Ex-Estancia Coach dies
Ken Millard, a former Estancia High baseball coach, died Monday at Hoag Hospital after a battle with pneumonia.
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Ken Millard, not so easy to please, but, former Eagles players said, easy to appreciate later, was 76.
By Barry Faulkner
Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:18 AM PDT
There are 8 comment(s) View Comments
Ken Millard, a former Estancia High baseball coach who didn’t like to let on that he loved his players as much as he did the game, died Monday at Hoag Hospital after a battle with pneumonia.
He was 76.
Millard, a longtime physical education teacher at Estancia, guided the Eagles’ program to its greatest success from the 1970s to 1994.
He also worked as a bartender at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club and, upon retiring from Estancia, was an assistant baseball coach at Irvine and Woodbridge high schools.
He had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and had been treated for a blood disorder. He was hospitalized Oct. 17.
A Costa Mesa resident since 1969, Millard is remembered fondly by former players and students, many of whom were initially rebuffed by his stern, uncompromising, old-school approach.
“For a high school player, he was a little bit intimidating,” said Jeff Gardner, who played for Millard at Estancia and, like Estancia product Rich Amaral, went on to play Major League Baseball. “He was a little bit crotchety. I think it was difficult, at times, for high school guys to understand him. But by my senior year, I really enjoyed him and after I was done [at Estancia], I absolutely loved the guy. And I know the guys that I played with, and over the years, have come to realize what a great guy he was. He was a much softer person than he let on.
“He was such a super nice person, who was very loving and caring, though he didn’t come across that way.”
Amaral, who finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting at age 31 with the 1993 Seattle Mariners, credited Millard with much of his success in the game.
“He had his ways,” Amaral said. “We ran our 220-yard sprints in the morning [before school], we hustled everywhere and we stood at attention when he called our name. You couldn’t go through the motions and play for him, which was a great thing to learn, for me.”
Joe Ronquillo, who played for and coached with Millard at Estancia, said he became much more than a coach, mentor and friend.
“My dad died when I was 18 and Coach basically became the dad that I needed,” Ronquillo said. “He was there for me when all my kids were born; when I got married; when I got divorced; everything. There was more to him than most people think. He loved baseball, music, his family and his friends.”
Millard, renowned for his competitiveness, did not abide anything less than total focus from his players. He was often inconsolable after a loss and he scowled more than smiled when talking with reporters.
He also had a unique take on the game and his many baseball sayings became known as Millard-isms.
“My favorite is: The ball knows,” Amaral said of Millard’s theory that any player’s lack of preparation, dedication or concentration on the diamond would be revealed as the game unfolded. “I still use that one with my kids.”
Millard regularly told players to “Rub dirt on it,” in response to any injury sustained on the field, and “Be a Marine,” was also a favorite phrase, often used as encouragement to any player hitting in a clutch situation.
Bob Flint, a head coach and former adversary who welcomed Millard to his staff at Irvine and Woodbridge, said Millard, known universally as “Coach,” was beloved by the players.
“He’d never come around until the spring,” Flint said. “One February, we’re on the field practicing and here comes Coach Millard. I didn’t see him at first, but the kids did, and they all stopped what they were doing and applauded. A standing ovation. That’s how the kids felt about him. They absolutely loved that guy.”
And Millard truly loved teaching, coaching and talking baseball.
“I don’t know that there is a person on earth that loved baseball more than he did,” Gardner said.
“Anyone who has coached with him or played for him took a piece of Ken Millard with them,” former Woodbridge assistant Dan Hankin said.
Millard was born and raised in Chicago and spent one season in the Chicago White Sox organization, before a two-year stint in the Navy.
“He hardly ever talked about himself, but one day I asked him about some of the guys he played with,” Flint said. “He said at spring training, he and [Hall of Fame shortstop] Luis Aparicio were the best double-play combination in camp. He said Aparicio would lead off and get a single, then he would hit into a double play.”
Millard graduated from Northern Illinois University, earned a teaching credential at Arizona State and began his teaching and coaching career at Colton High, before coming to Estancia.
