Wilson baseball: The team's fine coaches

Wilson (Ore.) coach Mike Clopton asked me to write a couple of articles for his team's 2012 baseball program. I interviewed Clopton, as well as a couple other former Wilson coaches. I discovered this to be one of the main reasons for Wilson's history of baseball success. Here is the article:

By Bruce Smith

Wilson High School opened in 1956. It didn’t take long for the school to become a baseball power. If you have ever met its coaches, you might understand why.

Wilson has had just five baseball coaches in its history. Mike Clopton, the Trojans’ current coach, has been there the longest – since 1983. Clopton, though, is the latest in a short line of mentors with impressive resumes. Wilson won its only state championship in 2006, but has claimed 14 PIL titles and its American Legion history is even better.

The school has helped create more than its share of college and minor-league ballplayers, and boasts major league standouts like Dale Murphy and Wayne Twitchell.

With such talent, it brings about a question: Has Wilson created good coaches? or have good coaches created Wilson?

“Baseball is a character-building sport. It’s a privilege to play and, like all sports at this level, you have to hold your talent up to public scrutiny. That’s really what it’s about,” said Jack Dunn, now a Portland baseball legend who coached here from 1970-74. “If a guy ends being like Dale Murphy, and they’re fortunate to make a good living playing the game, then that’s what high school baseball is meant to do.

“There. I have spoken.”

Based on the evidence – and comments like that from Dunn - it appears the latter is most likely.

Dunn is probably the most famous, and charismatic, of the Wilson baseball coaches. Clopton, however, is probably considered the most successful because of his eight PIL titles and the state title.

At least eight players from Wilson’s 2006 squad went on to play college baseball. Most would say Clopton had a big effect on their success – and they would be right. Here’s a look at him and some of the other Wilson coaches:

Mike Clopton is now retired from teaching, but has led the Wilson baseball squad for 29 years. He grew up in Portland and graduated from Cleveland in 1965, where he played baseball for Jack Dunn. He played baseball at Portland State and later became an assistant coach for three years there under Coach Dunn and Roy Love.

Clopton and his wife, Gayle, have been married for over 40 years and have two children. He has coached baseball from Little League to college and has been nominated so many times as Coach of the Year that it almost goes without saying.

He’s a fundraiser, an innovator (started a Babe Ruth League), and has conducted too many baseball clinics to list. Perhaps most importantly, he has built an impressive reputation and every Wilson player and opponent knows it.

Almost 30 years ago, Clopton coached baseball at Jackson High and took over here for Walt Looney when the schools merged at that time. Looney was a multi-sport athlete at Williamette University and was part of Wilson’s baseball program for many years. Looney recently passed away, but was known not only for his baseball knowledge, but his mathematical abilities.

Looney was Wilson’s baseball coach was 1975-82, but was mostly known for being part of the football program here. He headed the football program for five years. He won a PIL coaching award in 1994 and was later inducted into the Willamette Hall of Fame.

Looney took over the baseball program from Dunn, whose amazing knowledge and effort had turned Wilson back into a baseball power. Dunn transferred from Cleveland back in a time when moving within the school district wasn’t popular.

Dunn, however, was influential. He wanted to coach at Wilson because he lived nearby and his sons, John, Jeff and Jim, were nearing high-school age. His resume included an impressive playing career at Lincoln under legendary coach Wade Williams, 10 years experience playing minor league baseball and a city championship while coaching at Cleveland.

“When I got there, they weren’t doing too well,” he recalled. “We won two league championships in the next five years, and our American Legion team won three state championships and one year we finished 3rd in the U.S.”

Dunn’s success was noticed and left Wilson to become the head coach at Portland State, where he guided the Vikings for 20 years. Dunn lost his wife, Jean, in 1997, but he and his three sons still live in the area. Dunn, in fact, can often be found in the stands watching Wilson games.

Dunn took over for Bob McFarlane, who was here from 1964-69. McFarlane remembers having to rebuild the program and he said the he did the best he could.

“We were pretty good,” he recalled. “We played good baseball. I did my best to teach them, and I was satisfied with that. We didn’t make any playoffs, but only the district champion made the state playoffs at that time.”

McFarlane had a long history of playing baseball, and even made the minor leagues. He said the highlight of his career was being drafted and playing minor-league ball in Salem. When he first arrived, the team put him in at the Marion Hotel there. He immediately went to the hotel restaurant to eat, and met his wife, Marge, who was working there.

“I went down there and there she was,” he said. “In the end, she was the reason I got out of baseball. I wanted to spend more time with her. She was better than baseball.”

Marge McFarlane died in 2009 and a day doesn’t go by that he doesn’t miss her. The couple had two daughters, and both were impressive athletes at Wilson.
McFarlane lives in Beaverton and has no regrets. He gave up his coaching position to Dunn to become the school’s athletic director.

“Jack was very well liked and respected,” he said. “He was a good choice.”
Bob Webster was Wilson’s first baseball coach. He spent seven years (1957-63) heading the Trojans’ staff. In only his fourth season, he helped guide the Trojans to their first PIL title and, in fact, Wilson won it for three straight seasons.

Webster also coached basketball at the school.