Gene Schultz says the time is right to move on. Schultz retired as the baseball coach at Lansing Kee High School this week as the nation’s all time leader in wins. He says they moved from Lansing to just over the Minnesota border and that was one of the reasons he decided to retire. “I think the longevity and I felt that the time was right for someone else to maybe get a chance to do what they want to do with the baseball,” Schultz says.
Schultz, who is 68, says golf will take over and he’ll also fish now that he’s not on the baseball diamond. “Looking back I wonder where all those 44 years of baseball went. It seems just like yesterday that we were in the thick of the 10th year. Time really flys and I just want to sit back and enjoy it a little more rather than beeing so busy,” Schultz says.
In 45 years at the helm Schultz led Kee High to 19 appearances at the summer state tournament, including nine state championships. His teams regularly played and beat schools from larger classes and no season was ever too long for Schultz who did not like limits on the number of games. His 1981 team that won the class 2A state championship finished with a record of 53-9.
Schultz says Iowa has too short a season and they should still be playing baseball at this time of year.
Audio: Dar Danielson interview with Gene Schultz 8:00.