On the Outside Looking In : MacKenzie Wrestles With Retirement From Canoga Park High

Doug MacKenzie seemed destined to struggle with retirement, but he probably never expected the reminders of idleness to come so frequently.

Every time the former Canoga Park High baseball coach picks up a newspaper and reads about his old team, the feeling of loss gnaws at him like an extra-innings defeat. After 37 years on the job--including last season when he led Canoga Park to the City Section 4-A Division championship with his 300th career victory--the 62-year-old MacKenzie is a coach without a team. His team.

“It hurts every time I look at the scores in the morning,” MacKenzie said from his home in Glendale. “I’m rooting so bad for Canoga Park. Every time they win I think, ‘Oh, that’s the fun I could be having.’ That’s selfish, I know, but winning is so much fun.”

MacKenzie had a lifetime worth of memories as Canoga Park’s feisty father figure to two generations of Hunter players. Former players, now middle-aged men themselves, remember “Mac” for his contagious enthusiasm and remarkable energy: Until his final day of coaching, he pitched more than an hour of batting practice every day.

But when MacKenzie retired as a health teacher halfway through the last baseball season, it signaled the end of his days as the Legend of Lanark Park. Canoga Park Principal Charles Molina insisted on hiring an on-campus coach and selected Horace Consolo, the school’s junior varsity coach for eight years, as MacKenzie’s replacement.

Canoga Park has no walk-on coaches in varsity positions in any sport.

MacKenzie openly campaigned for the job and took the news hard when Molina made the announcement in September. But he remained optimistic, saying he was sure he would land another job in the spring. That job never came and MacKenzie claims the timing of Molina’s decision has kept him on the sidelines.

“The principal took so long denying me the job last year that it was too late to get a job this year,” he said. “I didn’t find out until the middle of September that he didn’t want me back. I’m still very bitter about that.”

Molina disputes MacKenzie’s claim, saying the former coach had ample time to pursue other jobs.

“I told him right up front that we didn’t want a walk-on coach,” Molina said. “He wanted us to go through the process and he had a whole year to seek a position.”

Molina, who was a first-year principal last school year, admitted that pro-MacKenzie sentiment was hard to ignore, especially after he won his first City championship. He also said he would recommend MacKenzie for other jobs.

“He works well with kids, is a solid baseball fundamentalist and the students liked him,” he said. “We just had to choose between two coaches, one who was retired and one who was on the staff.”

Molina turned to Consolo, who resisted the job all summer. Consolo, 58, didn’t like replacing a popular coach and urged Molina to find a younger man. He twice turned down Molina’s offers, but when a group of his junior varsity players asked him to coach, Consolo couldn’t refuse.

Still, he stipulated he would coach for only one season, a season he felt in many ways belonged to MacKenzie.

“I wish Mac would have come back for one more year because he had all those kids coming back. But that decision was out of my power,” he said.

As the playoffs open today, it is Consolo on the sidelines at Lanark Park, the Hunters’ home field. Canoga Park finished second in the West Valley League with a 10-5 record (11-7 overall) and plays Granada Hills today.

Not expected among today’s fans is MacKenzie, who has yet to attend a Canoga Park game this season. He has watched some teams, including Chatsworth, but said he would feel uncomfortable watching the Hunters.

“I don’t think it’s my position to go over there. I don’t want to feel like there’s any butting in on my part. I don’t want it to appear that my presence would be an intrusion,” he said.

Players have interpreted his absence differently.

“I wish he would come out to games,” said senior Adam Schulhofer, who played for MacKenzie for three years. “I’m sure that he’s hurt and has his own reasons for staying away. I mean, he’d been at Canoga Park for 37 years. I liked him as a coach and it would give me a lift if he came out.”

Avoiding games is one matter, but when MacKenzie failed to show at a recent team party at the Schulhofer house, some of the Hunters were angry. The party brought together members of last year’s team, who received jackets commemorating the 1987 City title. MacKenzie had appealed to the school’s booster club to purchase the jackets.

“The guys were pretty angry that he didn’t show up at least to say hello,” said Mike Kerber, last year’s City Player of the Year. “We’re pretty disappointed that he didn’t come to even one game. He went to see Chatsworth. Why couldn’t he come to see his own team?”

MacKenzie claims he will see a Canoga Park game this year--the City final June 2 at Dodger Stadium. He even predicts a Canoga Park victory, saying the Hunters will upset Chatsworth.

Still, the role of spectator suits MacKenzie poorly. His job search continues. “This may sound overconfident, but I’m sure I’ll be working somewhere in 1989.”

City Section baseball previews. See capsules, Page 10