Rancho Buena Vista's Miller finds joy in managing

By: DAN HAYES - Staff writer | Friday, August 19, 2005 1:13 PM PDT ∞

Marty Miller is beginning to see the perks of the Rancho Buena Vista Majors All-Star team's run to the Little League World Series.

On Sunday, the team's manager won an all-expenses-paid trip with the team to South Williamsport, Pa.

He followed that by getting released from jury duty on Monday even though he had already changed his date once before.

If only everything in life was this simple.

"(The operator) said, 'You've already changed it once and you can't change it again,' " Miller said. " 'Yeah, but I'm coaching that Little League team that's going to the World Series and we won't be back until the 29th.' So she took me clear off jury duty. It made my day."

Miller won't be able to escape his managing duties, however. Nor would he choose to.

The 53-year-old Vista resident said he's enjoying his team's unbelievable run in All-Star play ---- 20 straight wins and counting ----- as much as any member of the team.

Dreams of lining up along the first- and third-base lines at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport aren't restricted to Little Leaguers.

But the reality is that most teams never make it here.

Only eight teams from San Diego County have made it this far, and only the 1961 El Cajon team won the championship.

"This is not really a dream because I never thought it possible that we'd ever get there," Miller said. "The chances of going that far are so rare that you might as well win the lottery. For me, it's a great thing. I love these kids and having them take me there rather than me take them there is the biggest part of this deal."

It's those same players who brought Miller back in 1999 after a three-year absence and are the sole reason he returns to manage in Rancho Buena Vista's Little League program.

The manager's own son, 22-year-old Brad, is far removed from his Little League days, Miller having coached him in 1994 and 1995.

Yet year after year ---- this is his seventh in a row and ninth overall ---- Miller returns to the dugout to work with the players.

The reason is simple said Miller's wife of 30 years, Renet. Every year, Miller gets an additional 12 sons to coach on and off the field.

"He's a baseball guy," Renet Miller said. "He loves working with these kids and being able to make a statement in their lives. He's always said he'd probably never work with older kids because (preteens) still believe everything you tell them. After they turn 14, they know it all."

He considers himself a softie, but when it comes to working with the kids, Miller is adamant that he's not going to sugarcoat anything.

Beginning with the first day of practice, he gives the players on his regular-season Little League team an idea of what he wants to accomplish, and when and how they're going to do it.

He's upfront, and for some parents it can take a little time to get adjusted to that style.

But Vista's Cindy Dorendorf knew exactly what to expect for her 10-year-old son Shane this past season.

Dorendorf's eldest son, Brett, played for Miller from 1999-2000.

So on the first day of practice this year, Dorendorf sat back and enjoyed the reactions of the parents of other 10-year-olds on the team.

"(Marty) goes down his list. He knows exactly what he expects and holds everybody accountable," Dorendorf said. "Parents are thinking, 'Is he going to be like this?' ... and he's the biggest Pooh Bear. He's a good motivator."

Assistant coach Joe Pimentel has worked with Miller for four years.

Pimentel, who is the junior varsity coach at Rancho Buena Vista High and also led Carlsbad to a CIF Class 2A title in 1989, said Miller's style catches the attention of players immediately and creates a framework for the other coaches to work within.

"To me, he's more old-school," Pimentel said. "He's gruff and rough. He can bark his bark and then (assistant coach) Randy (Reznicek) and I come in and say, 'Hey, this is what he's trying to tell you.' Relax a bit and learn from it."

Miller, who owns and operates Miller Construction in Vista, said his coaching methods weren't adapted from anyone in particular ---- he developed them on his own.

The high school in his hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho, didn't have a baseball team and the area wasn't exactly a "hotbed" for baseball.

Instead, he settled for an American Legion program that won a state title once and was the runner-up twice. But coaches in the American Legion program weren't really instructors.

Instead, Miller, who moved to Vista with Renet 19 years ago, crafted his ways from playing 15 years of competitive slow-pitch softball.

"(In Legion), we had coaches, but they weren't coaches," Miller said. "They just filled the lineup card out and hit us ground balls. We never got any coaching like we give our kids. (In softball), I learned a lot about the defensive side and dealing with the men and the boys."

Miller has shaped his own coaching philosophy.

"I think you take the kids and keep raising the bar on them," he said. "And the better they play, the higher I raise the bar. I'll be the first one to lecture them when they foul out and the first one to give them a high-five when they succeed."

Even though he expects only the best from his players, Miller knows a team can't be successful every time out.

And that's where the sportsmanship comes in.

"(At first) everybody's afraid of me. They think I'm a mean, crabby, old fart out here," he said. "I keep the kids focused by being serious. (But) I don't beat up on kids, and I don't try to make the other (team's) kids feel bad. I think every kid out here should have a good time, and I've been on those ends where we've been humiliated before."

Miller, who's coaching his fifth All-Star team in nine years, has never had a team that was more focused than the current group.

The furthest his team had ever gone was the district tournament.

But this year's squad has winning vibes in its very core.

All three coaches and four players ---- Ryan Gura, Nate Lewis, Kalen Pimentel and Reed Reznicek ----- were part of a 28-0 Majors Reds team that went on to win the league's playoffs and the Tournament of Champions.

Combined with the All-Star squad's 20-0 mark, the core group's record stands at 57-0 as it heads into the Little League World Series.

