“There is such a treasure trove of history that we are only now getting to see because of Gary Baughman. No one brings the same kind of dedication to their position in the ISC as Gary does to his statistician role.” – Blair Setford, ISC Vice President Operations.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Let’s see, Vic Cobos had a pretty decent ISC World Tournament in 1970 with a .286 batting average in helping Schafer-Smith Insurance of Phoenix, Arizona win the championship.
And there’s Dan Benalick of the 1980 third place Grimsby, Ontario Peach Kings. Wow! Benalick had a great tournament behind the plate with 45 put outs and perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
The ISC World Tournament has been around since 1947. That’s 66 years in which thousands of players can boast that they’ve played in the “big show.” Which means that every player has stats attached next to his name – hits, runs, RBI’s, strikeouts, ERA….
The ISC statistics are enormous in volume. Now who would have the desire, dedication and know-how to compile such a vast volume of stats?
That would be ISC Statistician Gary Baughman. He’s been on the job since 1995 when he took over for Art Cashion (ISC Hall of Fame, 2005).
NEW ERA OF STAT KEEPING
Shortly after his arrival, Baughman moved stat keeping from the scorebook and a No. 2 pencil and typewriter, into computer-based technology.
“In 1993, I did the statistics by hand for Art Cashion,” Baughman said. “In 1995, Pat Sullivan (ISC Iowa Area Commissioner) asked me if I would like to do the stats for the ISC (World Tournament) in Kimberly, Wisconsin.”
Baughman accepted. And he’s been at the post ever since.
Getting back to Vic Cobos and Dan Benalick’s decades old stats. That’s just a tiny sliver of the historical work Baughman’s undertaken lately. He’s created a special section on the ISC website entitled:
Lifetime of Stats!
“Gary has gone through prior World Tournament score sheets and developed full offensive stats on every player in every game in the ISC since 1947,” said Ken Hackmeister, retiring ISC Executive Director for 12 years. “He’s now working on a similar set of stats for ISC pitchers.”
CHECK OUT YOUR STATS
So EVERY player – and there are thousands – who ever pitched or played in an ISC World Tournament game since 1947 will have his stats on record. Including career leaders in several categories.
“Fans everywhere can go to the ISC website and see them,” Baughman said. “I have spent 11 years and many thousands of hours compiling them. I hope all fans and players enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed doing them.”
Joe Todd, the ISC’s Vice President of Communications, calls Baughman’s Lifetime of Stats, “awesome.”
“These stats will be used by everyone in the fastball world for decades,” Todd said. “Going forward, you’ll be able to make sure your grandpa, your uncle or your Dad is not stretching the truth because Gary has it down in black and white.”
YEAR-ROUND DEVOTION
Baughman works year-round on ISC stats. Along with that, he collects team rosters for the upcoming World Tournament; works on the ISC, ISC II, Legends, and Under-21 schedules. But his pace quickens into a full gallop at the World Tournament.
Game after game – about 120 in the 2012 World Tournament and Legends Tournament. And at the end of each game, he verified the stats and then handed them over to Al Doran, the ISC webmaster, who puts the data on the ISC website.
The two men work side-by-side. Like a shortstop and second baseman turning the double play. So Doran knows how hard Baughman works during the World Tournament.
“Gary arrives at the park generally well before the first game of the day to ensure all the game scorers are set up with line up cards and score sheets,” said Doran. “Gary leaves the park well after the last game of the day. He (also) spends countless hours working with teams on their rosters as soon as they win a regional qualifier over the summer.”
GRANDPA’S LIFETIME STATS
Baughman’s stat keeping spans 18 World Tournaments now. Through it all, he’s never forsaken the accuracy of every at bat, every pitch, every out. Because he knows some fan somewhere has a special player they are keenly following.
“The fans of the ISC want to know what their husbands, sons and fathers are doing at the World Tournament,” Baughman said. “Al (Doran) gives them the information that I get from the score sheets so fans from all over the world can find out. To me, besides the awards at the end of the tournament, that is my primary contribution.”
Baughman loves fastball. He likes watching the greatest players and pitchers battle it out as much as any fan. A few stand out: Hall of Fame pitchers Michael White and Darren Zack, and this year, Donnie Hale, the ISC’s new RBI record-holder with 17.
“Every year when I look at the stats someone makes me say ‘wow,’ look what he did,” Baughman said.
But for the most part, he concentrates on one thing: stats.
Watching a lot of ball games? Little chance.
“I love what I do each August,” he said. “It’s a great deal of work, and I don’t see as much ball as I would like, but I do it for the players and for the fans of the game.”
…Ed Daniels played for the Clovis, Calif. Cowboys in 1973. His stats? No problem, Baughman has them: .389 average, three doubles and three RBIs…
…Hey, look what pitcher Richie Stephens has done: The ISC Hall of Fame pitcher is No. 11 all-time with a sparkling 0.65 ERA in 267 innings from 1953-1979…
Whose number one? That would be Paul Johnson. From 1954 to ’57 he had an ERA of 0.20 in 103 innings…
Thank you Gary Baughman.
