Central Michigan University Athletics
What's On Tap For Tap? ... A Conversation With Kevin Tapani
June 17, 2002
Former Central Michigan University pitcher Kevin Tapani had a stellar big league career playing for the Mets, Twins, Dodgers, White Sox and Cubs. Perhaps one of his more memorable seasons came in 1991 when he led the Twins to a World Series title and won game two of the "Fall Classic." He went 16-9 that year with a 2.99 ERA. His best season came in 1998 when he turned in a 19-win performance. Tapani made 354 starts in his 13 years and finished 143-125 with a 4.35 ERA.
The Escanaba, Mich., native was a walk-on pitcher for the CMU baseball team from 1983-86. He led the Chippewas to three Mid-American Conference titles and three berths into the NCAA tournament. He is still fifth at Central in career wins (23) and 10th in decisions (31).
cmuchippewas.com recently sat down with Tapani when he returned to campus to participate in the dedication of the new Theunissen Baseball Stadium.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: It has been a while since you have returned to Central Michigan University. What is your fondest memory as you think about the time spent here?
TAPANI: The farther you get away from it the less you remember about specific games. I especially remember winning the Mid-American Conference title three out of my four years, especially since I was a walk-on. When I came here, I didn't have a lot of knowledge about college baseball and I was lucky enough to be around a number of quality people like Dave Keilitz, Dean Kriener and the players all around you. To be a part of a program like this, I feel fortunate when I look back on it.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You mention that you came to the Central Michigan baseball program as a walk-on. How was it that you decided to come here and how did you become a part of the baseball team?
TAPANI: I just signed up for school at CMU and had planned on being an ordinary student. When I went to orientation, I found out that Dan McReynolds was the Dodger scout in the Midwest and he told me they were going to hold a tryout camp. While at the Dodger camp, coach Keilitz was sitting in the stands and he came down to me and said, "I see that you're enrolled here. Would you be interested in coming out for the team?" I said, "Yeah, that would be great." So, school started and by the time I got here, I had missed the first week of fall ball. I was sitting in my dorm room and coach called and asked if I were still interested in coming out for the team. I told him, "I sure was and when the season starts, I would be there." Coach then told me the season had already started. So, he said if I wanted to do it, show up the next day. I went out and ended up making the team in the fall. I got to play in the Maroon and Gold World Series and started pitching my first year here.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What was it like being around Dean Kriener and Dave Keilitz during your playing time at CMU?
TAPANI: Both were first-rate coaches. I could tell from when I stepped on the field on the first day of practice. Even as a wide-eyed, naive freshman trying to walk on, I could tell that everything was first-class and run as well as you could possibly imagine. Dave turned me over to Dean my junior year and Dean was my pitching coach. It was a continuation of what I had already experienced with Dave. I had the opportunity to enter the draft and play pro ball after my junior year. However, I thought that Central was the place I wanted to be. I got to get an education and play baseball. It was as good as I could have imagined it so I came back for my senior year and it actually helped me out. I got drafted in a higher round the next year and had the full four-year experience. I did a lot of preparation in college and I think it actually cut a lot of time spent in the minor leagues.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You tossed your only career no-hitter against Eastern Michigan. What do you remember from that outing?
TAPANI: At the time, I really didn't think a whole lot about it. I could have had a perfect game but my roommate at the time, Dave Nash, lost a ball that was hit in the sun. It was a ball that Chris Hoiles hit and he actually went on to spend a lot of time in the big leagues. You know, it was a no-hitter but the way I look at it, it was a tough play for Dave and he got saddled with an error that broke-up a perfect game. I actually thought it could have been a hit. It really wouldn't have affected anything because we won the game. It was a tough play for Dave and he felt bad about it but we won so much here it really didn't stand out a whole lot among the other games that we played.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You won three Mid-American Conference titles and played in the NCAA tournament three times in your career here at CMU. How does that experience rank among your accomplishments?