The winning record is just another perk of good baseball.

Perhaps the only problem Miller has faced during the current run is the superstitious state of his players.

During Sunday's win, the players spotted a sign in the stands referring to Williamsport and made sure it disappeared until after the win.

Then Miller came to the team with a request for cutting down his Rollie Fingers-esque handlebar mustache.

Apparently, it's become a handful for Miller, who Renet described as "not high maintenance."

"I have curly hair, so once (the mustache) gets out it starts going in 65 different directions," Miller said. "So now I have to wax it to control it. I asked the kids if I could get rid of it and they said 'No.' "

Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at (760) 739-6643 or dhayes@nctimes.com.

UNITED STATES DIVISION

A look at the seven teams besides Rancho Buena Vista (which has been assigned to Pool B) in the U.S. Division:

Pool A

Mid-Atlantic

- City: Newtown, Pa.

- League: Council Rock Newtown Little League

- Qualification: 6-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: This will be the 20th trip for a team from Pennsylvania. The state has produced four champions, the last one in 1960.

- Manager: Bill Hartley

Northwest

- City: Ewa Beach, Hawaii

- League: West Oahu Little League

- Qualification: 6-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: Outscored opponents 87-19, including a 26-7 romp over Montana. This will be the ninth trip for a Hawaii team to the Little League World Series.

- Manager: Layton Aliviado

Midwest

- City: Davenport, Iowa

- League: Davenport Northwest Little League

- Qualification: 6-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: This will be Davenport Northwest's second straight berth in the World Series. It is the fifth team from the Quad Cities to make it the last six years.

- Manager: Jeff Mallonee

Southeast

- City: Maitland, Fla.,

- League: Maitland Little League

- Qualification: 4-1 in regional tournament

- Fact: Dante Bichette Jr., son of former major-league player Dante Bichette, and Tanner Stanley, son of former big-leaguer Mike Stanley, play for Maitland. This will be the 20th time a team from Florida will make an appearance in the Little League World Series. and the first for Maitland Little League.

- Manager: Sid Cash

Pool B

New England

- City: Westbrook, Maine

- League: Westbrook Little League

- Qualification: 3-3 regional tournament

- Fact: This will be the third appearance for a team from Maine and the first since 1971.

- Manager: Rick Knight

Great Lakes

- City: Owensboro, Ky.

- League: Owensboro Southern Little League

- Qualification: 6-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: This is the second consecutive year for Owensboro in the Little League World Series. Kentucky will have a team in the tourney for the third time in four years, with Valley Sports American winning the 2002 title.

- Manager: Ricky Hale

Southwest

- City: Lafayette, La.

- League: Lafayette Little League

- Qualification: 4-1 in regional tournament

- Fact: Lafayette Little League's participation marks the fourth time Louisiana has been represented, and the first for Lafayette.

- Manager: Mike Conrad

-- Compiled by Matt Null

INTERNATIONAL DIVISION

Pool C

Pacific

- City: Agana, Guam

- League: Central East Little League

- Qualification: 4-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: This will be the fourth trip for Guam, which made three consecutive appearances from 2001-2003.

- Manager: Shon Muna

Mexico

- City: Mexicali, Mexico

- League: Seguro Social Little League

- Qualification: 8-2 in 12-team, two-phase regional tournament

- Fact: This will be the 21st trip for a Mexico team. Teams from Mexico have won the Little League World Series three times, the most recent in 1997.

- Manager: Juan Minor

Canada

- City: Surrey, British Columbia

- League: Whalley Little League

- Qualification: 6-1 in regional tournament

- Fact: Teams from Canada have been to the Little League World Series 58 times with Whalley making its fourth appearance. The others came in 1973, 1978 and 1997.

- Manager: Glen Morache

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

- City: Moscow

- League: Brateevo Little League

- Qualification: 4-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: Russia has had a team qualify for the Little League World Series on three occasions (Khovrino Little League, Moscow, 2001-03). This will be the first year that Brateevo Little League will be represented.

- Manager: Alexey Erofeev

Pool D

Latin America

- City: Valencia, Venezuela

- League: Los Leones Little League

- Qualification: 3-1 in regional tournament

- Fact: Los Leones advanced with a forfeit win over Altagracia Little League, a team to which it lost Sunday.

- Manager: Richard Alvarez Jr.

Asia

- City: Chiba City, Japan

- League: Chiba City Little League

- Qualification: 3-1 in pool play; won Asia Region championship by way of tie-breaker after three teams finished 3-1 in pool play

- Fact: Teams from Japan have won the World Series six times, the most recent in 2003.

- Manager: Hirofumi Oda

Transatlantic

- City: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

- League: Arabian American Little League

- Qualification: 4-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: Arabian American has had a team qualify for the Little League World Series 12 times since 1991. The team, composed of sons of American employees from the oil company Saudi Aramco, has outscored opponents 83-2 in eight games.

- Manager: Tommy Bumstead

Caribbean

- City: Willemstad, Curacao

- League: Pabao Little League

- Qualification: 5-0 in regional tournament

- Fact: The defending Little League World Series champions defeated Conejo Valley of Thousand Oaks to claim Curacao's first title.

- Manager: Vernon Isabella

-- Compiled by Matt Null