Ken Schreiber
Baseball Coach
Inducted: July 5, 1999
17th Annual Induction Ceremony
Washington, DC
(The following appeared in that year’s HOF induction program)
Only three other coaches in the history of high school baseball have accomplished what Ken Schreiber did - win 1,000 games as a high school baseball coach. In 39 years as head baseball coach at LaPorte (Indiana) High School, Schreiber won 1,010 games and lost only 217. He concluded his legendary career last year ranked No. 4 all-time in baseball coaching victories, according to the NFHS' National High School Sports Record Book.
Perhaps even more amazing is that he accomplished his feat in the basketball-rich state of Indiana and that he is Indiana's all-time leader in coaching victories in any sport.
Schreiber' s teams won 25 conference titles, 28 sectional championships, 18 regional titles and a record seven state championships. As an indication of his ability to mold new talent into championship-caliber teams, Schreiber's seven championships were spread over 25 years (1967, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1992).
Schreiber was honored as Indiana coach of the year nine times, Midwest coach of the year four times and national coach of the year three times. He is a member of seven other halls of fame, and Collegiate Baseball selected Schreiber the high school baseball coach of the century.
The 65-year-old Schreiber has lectured at baseball clinics throughout the nation, and he has authored several articles in coaching journals. From 1974 to 1979, Schreiber was a member of the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee and served on the technical staff for a 1974 NFHS rules film produced in Jacksonville, Florida. While a member of the Baseball Rules Committee, Schreiber proposed the use of the designated hitter for high school baseball, which after a one-year experimentation in Indiana, was adopted nationally.
Schreiber is one of three founders of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1971 and served as the organization's president for three terms. He also was a member of the organizing committee of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association and is due to serve as president in 2001.
Under Schreiber's tutelage, nine LaPorte players have advanced to professional baseball, and more than 100 have participated at the college level.
Schreiber was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 28, 1934. He participated in three sports at Elston High School in Michigan City, Indiana, and graduated from Valparaiso (Indiana) University in 1958. He later earned his master's from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Now retired, Schreiber lives in LaPorte, Indiana, with his wife, Judy.
