When Rob Fung played at Washington High-San Francisco in the mid-1980s, he carried his bat around school in a bat bag made out of 501 Levi jeans.
"My bat wouldn't fit in the locker and they didn't have bat bags back then," said Fung, who has retired as the Eagles' coach after 21 seasons. My mom took a pair of jeans and sewed the bag."
Fung's retirement luncheon was Sunday at Dominic's Restaurant in South San Francisco. His old friend Holden Chinn recalled the bat and unusual bat bag and presented Fung with two new versions -- a Louisville slugger emblazoned with Fung's achievements which included 407 victories, six San Francisco Section titles and two TransBay titles and another Levi's bag, sewn-to-order in Chinatown.
That was a nice gesture, although Chinn had a little difficult reading the inscription. Instead of saying Fung had 407 wins, he said "4,007," which would have required winning 191 games per season.
"I told him that's why he got kicked out of Sacred Heart (Cathedral)," Fung said with a laugh.
After averaging a still-impressive 19 victories a season for more than two decades, Fung joins other long-time baseball coaches John Donohue (Lowell), Bill Hutton (Mitty), John Goulding (Logan) and Dean Haskins (Montgomery) in leaving the dugout this year. That's more than a combined 100 years of varsity baseball coaching experience out the door.
The reason is a familiar one. Like Hutton and Haskins, Fung wants to spend more time with his children, His older son Chris played freshman ball at Burlingame High this spring and his younger one, Matthew, will be there in a few years.
Fittingly Fung's wife Debbie who organized the dinner and all of the celebrants didn't let the Foster City resident go quietly. It was a well-deserved celebration as Fung, 46, this season led the Eagles to a AAA title game for an amazing 20th time in 21 seasons, though they fell to Donohue and Lowell 9-1 at scenic AT&T Park to complete a 15-12 season.
"I was overwhelmed," said Fung who is a San Francisco policeman. "The biggest (point of) emphasis was that the kids didn't realize how much we cared for the school and preparing them for games. One of my old players, Dan Lewis, was the master of ceremonies and he told about how we lost a game to Drake his junior year and we were riding home from the game and I asked him how much he cared about the game."
The pointed question caused Lewis to ponder his effort and he responded by pitching Washington to the title the following year.
Fung was dedicated. In 1998 he was late for his own wedding rehearsal because the Eagles were playing in the section title game against Burton. His brother John stood in for them as Washington defeated Burton at Candlestick Park.
Wrote former Eagle Daniel Reznick on Fung's Facebook page: "I know almost every real thing about the sport that I love because of Rob Fung. Saying you've had a successful career as a baseball coach does you no justice."
Fung learned the game from old-timers like Ron Gaggero, former Balboa coach Ed Nevius and his Washington coach Joe Gualco. Later, Skyline College coach Terry Christman had an impact (Fung played at Skyline and San Francisco State), as well as former El Camino High coach Carlos Roman and Lowell's Donohue and ex-San Francisco police chief Tony Ribera. They all taught the Eagles' coach how to lead and many of them turned out Sunday to help honor the native San Franciscan.
"I never felt like I could stop learning from other coaches and they taught me to set my standards high," Fung said.
His contributions didn't go unnoticed. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee declared May 7 "Rob Fung Day" and presented him with a proclamation.
"I got a sheet of paper," Fung said. "I didn't get any free meals out of it, though."
Until Sunday, that is.
MONTGOMERY'S HASKINS STEPS DOWN: As mentioned, Dean Haskins has retired as the Montgomery High baseball coach. He spent 11 years in the position and 17 as a coach in the in the program. The Vikings are now seeking a new coach.
Said Haskins by email: “I have very enjoyed my 20 years with the Montgomery baseball program (three as a player, six assistant coach, and 11 head coach). It has become increasingly more difficult to balance family time and the demands of coaching baseball and still fill my role as athletic director at Montgomery High School. I will continue to be athletic director. On November 17 2014 my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This completely changed our family dynamic and focus. My focus has shifted to coaching and supporting my own kids at this current time.”
Among the many players Haskins coached was Sequoia coach Corey Uhalde.
The Vikings went 6-18 this past season, but were 19-8 as recently as 2013-2014.
Briefly: Moreau Catholic basketball star Damari Milstead has picked up an offer from USC tweets @recruitscoop ... Santa Rosa High is seeking a girls' basketball coach ... League representatives may submit their all-league teams to the email below.
John Murphy is the Web Content Manager of Prep2Prep. He may be reached at jmurphy@prep2prep.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat
