Columnist: Dallimore departure end of era

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

THE WHEELS HAD been put in motion a couple of years ago. It picked up momentum last year and really got going about a month ago.

After some long talks, the final steps were taken last week. Monday, it was a done deal.

Twenty-seven years and more than 1,400 baseball games later, Fred Dallimore and UNLV have parted company. And not on the best of terms, mind you. Dallimore had to buy himself out in order to get his full retirement benefits. The negotiating was hard. He's still bitter about the events that led to his decision to accept an early retirement.

Frankly, it wasn't the way a legend should depart. But Dallimore said it was his call to leave. And in the nine years I've known him, I've never known him to throw anything but straight-from-the-hip heat. If Dallimore says he wasn't forced out or that there's no truth to the rumor that president Carol Harter told athletic director Charles Cavagnaro to get him out, I believe him.

"This is my own deal, 100 percent," Dallimore said. "Times change. People's expectations change. You have to respect the people you work for. I don't. So it's time for me to move on."

It's tough to finish the race when you're always running uphill. And even someone indefatigable like Dallimore has limits. His domain has been mostly self-sustaining, his program essentially a family. Those who are fortunate to be members know how close-knit it is.

And it all starts with the patriarch. Dallimore set the example. He was up at 6:30 a.m. lifting weights with his players. He was mowing the outfield grass under the blazing desert afternoon sun. He was on time, all the time, making sure his business was taken care of. After all, how could he expect his kids to do it if he couldn't?

But to those outside the baseball family, he was a hard man to understand. Why was he so direct? Why was he so difficult? Why was he so brutally frank?

Why? Because he actually gave a damn about UNLV. Because he had seen it all and knew when something was right and when it was wrong. And that honesty ruffled some feathers on campus.

When he saw injustice, he spoke out. He wasn't afraid of the consequences. He wasn't going to let an athletic director push him around. So he would get reprimanded and have memos sent, telling him to cool it with the remarks in the media.

Naturally, all that did was incite him more. Meanwhile, he kept his kids hustling, kept them competing. They'd win more than they'd lose. He leaves UNLV with a .587 winning percentage, six wins shy of 800.

More importantly, he leaves the program in far better shape than when he inherited it in 1974. And he keeps his word to 12-year assistant Rod Soesbe, who will be named the new coach today. The family will remain intact as a loyal son takes over.

"Everything's in order," Dallimore said. "I had a great run. But now it's time to move on."

Gruff, but loveable. Right to the bitter end. I miss him already.