nobody is bigger than the game.
"He had a tremendous way of getting the best out of you, without you ever knowing it."
He got plenty out of his teams during his 14-year tenure as the head man in CMU baseball. He led his Chippewa teams to a 453-203-6 record. Four times he was named the MAC Coach of the Year, and four times he took the Chippewas to the NCAA Tournament.
Coming out of Midland High School in 1960, Keilitz seized on the opportunity to attend CMU (then Central Michigan College), choosing it over Western Michigan and Michigan State. After meeting with Theunissen, the man who would eventually become his mentor, it was an easy decision for Keilitz.
"The second-best decision I ever made in my life was to come here to school," Keilitz said. "The best decision I ever made was marrying my wife."
It worked out pretty well for all involved.
"It (CMU) just presented me all the opportunities that I've had for my whole life since coming here. Since 1960. Everything started for my professional career, and for everything else, in 1960 by making the decision to come here."
When Keilitz completed his eligibility and began graduate school in 1964, then coach Waldo Sauter offered him the position as the Chippewas' junior varsity coach. He jumped at it, just as he did the head coaching role in 1970, when Sauter became the university's director of physical education graduate studies.
Right place at the right time. More importantly, the right man.
"My long-range plan was I was going to be a high school history teacher and a high school baseball coach," Keilitz said, recalling the day the offer came to take over the Chippewa program, a heady proposition for someone who was in his mid-20s. "I could teach, I could coach, do the things l loved, it was a full-time job, and I could stay at Central, stay in Mount Pleasant, a place I loved. The timing was just absolutely unbelievable."
He and Sue, who have been married for 52 years, raised their two sons, Brad and Craig, in Mount Pleasant. In 1994, Keilitz retired from CMU and became the executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association. He held that position until 2014, when he was his succeeded by his son, Craig.
"I have a tremendous passion for this university," Keilitz said. "I could not have been more blessed. I owe my whole professional career and everything else to this place. We're in a position that we can give back. So we'll give back time-wise and resource-wise, and we're very happy and proud to be able to do so.
"We support many areas, including the library, the school of music and so forth. Baseball is my sport, however, and we have tremendous appreciation and respect for everything in the university."
Keilitz has seen a lot of changes in his near six-decade involvement with CMU, from the growth of the student body from 5,000 students to nearly 30,000, and the physical expansion of the campus. Times change, physical appearances change, things evolve.
But the core does not. That goes for a university, and for a man.
"The one thing that has always been constant is the quality of the people," Keilitz said. "Just outstanding faculty, staff, administrators, coaches. It was in 1960 when I came, and it still is today. It's in my blood; just absolutely love the place, will never leave. It's just the quality of the people and the love and the passion that all the people have for Central is what makes it extra special."
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The second of two features before the special ceremony Saturday to honor former CMU baseball coaches Dave Keilitz and Dean Kreiner. Today, a look at what Dave and Sue Keilitz have meant to CMU Athletics.
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - There are people, rare as they are, who simply have it.
Dave Keilitz is, indeed, one of those people. In fact, he epitomizes it.
"He made everybody feel like they were special," said Dan Rohn, who played baseball for Keilitz at Central Michigan and earned All-America honors in 1977. "Whether you were a freshman walk-on or a four-year senior starter, he treated everybody the same.
"He always knew your name, never forgot anybody, whether you were a superstar or the last player on the team."
Superstar or last player on the team. Dave Keilitz remembers them. All of them. Chances are, anyone who ever came on contact with Keilitz, be it on the baseball diamond or off, remembers him, too.
Keilitz, who retired from CMU in 1994 as one of the iconic names in its long athletic lore, will be honored with his wife, Sue, and children prior to the Chippewas' baseball game with Kent State on Saturday, April 7 at Theunissen Stadium. Sue and Dave Keilitz recently made a significant leadership commitment in the university's capital campaign, and the field at Theunissen Stadium will be named for the Keilitz family.
Also, Keilitz will have his uniform, No. 34, retired along with his former assistant and successor Dean Kreiner (No. 33) for their accomplishments as leaders in the baseball program. Both former coaches will throw a pre-game pitch. The ceremony will begin at 1:45 p.m. Saturday before the Kent State at Central Michigan baseball game.
