Before Ken Oberfell became the manager of the Lincoln Saltdogs three seasons ago, he had already built an impressive enough resume as a player and manager to satisfy any three former baseball players/coaches. With a .278 lifetime average in 16 Major League seasons and a World Championship, Oberkfell had established himself as one of the best pure hitters in the game. He was a true artist with a bat which saw him hover around .300 for six out seven seasons from 1979 to 1984, including a career-high .309 in that 1984 season.

That was an impressive enough resume in and of itself, but following his successful career on the field, he turned to the dugout, taking his knowledge of the game and the lessons that managers, such as Whitey Herzog, had taught him and used them to become one of the most successful managers in the minor leagues. In 2005 he was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America when he led the Norfolk Tides to an impressive 79-65 record. He spent 12 seasons as a coach or manager within the New York Mets’ system, including five seasons as the manager of their AAA-affiliate and a season as the bench coach of the big league club.

His success as a player came with a lot of hard-work and dedication. His success as a manager came from becoming a student of the game, especially under the tutelage of his former manager and mentor, Whitey Herzog.

“I learned a lot from Whitey Herzog, my first manager, on how to handle players, how to adjust during games, how to get the most out of players, how to put them in position for them to have the most success.”

While having great success as a manager in the minors, it was not a place where Ken was truly happy. He is a guy who wants to use the tactics and strategies he has learned and developed, and implement them into his game plan. Yet affiliate ball does not offer a manager that kind of opportunity. Instead, the manager gets very little opportunity to use his skills, something that did not sit well with Oberkfell.

“In affiliate ball if you have a high draft pick he is going to play, you are going to be told where he is going to hit in the lineup and he is going to play. You just have to go with it, so your hands are kind of tied at times.”

In 2012 he left the Mets organization and decided that a change of scenery was in order.

“Just left the Mets, I had been with the Mets for 12 years and had been down in the Dominican for Winter ball and one of my buddies called and told me that the Lincoln job was available, and so I talked with (Saltdogs President) Charlie Meyer and the owner (Jim Abel) and it all worked out. I wanted to stay in the game but I was kind of burned out with affiliate baseball because you really didn’t manage. They told you who was playing, when and where, and where they were hitting in the lineup, so this was a great opportunity to stay in the game and be able to manage.”

In 2013 Ken took over the Saltdogs. Lincoln had been a team that had always had great success, but in 2012 they struggled, and were looking for a change of direction to get them back on the winning path. Ken was hired to do just that.

“It was an opportunity I was glad to receive. Lincoln is a great town and a great baseball city, and I wanted to help build a team that the city could be proud of.”

The results were instantaneous. The new Saltdogs manager took a team that won 41 games in 2012 to one that won 49 in his first year on the job. Last season the club jumped to 54 wins, and completely caught fire in the last month of the season. The Lincoln Saltdogs went 20-12 after August 1, which is even more impressive considering that the club was swept in Wichita.  The run did not surprise the manager as his club was a group of guys who really gave their all for the team.

“They had confidence in themselves and we keep pushing. Sweeping Gary in Indiana was the biggest key. That gave us a lot of confidence. Everyone was picking each other up.  We just played good baseball. The next thing you know we are in first place and we got into the playoffs.”

In the playoffs the Saltdogs upset the Winnipeg Goldeyes, taking the best-of-five series 3-2.  Lincoln was actually down 2-1 in the series, before outscoring Winnipeg 11-2 in the final two games to advance to the American Association Championship series.

“We were hoping to get a split in Winnipeg which we did, and then our pitching took care of things for us at home, and we pulled his out and went on to the championship.”

Lincoln was swept by the Wingnuts, making the season bitter-sweet for Oberkfell. On one hand his club made it to the championship, but on the other they didn’t get the title the Saltdogs manager so eagerly craves. Despite that, he saw some real positives for this season.

“The players, getting to know these guys, the confidence, we were just one step away from getting this thing done. I think the players built up great chemistry, so it was pretty neat. They got a touch of playoff baseball professionally.”

This season the Lincoln Saltdogs got off to a rough start. After taking two of three from Kansas City to start the season, the team from Nebraska dropped 21 of their next 26 games. That included being swept four times. No panic around here though. The Saltdogs were starting to heat up prior to the All-Star break, and if anyone watched the success they had last season, then they should be aware that this is a team with no quit in them.

“I just want this team to be very sound fundamentally. Don’t beat themselves. Just play the game the way it is supposed to be played, whether it’s in the Major Leagues or any other league, it’s still baseball, and baseball is baseball.”

