Mac’s Big win: Harrison County’s manager Whitaker breaks KHSAA baseball wins record
CYNTHIANA, Ky. (BVM) — One could not start the history of Harrison County baseball without mentioning manager Mac Whitaker. Whitaker, who has coached the team since 1978 after being a player for the program, has interwoven his legacy into the Thorobreds program for over 40 years and has had a number of successes in that span. In his time as the team’s skipper, Whitaker has never led a losing campaign, managed a 37-season streak of teams with at least 20 wins and 17 seasons with at least 30 wins and won 36 District 38 championships, 21 Region 10 championships, nine sectional championships and four state titles. That’s saying a lot for a program Whitaker adopted that initially didn’t have a field or even the right equipment.
“That first year when I took over we didn’t have a field, our dugouts were dirt dugouts and we didn’t have an outfield fence,” Whitaker said. “My assistant coach now was on that team in 78 and he had to wear blue jeans that year because we didn’t have enough uniforms. When we sent out for our uniforms, they had the spelling misspelled and our people didn’t want to send them back so we kept them.”
However, none of those achievements can hold a candle to what the longtime manager did on Monday.
With the Thorobreds’ 15-0, three-inning home win over Model, Whitaker became the winningest baseball manager in Kentucky High School Athletic Association history with win No. 1,145, breaking a tie with longtime Pleasure Ridge Park skipper and KHSAA Hall of Famer Bill Miller.
“I’m just really overwhelmed with all that has gone on this week,” Whitaker said. “The celebration, the number of people that came out to see the game, the former players, our whole fanbase, the city of Cynthiana, the newspaper media, everybody. It’s just been really overwhelming and I’m honored and humbled and ecstatic for our community for something like this to have happened.”
Following the final run of the game, Whitaker, unsurprisingly, was swarmed by both his team and media members who were in attendance for the opportunity to witness history. The moment was one that was building for nearly half a century, but one that Whitaker understands couldn’t have been done without the help of the great players he coached, the trust of the Harrison County administration and his coaching staff, which includes his older brother Jimmy.
“It’s just amazing what the time and the effort we’ve all put in,” Whitaker said. “When you have that stability in a program, you can really get things done. I’m just so pleased for everybody because everybody puts in a lot of hard work.”
With his 1,145 wins, Whitaker has built up a lead in the state record book with 109 more wins than the next closest active coach, Covington Catholic’s Bill Krumplebeck, who currently sits at 1,036 wins. Though there is happiness for Whitaker and the new record, it did come with some sadness as well as he jumped the legend that is Miller, who passed away on April 23, 2018, just over three years to the day that his record would fall.
“We became good friends. We were competitors on the field and we really dominated high school baseball for many years playing in multiple state championships,” Whitaker said. “When he was sick in the hospital in Louisville I went to go see him and when I walked in the door he made everybody leave and we just hugged and let each other know how much we felt about him. Passing him was bittersweet because of the situation we had and the respect we had for each other. You couldn’t ask for a better baseball coach and a better man than Bill Miller.”
Even after the record officially became Whitaker’s, it would not be the only honor the legendary skipper would receive following the victory. Following the game, the school announced that it would rename the team’s home stadium Mac Whitaker Field to honor their longtime manager.
“I was sitting there because for the past 25, 30 years I mowed the field every single day. I take care of the grass, I take care of the dirt, I do every bit of any maintenance that takes place on our field and I stopped for a second and looked up at our scoreboard and said ‘What on Earth?’ because they had it covered in plastic,” Whitaker said. “[When they revealed the name] that finally got to me. I had tears. I just couldn’t believe it. I never had any clue this was happening.”
Though the record is now solely his, Whitaker is not quite done yet building on it. With his team currently sitting at 13-3 with 19 games to go, it appears that Whitaker may be headed for another 30-win season. While nobody can predict the future, it is fair to think that the Thorobreds are well on their way to another successful season thanks to their leader.
“I start five freshman on the varsity right now and they’re pretty good players so you can imagine in the next two or three years what we’ve got,” Whitaker said. “We feel we have something in the making that we can be a very tough team down the road.”
As far as his future goes, Whitaker is still hoping to be the Harrison County skipper for some more years and doesn’t have any plans to stop soon.
“As long as I feel like I do a good job and mine and my wife’s health holds up, I don’t know how long it will be, but I feel good right now,” Whitaker said. “I’ll take whatever I can do to keep going. I hope that I can do it and I hope we can continue to do a good job.”
After decades of hard work and dedication to one program, Whitaker will now be able to take a minute to enjoy his successes. As he continues his championing of young men in the state and with no end in sight, Whitaker will continue to make his way through the history books, even as his loftiest goal has already been reached. When the end of his career does finally come, Whitaker won’t soon be forgotten by the Harrison County faithful as he has become nearly synonymous with the program itself and people will continue to remember that as long as the Thorobreds take the diamond at Mac Whitaker Field.
