David Grewe Adds Two Assistant Coaches To MSU Baseball Staff
7/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 26, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's newly appointed head baseball coach David Grewe announced today that Tony Baldwin and Mike Steele will join his staff as assistant coaches. Baldwin comes to MSU from Dartmouth, where he was Assistant Head Coach, while Steele, a Midland native and former pitcher at Central Michigan, has been pitching in the minor leagues since 2000. Baldwin will serve as the Spartans' recruiting coordinator and will assist Grewe with the hitters and infielders, while Steele will serve as the pitching coach while also assisting with the catchers.
"The main focus for me was to surround myself with coaches that can not only compliment my strengths, but can add to the overall coaching staff and the effort we will put forward," said Grewe. "The most important thing for me when determining my staff was I wanted to make sure I found coaches that had the same passion and desire to take Michigan State to the top of the Big Ten. Tony and Mike are totally committed and excited about being in East Lansing and a part of the program. Both are high-energy guys and have an extremely strong commitment level to coaching at the college level. They are both guys I can really trust to work hard and do it the right way."
Baldwin spent six seasons at Dartmouth beginning as an assistant coach in 1999 before being promoted to Assistant Head Coach in 2003. During his tenure at Dartmouth, the Big Green won three Ivy League Red Rolfe Division titles (2000, 2001 and 2004), which were the first three in program history. His hitters set 11 team offensive records including runs, hits, runs batted in, doubles, triples and home runs.
Baldwin recruited and coached two Ivy League Player of the Year winners, three conference Freshman of the Year honorees and one Pitcher of the Year winner. Sixteen of his players were named first-team All-Ivy League and eight have gone on to sign professional baseball contracts.
Baldwin graduated from Butler University in 1995, and he served his alma mater as an assistant coach from 1994-99. Butler won its first three Midwest Conference Championships during Baldwin's tenure (1996, 1998, 1999) and his hitters set 15 team offensive records including runs, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, doubles, triples and home runs.
Baldwin recruited and coached one MCC Player of the Year and three Pitcher of the Year honorees. Twelve players were named first-team All-MCC during his stay and 12 players signed professional baseball contracts.
Baldwin has instructed at numerous baseball camps across the country, including Notre Dame, LSU, Mississippi State, Illinois, Army, Old Dominion, Butler, Dartmouth, Southern Maryland and the Best in Virginia camp. Baldwin is a part owner and inventor of Swift Stik, Inc., which is a training aid for batting which is endorsed by many professional, Olympic, collegiate and high school baseball and softball teams and players.
Baldwin was a four-year starter at catcher for Butler. In 1994, he served as a team captain for the Bulldogs and earned All-MCC honors. A native of Bloomington, Ind., he was a two-year letter-winner at Bloomington North High School in both baseball and basketball.
Baldwin and his wife, Suzanne, are excited to make East Lansing their home. "Having grown up in the Midwest, I've always thought of the Big Ten as one of the premier conferences in the country and dreamed of being part of it," said Baldwin. "I couldn't be more excited and thankful to get that opportunity at Michigan State. Coach Grewe has a vision of where he wants the program to go and great plan in place for how we are going to get there. The future is bright for Spartan baseball and I can't wait to get started."
"In choosing my recruiting coordinator, it was very important that I found someone I could truly trust in the recruiting process," said Grewe. "Tony is someone I can really trust to work hard and I believe he will be an absolute grinder in the recruiting process. He is a tireless worker that will hit the pavement running and be organized with recruiting as his primary focus.
"I wanted to make sure I got a guy that could develop relationships with high school coaches and a guy that was thorough in the way he approached recruiting. It was important for me to get a guy that has several years of recruiting experience at both the national and regional level, and he has had a lot of national experience and has a broader understanding of the recruiting process. He is a great compliment to the staff because of his ability to coach several different positions. He brings so much to the table, he is just a great fit for the program.
Steele, a 29th-round draft choice by the Detroit Tigers in the 2000 amateur draft, was a three-time minor league all-star, but had his career sidetracked by Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the entire 2002 season. He was the first pick of the 2002 Rule 5 Draft by the Seattle Mariners and spent the past three seasons (2003-05) with the Inland Empire 66ers of the High Class A California League. He also pitched for the Mariners during spring training in 2005.
 Mike Steele has pitched in the minor leagues since 2000, including the last three with the Inland Empire 66ers of the High Class A California League.  | |
Steele served as an instructor at the Mid-Michigan School of Baseball from September of 2002 to January of 2003. His was a volunteer pitching coach at Northwood University from September to December of 2002, and has instructed at baseball camps at Central Michigan (1999-2002), Notre Dame (2001-2002) and Grand Rapids Community College (1998-2000). He also served as an undergraduate baseball assistant coach at CMU from September to December of 2000.
Steele graduated from Central Michigan in 2000 with a degree in sports management and a minor in business administration. He was named the Chippewa's most improved player as a senior after posting an 8-1 record with a 3.82 ERA while also hitting .412 with 10 runs batted in. He made 12 starts and hurled seven complete games including a shutout while striking out 91 hitters in 77.2 innings. He helped CMU to a 41-17 record and a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title with an 18-8 mark while being named second team All-MAC. He was also named to the all-tournament team that season at the Continental Express Aggie Baseball Classic hosted by Texas A&M. As a junior, he had two saves while working out of the bullpen and hit .304 with four homers and 16 RBI.
Steele transferred to Central Michigan after a season at Grand Rapids Community College, where he earned honorable mention All-American honors after batting .475 with four homers in 1998. His first season of collegiate baseball was spent at St. Clair County Community College, where he was a first-team all-conference selection in 1997.
Steele and his wife, Lydia, are expecting their first child, a girl, in October.
"I am very privileged to be coaching here at MSU," said Steele. "I believe that it is a top-notch institution filled with top-notch people, from the administrators to the coaching staffs. I am excited to coach alongside one of the best developers of student-athletes in the country. Coach Grewe has a great vision for the MSU baseball program and I am very grateful that he gave me the opportunity to be a part of what will be considered one of the best baseball programs in the Midwest."
"Mike was without a doubt a very important hire for me," said Grewe. "Anytime you hire a pitching coach, that person is going to be instrumental in how good the program is because he's working with half of your squad. In hiring my pitching coach, I had to make sure I had a guy that was: 1) a phenomenal pitching coach and that I knew had an overall philosophy that was similar to mine; and 2) someone with experience and several different backgrounds that made up his philosophy. Mike has had several big league pitchers as his pitching coaches. I have a great deal of confidence in him because I know he will develop our pitchers in the right way. He is a great baseball guy with a thorough understanding of the game, and he knows what it takes to win.
"Overall, I am ecstatic about the staff we have put together. Both of those guys are on board and will be extremely loyal to Michigan State baseball. Right now the three of us are very exited about the direction we want to take the program. The three of us are totally committed to Michigan State and its future."
