Remembering a special teacher, coach and friend
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO Former major leaguer Denny Walling (l) owes much of his success, both on and off the field, to the guidance and leadership provided by his former coach and friend Bernie Goldwater.

This is a column I'd rather not be writing.With the passing of Bernie Goldwater, the Freehold Regional High School District lost a big part of its soul. Goldwater was far more than the baseball coaching legend. He touched students, teachers, coaches and families alike. Everyone has their Bernie memories.

I knew Bernie Goldwater first as a teacher and coach, then as a journalist covering his teams, and finally, I believe, as a friend.

I first met him at Howell High School, where I had him for health and physical education. I admired his toughness and fairness. But beneath his gruff exterior, you knew he would go the extra mile for you. He had a very big heart and wanted to help in any way he could. He didn't save his passion for the baseball diamond only.

I also followed the Howell (then Southern Freehold Regional) baseball team closely, because my cousin Greg Walling was one of the stars of his first championship team, and I got to see Goldwater in action. It was unforgettable to see his devotion to details, the way he demanded perfection not only of himself and players, but, dare I say, the umpires as well. However, he never asked anyone to give more than he was willing to give of himself.

When I first started working for the News Transcript, I was delighted to find out that he was coaching the Freehold Township High School baseball team. It gave me the opportunity to see him at work up close again. The first game I went to, I saw that he had lost none of his passion or competitiveness, and his teams were every bit a reflection of him - smart, relentless and always thinking, always one step ahead. Covering Freehold Township was getting your Ph.D. in baseball. It was such a privilege to see the game with such purity.

Goldwater left no stone unturned in his pursuit of perfection. His players will tell you how much time he spent drilling them, running plays over and over again. All his players will tell they thought they took the field with an edge over the competition because of how well he prepared them. He was a stickler for the fundamentals and very demanding. One of the rites of passage was learning how to hook-slide in the gymnasium in March when the weather was too poor to go outside. Seniors knew to wear extra padding those days, something the underclassmen would learn to do over time. Talk to any of his players who went on to college, and even the pros, and ask them where they learned the most baseball, and they will tell you it was playing for Bernie Goldwater. He instilled a pride that his players took with them beyond Freehold Township. They felt fortunate to have played for him.

I looked forward to each spring and the chance to watch his teams play. It usually meant baseball in June. But even if it was a lean season by his standards, his teams always put out the same effort: they played to the very last out.

There were so many great games over the years. I remember a 1-1 game with Manasquan that was halted by the fog rolling in off the ocean. It was such a brilliantly played game by both sides, you had the feeling they would still be playing the next day.

I saw how much he meant to his players in a state playoff game that went extra innings. It was a hot June day, and after his squad had rallied to tie the game and send it to extra frames, he put his arms on the shoulders of pitcher Glenn Bongiovi and asked him if he could give him one more inning. The pitcher never hesitated, and told him yes. His players would run through a wall for him, and he loved them all.

The one memory that would stand out, of course, was in June 1986 when his Patriots overran a heavy-hitting Indian Hills squad in the NJSIAA State Group III final. It was his first and only state title, completing his already lengthy résumé. What was so special was the way his team played that day. Yes, Dan Donovan was throwing bb's. But, early on when Goldwater discovered his team could run on the Braves, they ran all day, running the Braves off the Princeton University campus. At the end of the game, the Indian Hills coach congratulated Goldwater and told him that they didn't play baseball that way up his way. The state had seen "Bernie Ball."

I was always amazed over the years when you would physically match his teams up against the opposition. His players didn't fill out their uniforms, and they'd be playing teams that looked physically intimidating. At first sight, it was no contest. And, it was - only, it was the opposition who was in trouble.

Goldwater always stressed pitching and defense. His young arms were pitchers, not throwers. They had many a hitter swinging helplessly at a curve ball or the inviting change-up. One of the cardinal sins for a Patriot hurler was to give a batter too good a pitch on an 0-2 count. He loved the game within the game, matching wits with the opposition, and was always ready for anything thrown at them. If the game came down to execution, the Patriots would always have the upper hand.

Baseball has been called America's Pastime, and in that case, Goldwater was America. He made our game that much more enjoyable to watch and to understand. Those who knew him would like nothing more than to see him pacing the field once again, doing what he loved most.

It was Goldwater's baseball teams that have set the standard for athletic excellence at Freehold Township, and he deserves nothing less than to have the school's gymnasium or athletic fields named for him.