TAPANI: I don't think it matters what team you're on when you win like that. It's just an experience to be a part of it. In situations like that, your team becomes closer, the friendships last and the things you learn from being a part of a program like that just can't be replaced. In high school, we were fortunate enough to win the state championships in football and that was similar to what we did here at Central and in winning the World Series. The thing that was consistent for me among all of those experiences was that I was more disappointed when it ended. Not because that it ended in a loss but because it couldn't continue with the people on the team. I still see the guys that I played with on those teams. We all remember those times. It was special.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Kids in America grow up playing out their World Series dreams in their backyards. You, however, got a chance to experience it first-hand. What was it like to be a part of the Fall Classic?
TAPANI: At the time, it was so early in my career and I was just focused on what I was doing that the game never really changed a whole lot. Obviously, there was a difference in the attention the game received from the reporters and those time demands make you understand the significance of the game. But, in your own mind, you had to block all of that out to make sure that it was the same game and you were doing the same things. It's one of those things that once you win it, you spend the next 10 years thinking, "This is how it was supposed to be," and you realize how special it is not only to get to one, but to win one.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You had the chance to play in both the American and National Leagues. What would you say is the best park to play in?
TAPANI: There's a number of parks that I enjoyed playing at. I loved playing at Wrigley Field. On a summer day, with the ivy and the fans are right there - I don't think there's a better park. But, going into Fenway Park, going into Tiger Stadium, having grown up in Michigan - that was special. Playing in Yankee Stadium and being introduced by Bob Shepherd. There were a lot of special things like that ... being out in Dodger Stadium.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Having played in both the National and American Leagues, what are the pros and cons between the two of them?
TAPANI: I went back and forth on it. I liked the idea that they keep the designated hitter and they have the two separate leagues. When I was on the Cubs, we would get a rally going and we would have runners on second and third. Well, they would walk the number-eight batter to get to me. So, there are 40,000 people watching this big rally and there's Randy Johnson against Kevin Tapani. Everyone knows it's going to be three pitches and out. But the strategy in turning over the lineups and getting to that is fun in the National League. On the flip side, I'd rather be seeing Paul Molitor out hitting in this situation as a DH rather than a pitcher. When pitchers get introduced to bat, a lot of people get up and go get a hot dog. It's only the optimists who stick around and think something good is actually going to happen. From a pitching stand point in the National League, you could be doing your job as pitcher where it's 1-1 in the sixth and the number eight hitter gets a double and it's your chance to score and take the lead. However, you end up getting taken out of the game because you're not able to contribute offensively. But, in the American League, having the DH, as long as you can pitch and get people out, you can stay out there. And for a guy like me, I got most of my wins being able to stay out there late in the game.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: After pitching for 13 season in majors, who was the toughest batter to get out?
TAPANI: Paul Molitor was impossible to pitch to. So, you come across the people who have faced him a number of times over the years and you'd just ask, "How do you pitch to him?" Most of would just say, "I don't know. I hope he hits it at somebody." And, that was the truth. You basically made your pitches and took the chance and hoped he just hit it at somebody. Tony Gwynn was like that. Wade Boggs, you weren't going to strike him out. He would just frustrate you fouling balls off. People are saying how the talent in the big leagues is diluted but it's not. You look at any three, four or five hitter on any team like Edgar Martinez in Seattle and Molitor and that's why I believe in the DH. I'd pay money to see these guys hit. There's no one better and if these guys are in the National League, and they can't play in the field because of injuries, it ruins your chance to see guys like that perform. That's part of being in the big leagues is seeing those guys and seeing those guys hit. There's also the thrill of pitching to those guys when you can get them in a situation and you can get them out. It's like with Barry Bonds this year and what Mark McGwire had done in recent years. You feel like you're pitching on a Little League field to start with and those guys basically don't have any holes. There are times when you give up singles to those guys and trot back on the mound feeling pretty good about yourself. You think to yourself, "Take that! I stuck you with a single."
