Oak Park parents want answers after varsity baseball coaches resign

Just days before the official start of the season, Oak Park High's varsity baseball coaches were replaced.

It's unclear why the change took place, but the`ousted coaches and the players' parents are unhappy about what occurred.

Longtime coach Chris Sale, who was with the program for 12 years, and his assistant coach for three years, Andy Bouman, said last week that they were forced to resign.

Both men are teachers at Lindero Canyon Middle School.

They were replaced by Oak Park teacher and junior varsity baseball coach D.J. Cook.

Several parents attended last week's Oak Park Unified School District board meeting to voice their disappointment.

"These coaches are fine men and virtually for no money spend a tremendous amount of time with our kids," said Scott Grogin, whose stepson, Thos Brewer, is on the team.

"D.J. Cook is a fine coach, but you don't get rid of your coaches four days before the season."

Skip Jensen, whose son, Ryan, plays for OPHS, agrees that the timing has hurt the program.

"Administration should have dealt with it later. These coaches were allowed to coach these boys with no pay through summer, fall, winter ball and the Valley Invitational League," Jensen said.

"This was not dealt with in a professional manner, and we are looking for answers."

A number of rumors circulated among parents about the reason for the change but none could be confirmed.

Oak Park Principal Andi Mallen, Superintendent Tony Knight and Assistant Superintendent Cliff Moore could not comment about what they described as a human resources issue.

A meeting with parents is planned for the end of this week.

Moore said he'd spoken with parents and administrators but "wasn't able to find any middle ground to salvage anything."

"It's not going to be fun because there are a lot of upset people," Moore said.

A new California Interscholastic Federation rule now allows coaches to work with athletes year-round. Coach compensation, however, doesn't begin until the official season starts.

"We've been working with our boys since June, four times a week, without compensation," Sale said. "This is something we like to do. We want to teach with integrity, do right by our community."

The decision-making process in the Oak Park district needs to be reevaluated, he added.

"We're really confused as to the direction the administration took," Sale said.

Sale came to Oak Park through his childhood friend Eric Pryor, who teaches at OPHS and was the varsity baseball coach until stepping down three years ago.

Sale lives in Oak Park and has children in Oak Park schools. Bouman lives in Westlake Village. Sale describes the baseball team atmosphere as a "family situation." Sale said he and Bouman were forced to resign.

"The only hard part about the entire thing is our players," Sale said. "Andy and I are grateful to our parents and our players who have been incredibly supportive."

Sale said Cook will do a great job as the new coach.

"It's not about getting our jobs back, but more about the manner in which professionals are treated," Sale said. "We want to make sure this doesn't happen to any coach ever again."

Sale and Bouman plan to attend games and cheer the Eagles.

"We want our players to know that their two biggest fans are now in the stands," Sale said.

None of the players' parents are "happy with how this went down," said Mike Garfinkel, whose son, Spencer, is on the team.

"Our kids are suffering because of this," Garfinkel said. "We want answers."