He adds, “If you play good fundamental baseball things are going to go your way more often than not. If you are playing the right way you can make up for some mistakes in other areas, because you know that when you need a big play you have the tools to make that happen.”

Finding that same lightening in a bottle that the team had last season has been elusive so far. In 2014 the Lincoln Saltdogs came out of the All-Star break on fire and captured the Central Division of the American Association. This season they have started out 2-5 after the break, including being swept by the Sioux City Explorers.

At 13.5 games out of the Wild Card hunt most teams would be packing it in, but the schedule is actually quite favorable for the Saltdogs down the stretch. With 32 games left in the season, 16 of those are against the teams they are currently chasing, and eight others are against teams that have struggled mightily this season.

For those who doubt that the schedule favors them enough, consider this. If they were to play just two games better than they did on their run at the end of last season, going 22-10, they would be in position to grab that elusive Wild Card and make a splash in the playoffs as they did last year. It may sound like a long shot, but manager Ken Oberkfell has incredible confidence in his team, and knows that the quality of the men in his locker room makes that a strong possibility of occurring.

“We want good guys here that can play. I don’t want a guy who can play who is a complete a** hole. I want guys that can play who are good guys in the clubhouse, who are good guys in the community. We focus here on getting guys that have a quality character, who can handle a challenge and rise to the occasion. There is not any one of the 22 guys that are on this club that I don’t have confidence in. They are guys of real character.”

It is going to be a challenge to battle back and get into this race, but don’t rule that possibility out. Ken’s players love playing for him, and they find him a man of integrity and character that they will go to battle for on each and every night. Right fielder Brian Joynt called his manager “one of the best managers a guy could play for,” and closer Marshall Schuler said of Oberkfell, “He trusts us and puts his faith in us and that makes you feel great as a player.”

Oberkfell is proud to say that he learned from some of the best. He spent 12 of his seasons being around Hall of Fame managers such as Whitey Herzog, Bobby Cox and Jim Leyland. He learned an approach to managing that has made him a no nonsense guy who accepts that the buck stops at his desk.

“They are the ones who deserve the credit. They are the ones out there every day. I just make out a line up and let them play. My role is to put together the right line up and when that does not happen that is on me. That is my job to put them in a position to win, and if it doesn’t work out I have no one blame but myself. I am the manager and when we fail that is on me. But when we win, they are the ones who actually deserve the credit. That praise belongs to them.”

Ken is truly a players’ manager. He remembered what made his days as a player more enjoyable and implements that into the way he manages now. “I know as a player I liked it most when a manager just let me play.”

That style of managing has reaped positive results so far, but it does not mean that he doesn’t see some areas in his managerial style that need some fine tuning.

“Handling these pitchers is truly the biggest challenge for me. We got a lot of different pitching, and my challenge is to get to know my pitchers, and to work from there. That is still a work in progress for me,” he explains with a laugh.

There are three goals that drive the Lincoln Saltdogs manager and all of them center around the team he has come to adore, maybe more than any other. “First of all I want to win a championship here in Lincoln. We came so close last year, and I really want to take this team to that final step. Just one step further.”

That championship aspiration centers around the love he has for his new home away from home – the city of Lincoln and the amazing people he gets to work for and the fans who enter the stadium each night.

“This is such a great city. I love it here so much. These fans are intelligent baseball people who know the game, and I want them to see a winner on the field. The way they support us…they deserve it.”

Of his owner and president he continues, “Jim Abel is one of the finest men I know. He cares; he cares about the team; he cares about the players; he cares about the city. I want him to have another championship, and I want to bring it to him. I am honored to work with Charlie (Meyers) and I think he has done such a great job of bringing a great group of players and men together.”

His final goal is centered around the fine young men that he sees as an honor to manage. “I want to see every one of these guys get a shot at playing affiliate ball. They have earned it. For many I don’t understand why they aren’t already there. They prove themselves each and every night, not only as players but as men. I want them to reach their goals professionally and to win a championship here in the meantime.”

The Lincoln Saltdogs may not make it all the way back into the playoff race this season. They may remain below .500 and simply play out the campaign under the specter of a year that failed to meet expectations. It may be the fact of life they are forced to endure.

But fear not Lincoln Saltdogs fans. You can be sure that Ken Oberkfell is already incorporating lessons from this season into his plans for next season, and he has already developed a season strategy that will destine the team for glory. They will play hard this season and be competitive on every night because that is the hard-nosed style of their manager. They will also learn from the challenges they faced this season and be a competitor for next year. Doubt that if you may, but do it at your own risk. One thing that is true of Ken Oberkfell – he loves a challenge, especially when the odds seem against him.

By Robert Pannier
Member of the IBWAA