"Central has been such an important part of our family's life," Sue Keilitz said. "It's given our family so many wonderful opportunities. We just wanted to give back in any way that we could, and we want to provide opportunities to others. We're very, very proud to give and we're very, very proud to be able to do it."
Dave Keilitz played for Theunissen from 1961-64, becoming the Chippewas' first baseball All-American in 1964. Keilitz spent 14 years in charge of the baseball program, building it - alongside Kreiner - into the preeminent program in the Mid-American Conference.
"Dave and Sue were among the first to greet my wife, Laura, and me when we arrived at CMU last summer," Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said. "Both remain dedicated to the university and the city of Mount Pleasant. Dave set the foundation and expectation for success in CMU baseball, and there is no more fitting name for the field."
After leaving the diamond after the 1984 season and a fourth Mid-American Conference title in a seven-year span, Keilitz spent 10 years as the university's director of athletics.
"This is such an honor for me, both of these honors," Keilitz said. "Bill Theunissen has meant more to me than any person other than my family members, and so now to have my name connected with his name at the ball field means a great deal."
Dave Keilitz has meant a great deal to so many in and around Central Michigan.
"He had that calmness in his voice," said Rohn, who went on to play in part of three Major League seasons and has put together a long career as a professional baseball manager, most recently with the Traverse City Beach Bums. "Even when he was mad at you, you knew he loved you. The calmness, attention to detail were just phenomenal. He had a respect for the game - nobody is bigger than the game.
"He had a tremendous way of getting the best out of you, without you ever knowing it."
He got plenty out of his teams during his 14-year tenure as the head man in CMU baseball. He led his Chippewa teams to a 453-203-6 record. Four times he was named the MAC Coach of the Year, and four times he took the Chippewas to the NCAA Tournament.
Coming out of Midland High School in 1960, Keilitz seized on the opportunity to attend CMU (then Central Michigan College), choosing it over Western Michigan and Michigan State. After meeting with Theunissen, the man who would eventually become his mentor, it was an easy decision for Keilitz.
"The second-best decision I ever made in my life was to come here to school," Keilitz said. "The best decision I ever made was marrying my wife."
It worked out pretty well for all involved.
"It (CMU) just presented me all the opportunities that I've had for my whole life since coming here. Since 1960. Everything started for my professional career, and for everything else, in 1960 by making the decision to come here."
When Keilitz completed his eligibility and began graduate school in 1964, then coach Waldo Sauter offered him the position as the Chippewas' junior varsity coach. He jumped at it, just as he did the head coaching role in 1970, when Sauter became the university's director of physical education graduate studies.
Right place at the right time. More importantly, the right man.
"My long-range plan was I was going to be a high school history teacher and a high school baseball coach," Keilitz said, recalling the day the offer came to take over the Chippewa program, a heady proposition for someone who was in his mid-20s. "I could teach, I could coach, do the things l loved, it was a full-time job, and I could stay at Central, stay in Mount Pleasant, a place I loved. The timing was just absolutely unbelievable."
He and Sue, who have been married for 52 years, raised their two sons, Brad and Craig, in Mount Pleasant. In 1994, Keilitz retired from CMU and became the executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association. He held that position until 2014, when he was his succeeded by his son, Craig.
"I have a tremendous passion for this university," Keilitz said. "I could not have been more blessed. I owe my whole professional career and everything else to this place. We're in a position that we can give back. So we'll give back time-wise and resource-wise, and we're very happy and proud to be able to do so.
"We support many areas, including the library, the school of music and so forth. Baseball is my sport, however, and we have tremendous appreciation and respect for everything in the university."
Keilitz has seen a lot of changes in his near six-decade involvement with CMU, from the growth of the student body from 5,000 students to nearly 30,000, and the physical expansion of the campus. Times change, physical appearances change, things evolve.
But the core does not. That goes for a university, and for a man.
"The one thing that has always been constant is the quality of the people," Keilitz said. "Just outstanding faculty, staff, administrators, coaches. It was in 1960 when I came, and it still is today. It's in my blood; just absolutely love the place, will never leave. It's just the quality of the people and the love and the passion that all the people have for Central is what makes it extra special."
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