CORVALLIS — The seed was planted in 2002, when Mitch Canham first stepped foot on Oregon State’s campus, and watched then-coach Pat Casey work on Oregon State’s baseball field wearing deeply soiled shoes.
Right then, a high school-aged Canham knew he wanted his adult life to someday circle back to Oregon State baseball.
That was half a lifetime ago for the 34-year-old Canham, who Friday was introduced as Oregon State baseball coach. Canham, a catcher on the Beavers’ 2006 and 2007 national championship teams, is the school’s first baseball head coaching hire since Casey in 1994.
Years went by, and though Canham played minor league baseball for nearly a decade before he became a manager in the Seattle Mariners’ minor league organization, the thought of returning to Corvallis never left him.
When he interviewed with the Mariners four years ago prior to becoming a manager, Canham told director of player development Andy McKay that he was all in, with one exception. If Oregon State’s coaching job ever becomes available, expect him to pursue it.
“This is the only job I’ve ever dreamt of,” Canham said.
When Casey told athletic director Scott Barnes on June 4 that he had no plans to rescind his retirement, the opportunity for Canham became real. Barnes and his committee interviewed six candidates — including OSU interim coach Pat Bailey, pitching coach Nate Yeskie and an unnamed minority candidate with Division I ties — over the course of eight days.
Canham’s turn came Thursday. He didn’t leave until the Oregon State job was his.
Canham left a prominent career with the Mariners, where Barnes said he was told by a front office executive that “he is the talk of the organization.” Another person told Barnes that one time he visited Canham at the ballpark and “it had the best culture of any clubhouse he’d ever seen.”
Canham says he’s not Pat Casey.
“No one can be like Case," Canham said. "He is so unique and one of the best leaders that ever was.”
But Canham believes he shares some of Casey’s characteristics.
“We come from the same class. We enjoy working hard, we enjoy our passions and we fight for them,” Canham said. “I believe in family. He believes in family. We both push for building more leaders and making men after their career.”
Canham found he shares another issue famous with Casey, something he used to kid his former coach about. Casey notoriously lost weight during the course of a season, needing a summer and part of the fall to gain it back.
“When I started managing, I did the same thing,” Canham said. “I understand now. You care so much. You’re constantly being selfless, putting your time into others. You forget to eat or go to the gym.”
Can Canham produce like Casey? That would be the tallest of orders to follow a man who won 900 games and three national titles during a 24-year tenure. History has many examples of what it’s like for someone to follow a coaching legend and live with the inflated expectations.
Canham pushed back when asked if there will be pressure to follow Casey. What’s important to him isn’t what outsiders believe, but “helping our staff and our players grow each and every day. That’s what I’m passionate about, and it came as a result from what I was taught here and over the years.”
There is little doubt Canham bleeds Oregon State school colors. Canham told a story about watching OSU’s College World Series-clinching win over Arkansas last year. There was a chance if the game went long, it would run into his Single A team’s game that night.
Canham had a plan.
“If the game went extra innings, I was going to go out and get tossed real quick,” Canham said.
As it turned out, the Beavers left no doubt, beating Arkansas 5-0 to win a third national title under Casey.
“I remember standing there, tearing up, pure joy, the dog piles,” Canham said. “I stood there in a big cloud during our game, smiling the whole game.”
Though Canham has been a professional baseball coach for four years, he has not coached at the college level, and he’ll be new to the recruiting game. Canham says there will be a learning curve, but some tools used in recruiting he’s already put in place as a minor league manager, particularly player evaluation.
Casey believes recruiting won’t be an issue for Canham. He believes working with young minor league players from different cultures — many just out of high school — will be an advantage for Canham.
“The program right now speaks for itself," Casey said. "Mitch doesn’t need to come in and sell the program. It’s going to be an easy transition because of how well the coaches will work for him. … the complicated thing with recruiting is the NCAA changing the rules every week.”
Canham becomes the third Oregon State alum filling a head coaching position for one of the school’s prominent sports, joining football coach Jonathan Smith and women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck.
As for the future of Oregon State’s current coaches, it appears Bailey and Yeskie are likely to remain on the staff, though Canham wouldn’t commit officially.
“We’re all in a good place and we’re going to continue to have conversations and let’s see how we can make this thing work,” Canham said.
-- Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel
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