Goldwater recalled as dedicated baseball man
Former players say memorable coach made quite an impact
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Freehold Township baseball coach Bernie Goldwater celebrates the Patriots' 1986 Group III state title.

Tributes to Bernie Goldwater flowed into Freehold Town-ship from around the country over the weekend from many of the people whose lives he touched. The Freehold Regional High School District lost one of its giants on July 5 with the passing of Goldwater, a legendary baseball coach, teacher and administrator. Goldwater, 74, died in Florida. For those whose lives he had an impact on, there was no hiding what he meant to them.

"Today I have a heavy heart," said former major leaguer Denny Walling, Goldwater's most famous baseball student. "He was a dedicated person, a dedicated father and husband. He taught honesty and being responsible to yourself and the team. He reinforced those values I learned at home."

Walling, who now lives in Virginia, remained close to his former scholastic coach and said Goldwater "will be missed, but his memory lives on."

From California, Jim Alesio remembered the huge shadow Goldwater cast.

He said that for students who were playing high school sports, "Bernie was bigger than life."

And like Walling, Alesio said Goldwater was more than just a baseball coach.

"He was more of a life coach," Alesio said. "He influenced my entire family. He taught me about life, about not giving up."

Kyle Goldwater, one of Goldwater's sons, would be glad to hear that.

"He was all about helping, trying to make people better," Goldwater said. "I couldn't ask for anyone to be more supportive of me than he was."

Bernie Goldwater had a way of inspiring his players to go above and beyond what they thought they could do.

"You didn't want to let him down," said Joe Jablonski. "He did not play favorites. If he saw something in you he encouraged you. I wasn't 6-4 or 6-5, but he told me 'you go for it son.' He was that kind of guy. He was a great man to play for."

Former baseball coach and athletic director Rich Kane knew Goldwater as an opposing coach and a fellow administrator in the Freehold Regional High School District. He knew firsthand how tough it was going up against a Goldwater-coached team, first with his Freehold High School squads against Goldwater's Howell Rebels and then with his Manalapan High School baseball team against Goldwater's Freehold Township nine.

"If your teams weren't prepared, you couldn't beat Bernie's teams," Kane said. "They were so fundamentally sound. He was very, very demanding. Bernie believed in pitching and defense and he played 'small ball.' He figured if he got a one-run or two-run lead, he'd beat you."

Which was usually the case.

As an athletic director, Goldwater was every bit as thorough as he had been on the baseball diamond.

"Bernie was one of the easiest ADs to get along with and was one of the most respected ADs around the state," Kane remarked. "If you needed to switch the site of a game or a date he was always cooperative. He had a heart of gold. His bottom line was the kids. He will be sadly missed."

It is as a Hall of Fame baseball coach that Goldwater's legacy will endure. He built winning programs at two high schools, first at Howell and then at Freehold Township. His teams won 331 games (he had a 331-190 career record) and filled the gyms of both schools with championship banners.

Goldwater's teams won six Shore Conference division titles, one Shore Conference Tournament championship, six New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey sectional crowns and one NJSIAA state Group III championship during his 24-year career at the two schools. He retired from coaching after the 1988 season.

At Howell in the late 1960s the marquee athletes were players like Herman Hill, Greg Walling and Denny Walling as Goldwater brought a Shore Conference division crown to the Rebels. All three went on to play professional baseball, with Denny Walling enjoying a 15-year career with the Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently a roving batting instructor for the Baltimore Orioles. To Walling, of all the people responsible for his success on the baseball diamond, Goldwater had the most influence.

"He was a great teacher of the game," Walling said. "He had a passion for it and he was a fiery competitor. He taught you to play the game the proper way being responsible to the team and to yourself. He was not liked by everyone, but ask anyone who put on a uniform and played for him what they think of him."

At Freehold Township, Goldwater built one of the most respected programs in the state from the ground floor. It all started with the 1975 team that won the school's first Shore Conference division crown and NJSIAA state sectional title.

Alesio and the late Steve Smith were the stars of that team.

"He prepared us so well," Alesio said. "We had reams and reams of plays that we went over. He was a great teacher and very hard-nosed competitor."

The 1975 team was the beginning of a great run by the Patriots that culminated with the 1986 state Group III championship team.

The 1986 team was a juggernaut. It was deep in pitching led by hard-throwing all-state pitcher Dan Donovan and offensively by all-state first baseman Mike Dermer. Like all of Goldwater's teams, it was sound defensively. The Patriots beat Indian Hills High School of Oakland, Bergen County, handily in the Group III title game that was played at Princeton University.

Jablonski was the second baseman on the 1986 team.

"We had every position covered, but you need a coach and we were coached well," he said. "He'd have you on your toes every minute of the game."

Jablonski recalled that winning a state group championship for Goldwater was a high point for the team.

That 1986 season saw Goldwater win his milestone 300th career game and capture the Shore Conference A North Division and Central Jersey Group III titles as well.

Frank Gualtieri, the current coach of the Freehold Township baseball team, knows that it all began with Goldwater.

"He was synonymous with Freehold Township baseball and building the program to a perennial power. He had an outstanding baseball mind," Gualtieri said, adding that Goldwater was about more than just baseball. "He contributed a tremendous amount to the Freehold District as a coach, (physical education) teacher, athletic director and supervisor. His contributions will live forever."