He is survived by wife Jean and daughter Kari. His late son, Tommy, died in 1993.
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<!-- end delicious -->Ken Millard, not so easy to please, but, former Eagles players said, easy to appreciate later, was 76.
By Barry Faulkner
Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:18 AM PDT
There are 8 comment(s) View Comments
Ken Millard, a former Estancia High baseball coach who didn’t like to let on that he loved his players as much as he did the game, died Monday at Hoag Hospital after a battle with pneumonia.
He was 76.
Millard, a longtime physical education teacher at Estancia, guided the Eagles’ program to its greatest success from the 1970s to 1994.
He also worked as a bartender at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club and, upon retiring from Estancia, was an assistant baseball coach at Irvine and Woodbridge high schools.
He had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and had been treated for a blood disorder. He was hospitalized Oct. 17.
A Costa Mesa resident since 1969, Millard is remembered fondly by former players and students, many of whom were initially rebuffed by his stern, uncompromising, old-school approach.
“For a high school player, he was a little bit intimidating,” said Jeff Gardner, who played for Millard at Estancia and, like Estancia product Rich Amaral, went on to play Major League Baseball. “He was a little bit crotchety. I think it was difficult, at times, for high school guys to understand him. But by my senior year, I really enjoyed him and after I was done [at Estancia], I absolutely loved the guy. And I know the guys that I played with, and over the years, have come to realize what a great guy he was. He was a much softer person than he let on.
“He was such a super nice person, who was very loving and caring, though he didn’t come across that way.”
Amaral, who finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting at age 31 with the 1993 Seattle Mariners, credited Millard with much of his success in the game.
“He had his ways,” Amaral said. “We ran our 220-yard sprints in the morning [before school], we hustled everywhere and we stood at attention when he called our name. You couldn’t go through the motions and play for him, which was a great thing to learn, for me.”
Joe Ronquillo, who played for and coached with Millard at Estancia, said he became much more than a coach, mentor and friend.
“My dad died when I was 18 and Coach basically became the dad that I needed,” Ronquillo said. “He was there for me when all my kids were born; when I got married; when I got divorced; everything. There was more to him than most people think. He loved baseball, music, his family and his friends.”
Millard, renowned for his competitiveness, did not abide anything less than total focus from his players. He was often inconsolable after a loss and he scowled more than smiled when talking with reporters.
He also had a unique take on the game and his many baseball sayings became known as Millard-isms.
“My favorite is: The ball knows,” Amaral said of Millard’s theory that any player’s lack of preparation, dedication or concentration on the diamond would be revealed as the game unfolded. “I still use that one with my kids.”
Millard regularly told players to “Rub dirt on it,” in response to any injury sustained on the field, and “Be a Marine,” was also a favorite phrase, often used as encouragement to any player hitting in a clutch situation.
Bob Flint, a head coach and former adversary who welcomed Millard to his staff at Irvine and Woodbridge, said Millard, known universally as “Coach,” was beloved by the players.
“He’d never come around until the spring,” Flint said. “One February, we’re on the field practicing and here comes Coach Millard. I didn’t see him at first, but the kids did, and they all stopped what they were doing and applauded. A standing ovation. That’s how the kids felt about him. They absolutely loved that guy.”
And Millard truly loved teaching, coaching and talking baseball.
“I don’t know that there is a person on earth that loved baseball more than he did,” Gardner said.
“Anyone who has coached with him or played for him took a piece of Ken Millard with them,” former Woodbridge assistant Dan Hankin said.
Millard was born and raised in Chicago and spent one season in the Chicago White Sox organization, before a two-year stint in the Navy.
“He hardly ever talked about himself, but one day I asked him about some of the guys he played with,” Flint said. “He said at spring training, he and [Hall of Fame shortstop] Luis Aparicio were the best double-play combination in camp. He said Aparicio would lead off and get a single, then he would hit into a double play.”
Millard graduated from Northern Illinois University, earned a teaching credential at Arizona State and began his teaching and coaching career at Colton High, before coming to Estancia.
He is survived by wife Jean and daughter Kari. His late son, Tommy, died in 1993.
