VOELLINGER: M-C fame to durable Dunnigan
Even in recent years when he served as a coach of the Waterloo Senior American Legion team, he claims, "I could throw a thousand pitches in batting practice a day."
However, in the spring of 1980-a few months prior to his first game in the M-C League, which will recognize him as a Hall of Famer on Saturday, Nov. 1, Dunnigan experienced the most memorable pain of his life."It was in late March, and we (McKendree College) were playing our first game of the season at St. Louis U.," Dunnigan said of the events that nearly ended his playing days.
After throwing a first-inning pitch to Billikens' power hitter Jim Wood, Dunnigan was struck by a line drive to the right, front area of his forehead and knocked out.
"I was told the ball bounced all the way to left field," said Dunnigan, who was rushed to St. Louis University Hospital with a concussion.
Of the incident witnessed by Mike's parents, Harry and Diana Dunnigan of Belleville, St. Louis U. Coach Lyle Reuss said: "The ball jumped off Wood's bat and when I got to Mike, there was blood coming from his mouth because he had bit his tongue."
According to McKendree Coach Van Smith, currently a professional scout for the San Diego Padres, "It was amazing that Mike survived it."
Survival though was related to Smith, who admitted later hitting ground balls at Mike "so that he would not lose his confidence."
According to Dunnigan, a former three-year starter at Belleville West High School, Smith helped in other ways at McKendree.
"He was a very good pitching coach and taught me how to throw the slider," Dunnigan, who previously had relied on his fastball and curveball, said.
A four-year starter at McKendree, Dunnigan was a two-time all-district selection and in 1982 was the first recipient of the Rick Brinkman Memorial Award after being recognized for "his spirit of competition."
That year he also became the first Bearcats' student-athlete to earn Academic All-America honors in baseball from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics after compiling a 3.9 grade point average (on a 4.0 basis) and earning bachelor's degrees in math and business administration. The NAIA award was just one of 15 presented nation-wide.
A senior vice-president with Primerica Financial Services, a member of Citigroup, located in Belleville, Dunnigan, 48, said he benefited from pitching for "outstanding coaches" and named Chuck Hasenstab at West, Barney Elser with the Belleville Hilgards American Legion (1976-79) and Smith.
In 1980, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound right-hander began a seven-year M-C career with the Belleville team that would win six consecutive St. Clair Division championships, an overall playoff crown in 1982 and Valmeyer Tournament titles in 1981, 1982 and 1984.
Of Belleville Manager John Watkins, Dunnigan said, "I loved playing for John because he made everything fun."
Watkins recognized Dunnigan's love of the game and said he quickly realized that "Mike was a hard worker, not a pretty boy...someone who was willing to take your best shot."
"He wanted to face the best teams and the best pitchers," Watkins, who often would start Dunnigan in both games of a doubleheader, said.
"Why not?" asked Watkins, who also co-managed with Don Barton. "The games were seven innings."
Called "extremely durable" by Elser, Dunnigan recalled pitching in 16 of his team's 20 games during a rainy senior year at West and winning four of the seven doubleheaders he started in the M-C. On July 9, 1984, he pitched all 14 innings of a 5-4 victory over Highland at Belleville.
After posting a 6-4 record and 3.04 earned run average in 1980 with a Belleville team that included batting champion and future Hall of Famer outfielder Andy Kassebaum, Dunnigan proved he showed he had moved past the effects of being hit in the head that spring.
Although he was among the M-C pitching leaders the next three seasons with regular season numbers of 9-3, 2.05; 9-2, 1.78; and 9-2, 4.32; he gained the league ERA honor in 1984 at 2.40 when he posted an 8-2 record.
By the time he concluded playing after the 1986 season (when he pitched a no-hitter at Centralia) he had a 54-25 regular season M-C record and composite 3.10 ERA.
On July 4, 1985, he tossed a one-hitter in a 10-0 victory over O'Fallon although he had several other low-hit outings and victories in non-league games.
Able to rattle off the last names of league leading hitters, including those of the 1982 Waterloo team that fell to Belleville in the best 2-of-3 finals, Dunnigan said facing the mature hitters of the M-C helped him succeed in college.
During the summers of his junior and senior years at McKendree, Dunnigan was invited to professional tryout camps by Cincinnati and St. Louis, and recalled East Alton pitcher Joe Silkwood, another M-C Hall of Famer, being signed by the Cardinals.
At McKendree though, Dunnigan met Verna Jones, a person who also enjoyed sports and had played center field on the 1977 Cahokia High girls state softball championship team. On Oct. 30, the Dunnigans will observe their 26th wedding anniversary.
The Dunnigans have sons, Michael, 22, who is working on a master's degree in finance/economics at Southeast Missouri State, and Brad, 19, a sophomore first baseman-catcher majoring in finance at McKendree.
EXTRA INNINGS: A seven-time Mon-Clair all-star, Mike Dunnigan said his first M-C game in 1980 was a 1-0 loss to Centralia and pitcher Jeff Keener when Mike allowed three hits, but Keener permitted just two. The side-arming Keener later signed with the Cardinals and reached the Major Leagues in 1982.
In 1982, Dunnigan won all four of Belleville's playoff games in which the opposing pitchers all were among the league ERA leaders, including Scott Tockstein, Centralia; Dave Warneke, East Alton; and Dave Dillenberger and Hall of Famer Rick Keefe of Waterloo.
An assistant baseball coach for the Belleville Senior Legion from 1981-83, Dunnigan, a resident of Smithton, also coached six years at the Smithton Junior High School, and four years for the Freeburg Junior-Senior Legion program...
Dunnigan, a member of the McKendree Sports Hall of Fame, will be one of three M-C Fame inductees. The others are Valmeyer Lakers' sponsor Twyla Luhr, chairman of the board/vice-president of Luhr Bros., Inc., Contractors, based in Columbia, and the late Gary Kleinschmidt, founder and manager-general manager of the Columbia Saints, who died at age 56 on May 11.
Tickets at $15 per person for the Nov. 1 event at the Millstadt VFW, 200 Veterans Drive, where festivities begin with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. can be obtained by phoning M-C banquet chairman Syl "Tuffy" Mueth at 476-9179.
