Hall of Famer Katz back on the prep baseball diamond

It's early into a Monday evening practice. Alburnett players are lined up in the outfield from foul line to foul line, performing a relay throwing drill.

At one point, a player drops a chest-high throw from a teammate, incurring the considerable wrath of his head coach.

"Catch the ball, gosh darn it!" the coach barks. "Absolutely no excuse for that!"

Instinctively, all four players in this particular relay line drop to the ground and start doing push-ups. So does the coach.

Phil Katz is back.

"It's kind of got me re-energized for baseball again," the first-year Alburnett Coach said. "It's not like you're just hopping back on the horse, though. What I've noticed is, part of it's an age thing and part of it is being away for a few years, I'm not sharp like I want to be. I want my players to be sharp. And when I'm not sharp, I'm disappointed in myself. But it's coming."

An Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association hall of famer with over 400 career victories to his credit, Katz was dismissed as Linn-Mar's coach in 2002, after over 20 years at the school, because of an incident with an umpire. Katz, 55 and still employed at Linn-Mar, applied for baseball jobs and got plenty of interviews but no offers.

Until last winter.

"Yeah, I was getting discouraged," Katz said. "Because everyone kept saying ‘Well, we'd really like to have you.' What they kept telling me was that I was runner-up. Some of that was circumstances ... I never got the feeling that it was because of my incident."

Katz has always been a fiery, emotional sort on the field. Ask any of the players he has ever coached or any umpire he has had a disagreement with.

This particular Alburnett practice is up tempo, to say the least. No one is allowed to stand around.

"Real intense workouts. Fun guy to be around," senior Gavin Caves said of his new coach. "A 55-year-old guy running around and stuff, whooping and hollering. It's fun watching him. There's a lot of screaming and quick movement. We're always on the run, always doing something."

"During practice, he'll yell if you mess or up or if you're not paying attention. That kind of thing," said freshman Jacob Sevening. "He's always told us we've got good kids, but good players is a different thing. So as soon as practice is over, he talks to everyone, is smiling and joking around. He's a fun guy to have around."

Katz is just happy to be around. Five years ago, he had a stent put in the main artery of his heart because of a 90-percent blockage, He's healthy now, and back in prep baseball.

"I had heart surgery, my wife and I separated, I couldn't get a (coaching) job," Katz said. "There were some really, really trying times. At one point in time, I guess I really thought it wasn't worth trying anymore. But this Alburnett job is one that always has kind of interested me.

"There's just more innocence here in Class 1A. These kids are trying hard, trying to learn. But they're also in band, they're also in every other sport, they're trying to get their educations, which they get good ones here. Some of them have to farm ... They're just good old country boys, very respectful, and that has been extremely refreshing. It's kind of hard to get upset with them because they are a really good group of guys."