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Being a member of the Chicago Cubs, you were a part of the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa home run race. You were there in St. Louis when McGwire broke the single-season home run record and Sosa came over and congratulated him. How magical was it seeing something that many people thought would never happen?
TAPANI: The whole thing was amazing to watch. Having been drafted by Oakland and playing out there, I had known Mark. So, it was fun to see someone you could root for, who was truly a great guy and had things in perspective. When you hear him talk, he just says how all he does is hit home runs and he thought it was great that people enjoyed it and it uplifted people. But, he knew there were other people doing more important things. So, when you have a person like that leading it and we have Sammy on our side, getting to watch that on a daily basis was amazing. They both seemed to enjoy it, too. When you play 185-190 games a year and you see every big leaguer on the top step not wanting to miss any of it, you know it's pretty special.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Sports is also a business and you were traded around a number of times. Was it difficult to get traded from team to team?
TAPANI: I think the first time in the minor leagues it was. You aren't sure how it works or how it goes. The first time in the big leagues getting traded from the Twins kind of hurt. You realize what you're working for and usually when trades are made, you want to be the guy that's helping turn the situation around and not the guy that they want to get rid of. You begin to see that there are other factors about it and going to other places you realize guys are basically guys and you learn every team in the big leagues is a good team to be on. I have to feel fortunate because I got to meet a lot of guys because of it. I wouldn't trade any of it but there is a business side and, unfortunately, we probably see too much of it now.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: This is your first season as a spectator of baseball. What are you going to miss?
TAPANI: All the people. I still have friends out there playing but when you're not a part of it anymore, you can only catch up with them here and there. It's a long a season and you spend a lot of time with them. You get to be close with them and you get to know as much about them, their families and what's going on as you do with your own family. That part of it I miss. I'll miss the competition. Having that head-to-head confrontation as a pitcher with the best hitters, seeing who could do what. I don't think you can replace that sort of thing but it's nice to have those memories. It gets to the point where you see you can't do it forever. I have tried to prepare as best I can to move on and find other things and not being someone who play somewhere else. I'm happy with where I'm at.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What are you going to do now with all the spare time?
TAPANI: Yeah, that's the question that I get asked the most. There's going to be a lot of family time this summer. It's my first summer off since high school. I didn't have a family then but now, having a family, and not having the summer off, I would miss a lot of things like the Memorial Day picnic or the Fourth of July. The family has been doing it by themselves or I had to leave early for the ballpark. But now, we can take a family vacation. We hadn't really done that before and we already took a family trip to Disney. So, we're catching up and it's fun. I promised my wife and kids that I wouldn't do anything baseball related that would take away from spending time with my family for the first year.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: So, you've decided to coach your kid's little league team. How different is it to go back to little league after playing pro ball?
TAPANI: Yeah, I help coach my son's team. It's kind of funny. I never realized how nervous they get before games. I forgot all about it. It's a lot fun with all the smiles they have. That's the fun thing with coaching, having the experience I've had. I just want to make sure the kids have fun and they want to come back next season and bring their friends. When the games over and the scoreboard says 16-2, they'll ask me who won, and if it's over. But, when you tell them they lost 16-2, they don't hang their heads. They just move along and wonder when they are getting their ice cream .
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What was it like for you growing up in a small town in the Upper Peninsula?
TAPANI: I think that it helped me a lot. It's a community atmosphere where everybody was in it together. Whoever was there would play ball, old or young. There wasn't high school baseball so I got to play in a lot of the men's leagues. They would just tell me to come over and play. John Hillard, who retired from the Tigers, would invite me to play in his tournament and I would go down to Green Bay and play in tournaments down there. So, there were a lot of advantages to it where there wasn't a structure and I wasn't on any particular team. You see the way things are today where you play on one team and you have tryout to play for another team. While we still had the rules and competition between leagues, it wasn't confining. It was all a good experience, especially with the Yooper mentality. You meet more people from the UP, they don't tell you their name they just tell you the town where they are from. They know you're a Yooper so they know you're one of them and everything is okay.