I remember when I was in the sixth grade, my mother was a very religious person, Callahan said. We would never think of missing church. She asked me, Do you pray?’ I said, Yes.’ She said, Do you pray every night?’ I said, Yes.’

She said, What do you pray about?’ I said, That the Cardinals would win the pennant.’ She said, Is that all you pray about?’ I said, That’s all.’ She said, Well that’s OK, but would you start considering the family?’ Although he never had the opportunity to play baseball in the big leagues, Callahan did manage to become the director of Government Relations for Major League Baseball in 1993. He now works as an adviser for baseball lobbyists.

Callahan participated in a baseball roundtable discussion Tuesday night and Wednesday morning at SIUC. The Tuesday night table panelists included Callahan, Josh Johnson, a former Negro League player, John Haddock, co-producer of Black Diamonds, Blues City:Stories of the Memphis Red Sox, and Jerry Mileur, former owner of the minor league Harrisburg Senators.

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The Wednesday morning panelists were Dan Callahan, SIUC baseball coach, Brad Benson, Saluki designated hitter; Kevin Waldrop, a former Saluki baseball player; and Itchy Jones, former SIUC baseball coach now managing the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. SIUC Women’s Sports Information Director Gene Green moderated the discussion Wednesday.

About 125 people attended the roundtable Tuesday, and about 65 people attended Wednesday.

The roundtable covered such topics as the minor leagues, the future of Major League Baseball and baseball salaries.

Johnson said he does not blame the players for the high salaries in Major League Baseball.

If the money is there, I don’t fault the players I fault the system, Johnson said. The camaraderie pulled us together, not the money.

Mileur said one problem that added to the salary problem was the large difference between the salaries of the minor leagues and the major leagues.

The real injustice is the disparity between the salaries for major league and minor league players, Mileur said. In Class AA, the average salary is $8,000 per year. Players that should be getting good nutrition are not getting it.

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But problems do not just exist in the professional ranks. There are problems at the collegiate level as well.

One of the biggest problem that is being discussed by the American Baseball Coaches Association is the problem of when the season starts and the unfair advantage that Southern and Western schools have because of the warmer weather.

If you happen to notice in Collegiate Baseball or Baseball America, in the preseason top 25 or top 30 this year there were two what you might call cold-weather’ schools, Callahan said. Typically, you’re not going to see two or three teams in the top 30 maybe in the first month of the season.

I definitely favor moving the season back. I think logistically there are some problems you’re talking about keeping your kids on campus another three to four weeks at the conclusion of the regular school year. But right now, it’s not a level playing field.

But not all of the discussion focused on problems. When Jones left Carbondale in 1990 with 738 wins and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, there were 25 former players coaching at the collegiate and professional level.

Jones will take with him fond memories of helping players grow into coaches when he retires.

There was a lot of negative things that they probably said, When I leave that guy, this is something I will never do,’ Jones said. I will not make them run when it is dark. I will do not this. I will not make them travel from here to Peoria without eating because they didn’t play well.

Those are the crazy things I think you do some time in your life. If I ever had one thing to say to my players, if I offended any of them in any way, when I retire, I would like to apologize and say I am sorry. But at that time, I thought I did the right thing.

Waldrop, one of Jones’ former players, responded to Jones by saying, Apology accepted.

He had to wait 22 years, Jones said. (It was) the first time he smiled at me since he left.

SIUC’s rich history of success and the role of coaches such as Jones and Callahan made Carbondale the right home for Benson after transferring from Arizona Western Junior College.

Part of the reason I chose to come here was the tradition this school has, Benson said. I wanted to play at school that had a winning tradition. Obviously that started with coach Jones here. It is tough to win when you don’t have a winning tradition.