Minnesota Made: Dana Kiecker Transitions to Bench Coach Role at Century College

Dana Kiecker, the 1983 eighth-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox out of St. Cloud State University, has never stepped away from baseball. After playing two seasons in the big leagues with the Red Sox in 1990 and 1991, Kiecker returned home to Minnesota to continue his playing career in amateur baseball. He continued playing into his age 55 season in 2016, then decided it was time for a new role in baseball; coaching. 

"I was always a big fan of giving back to the game," said Kiecker. "I'm 61 right now. So at 55, I was still playing with a college teammate of mine in Over-35 baseball. Shortly after that, I retired from UPS full time, and at that time, I was driving past what I thought was a beautiful ballpark down off of County Road 42 in Rosemount, which was Dakota County Technical College. I did some research, went up, and approached the head coach, and I said, 'Hey, are you looking for any coaches?' I think any head baseball coach at any level will always take more coaches, and that's where it started."

Kiecker had spent four seasons at DCTC as their pitching coach, working alongside head coach Matthew Erzar. This year both coaches are in their first seasons coaching at Century College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, with Erzar still in the head coach role while Kiecker has transitioned over to bench coach.

"This will be my fifth-year coaching with Dana," said Erzar. "Dana has made a huge difference in my program on and off the field. Off the field, he has helped with tutoring/study tables, strength and conditioning, community service (Open Door), and director of operations when we travel."

Even though Kiecker had been a full-time pitcher during his professional baseball career, he still had spent time as an infielder in high school and Over-35 amateur baseball, which has helped him with the larger in-game perspective that comes with being a bench coach. 

"I was an infielder and a hitter, believe it or not, before I was a pitcher. When I went to St. Cloud State at that time, Bob Hegman was our shortstop, and Bob Hegman got drafted by the Royals. So they never had enough pitching, and I pitched a little bit. Coach Denny Lorsung said let's see what you have on the mound. It's pretty much been all I have done since that time. But that's the fun thing about coming back, playing amateur, and playing Over-35 baseball. You get to play different positions that you haven't played in a long time. It was a lot of fun," said Kiecker. 

The two infield positions Kiecker often played throughout his career were shortstop and first base. Kiecker saw more time at first base at the latter part of his playing career as he said in his own words, "Because it's a shorter walk from first base into the dugout."

Although Kiecker's time in the majors only lasted for two seasons, he still had the opportunity to do something the likes of hall of farmers Ernie Banks and Luke Appling never did. Play in the postseason. 

Kiecker's only postseason team was his rookie year with the 1990 AL East Champion Red Sox. It was a squad led by future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, flame-thrower Roger Clemens, and  Minnesota Twin 1987 World Series Champs Jeff Reardon and Tom Brunansky. 

With his time as a coach, Kiecker has always kept in mind three of his teammates from that 1990 squad that he believes any of his players should look into and model some of their game after. Clemens and Reardon and Mike Boddicker, who had already won a World Series in his career with the 1983 Baltimore Orioles. 

"Roger Clemens? He worked, at that point, I think harder than anybody else that I'd ever seen. His goal was to be the best pitcher in baseball, and he was not only that season but for a number of years. Mike Boddicker, on the flip side, had a different work ethic. He worked as hard, but he didn't have the velocity. He threw a good forkball, he just didn't have Roger's skills, but he went about it differently. And then Jeff Reardon, who's still a close friend of mine. Just watching him as a closer and how he approached the game. There are other players, but those three all had a different approach, and I take bits and pieces from them to teach with," said Kiecker. 

Kiecker himself is still a big believer in teaching the human elements of the game over the analytical. Kiecker recognizes that analytics have a place in baseball but values what goes on in baseball's mental and physical parts more than what cameras and algorithms can capture. 

"I'll be the first to admit that analytics aren't going to go away. But I'm still trying to figure out if it's helped the game or not because I don't think it's easy. Sometimes you just gotta figure it out. And we say that a lot. Just figure it out, you know,  the human element. They're just always waiting for somebody to tell them what to do or where to throw one good pitch? No, you gotta learn that. And we certainly try to apply that here at Century." 

There are two friends and former teammates from the early days of playing baseball for Kiecker who stand out to him as those who understood the human elements of baseball. Jim Eisenreich and Terry Steinbach. Kiecker's time playing with Eisenreich dates back to his first season at St. Cloud State University, while his friendship with Steinbach dates back even further to their time as high schoolers. 

"Jim Eisenreich just always seemed to have it. I just remembered he hit over .500 against me even though I only pitched two seasons. I think about that from college, then he came back and worked out with us at St. Cloud when he was already in the major leagues. Every time I would pitch to him, I made sure I always had a screen up inside because he hit the ball back up the middle better than anybody else that I had ever seen hit, and I tried to explain that to these kids," said Kiecker on Eisenreich. 

"Terry Steinbach, another 13 year Major Leaguer who was one of my battery mates. We grew up in the same area and worked out together on everything. What he taught me about pitching, and it's not like it's that much different than what we do here, but I think more from a confidence standpoint. The plate's the same width. The mound is the same distance. Yeah, the hitters might be a little bit better, but you just have to go with what your best stuff is. Those are two that really stick out to me that have been a big influence for me."

The Century College Wood Ducks have found themselves slow out the gates in their first 16 games. The Wood Ducks, as many college and junior college teams, do in March, traveled down to Florida for an extensive two-week schedule playing teams from across the nation. Century's record currently sits at 5-11 on the season. Still, with 30 games remaining on the schedule, Kiecker is confident the team will turn themselves around to be postseason contenders. 

"We need to do a better job of being more aggressive at the plate, and we need to do a better job of taking the pitch where it's happening and hitting it with authority. I think too many times; we're looking for that perfect pitch and high school level, you're probably not going to see them too often because they don't have that command. You see it at this level. So we just need to be more aggressive, and our pitchers can cut down on their walks. We've got quality pitching. I want to say that about two-thirds of the runs we've given up have been put on base with a walk. It's two things that we can easily work on." said Kiecker on the team's room for improvement for the games to come. 

Kiecker's playing days may be over, but he still has gas in the tank when it counts to teaching a new generation of college baseball players what it takes to be a part of a winning team, just as he was in 1990 with the Boston Red Sox. 

The Century College Wood Ducks are off for a week and a half and will resume their games on April 1 for a four-game series against Bay College out of Escanaba, Michigan, at home.