Mayne Moves Out of Dugout to the Sideline at Orange Coast : Football: Needing a breather from baseball, he takes a job as outside linebacker coach at the college.

By STEVE KRESAL

July 18, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

COSTA MESA — Watching Mike Mayne coach a baseball game for Orange Coast College in his prime was almost an exhausting experience.

He was never one to sit in the dugout and suffer quietly through transgressions committed by umpires or his players.

At the slightest hint of confusion or trouble, Mayne would be on his way to the mound to advise a wayward pitcher.

After most half innings, he took time to compliment or criticize his players.

Mayne’s intention was clear: Teach what it takes to be successful. His drive came from his love for the game.

The method helped him win six conference titles and one State (1980) championship in 16 years with the program. Mayne had a record of 400-188 in his 15 years as a head coach (he was an assistant in 1990).

But it’s also that full-tilt desire that drove Mayne from coaching baseball--at least temporarily--last spring.

He says he reached the point at which he no longer was putting forth his best effort and knew it was time to step aside.

“After a while, I was still doing it,” Mayne said. “But it was a job and not a labor of love like it used to be.

“It was like a wheel that never stopped: schedule, recruit, play, schedule, recruit, play. You did that for the summer, the fall and the spring. That’s what you had to do to stay on top.”

But at 46, Mayne was too young to retire. So he asked to be assigned to OCC football and is working as an outside linebacker coach on Bill Workman’s staff.

Mayne and assistant Mike Batesole spent the early part of the summer keeping the baseball program intact, but when John Altobelli was hired as head coach July 2, it meant Mayne could concern himself with football.

“Now it’s time to get the baseball cap off and concentrate on football,” he said. “It’s time to start learning, and heaven knows, I have a lot to learn . . . My personality is probably more suited toward football anyway.”

Mayne comes to football with experience but also a lot of rust. He was a quarterback at Madison High in San Diego and at UC Riverside; he worked as a football assistant at Rialto Eisenhower High School, where he was also the baseball coach.

“To me,” Workman said, “there were a heck of a lot more positives than negatives in having him come over. He’s very enthusiastic. He’s a good coach and knows athletes. He can recruit, there is little question about that.”

Because Mayne was willing to make the move to football--and because Workman was willing to take him--OCC was able to hire a full-time teacher to coach baseball. Workman had lost assistant Larry Reisbig in the spring when Reisbig was hired at Long Beach College as the head coach. If Mayne had stayed on the teaching staff but not coached, there would not have been a full-time opening available.

“In going through this I’ve learned one thing for sure,” Mayne said. “Coaching is about the same things no matter what sport. It’s about teaching the kids. I’m convinced Bill Workman would be a heck of a baseball coach.”

The switch to football for Mayne hardly means he’s giving up on baseball altogether.

His primary interest these days is watching his son, Brent, a catcher with the Kansas City Royals.

Mayne keeps tabs on Brent with the help of a satellite dish at his home in Costa Mesa and taking occasional trips across the country to watch.

Earlier this summer, Mike and his wife, Patricia, traveled to Baltimore and New York to watch Brent play. But nothing has yet surpassed Brent’s first major league at-bat in September, 1990.

The Maynes were in Montana on vacation when Brent called to say he had just been brought up by the Royals. The Maynes packed some things and started east toward Kansas City. The Royals were playing at Minnesota that night when Brent got his first at-bat.

“The only reason we were still on the road,” Mike said, “was that we were hoping to get far enough east to get the game on the radio. I was driving, and my wife was working the dial looking for the game. Just as we got it, Brent was in the box, and the announcer was saying he was making his major league debut. We were somewhere just west of Spearfish, S.D., when the game came in.”

Brent singled against Scott Erickson with his parents listening.

Having a son in the majors will hardly be enough to satisfy Mike Mayne’s desire to be part of the game in the future.

When asked his long-term goal, Mayne is quick to answer “be a major league coach.”

But that is a faraway dream at this point. Mayne hopes to get back into baseball in the next few years as a minor league instructor and work his way up. But first, he wants to go through a football season to see how much time he will have to devote in other areas.

“Football is year-round as well,” Mayne said, “but it’s a lot more seasonable. The real test of how well I adjust will come in the spring when I probably wonder all over Orange County to watch baseball games.”