Not unlike longtime Ohio coach Joe Carbone, Bill Toadvine dedicated a significant portion of his life to the Bobcat baseball program.
Toadvine, a three-time letter-winning pitcher for Ohio University, was part of the Bobcats’ only three-time Mid-American Conference champion class. His career highlights include pitching one of six no-hitters in Ohio history and recording one of Ohio’s two wins in the 1970 College World Series.
After graduating in 1971 with a degree in secondary education, he won four Dayton District championships as Miamisburg High School’s head baseball coach and was honored with a pair of local hall of fame inductions.
Then he came back to Athens, where he served for 17 years as one of Carbone’s associate coaches.
But suddenly, in the early winter of 2005, Toadvine passed away from lung cancer at age 56.
Aside from the 511 games the Bobcats won during his coaching tenure, the team lost an integral part of its dynamic when he passed. And though his loss was felt deeply by everyone in the program, Carbone took the loss especially hard.
“(Their relationship) was one-of-a-kind,” said Pat Carbone, Joe’s wife. “He was a great person. His death came so quickly, so it was very difficult. He and Joe played together, coached for 17 years, hunted together. He was a very down-to-earth person. It was very hard on my husband when he passed.”
Since his passing, Toadvine has been honored by both Miamisburg and OU.
The Vikings’ home field has been graced with his name, as has the Bobcats’ newly renovated bullpen.
Although the bullpen was memorialized in his honor before the 2007 season, Carbone and current pitching coach Andrew See unveiled a mural on the bullpen’s fence in his honor Friday.
“These guys didn’t know coach Toadvine, but I think they know and appreciate it,” Carbone said. “ They know why, but they didn’t know him. It makes a difference, and coach See and I get a kick out of it.”
Carbone made the decision to keep Toadvine’s number 36 in rotation in recent years.
Each of Ohio’s four student managers dons Toadvine’s digits for each practice and game, outfitted with the same uniform as the players but wearing a standard number.
This year’s managerial squad, which consists of two freshmen and two juniors, did not know Toadvine but relish the opportunity to carry on his legacy.
“I didn’t know who he was when I got here, but I did some research and found out who he was,” said Cody Cockrum, a junior studying sports administration who has managed the team throughout his time at OU. “It’s pretty neat how it honors him, and now that we have the bullpen it’s really nice.”
See had the unique opportunity to compete both under and aside Toadvine, as he played for the Bobcats from 1999 to 2001.
He said Toadvine has cemented a legacy in Athens that will be remembered with or without a banner.
“He was a real good people person, and I think we learned a lot from him about how to treat people, how to have fun and how to go about things the right way,” See said. “At times, coach Carbone is very demanding in a good way.”
“But I think Bill was there sometimes as a guidance figure to point them in the right direction, and also to have a laugh with them when they’re having a tough day, to let them know it’s not the end of the world.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
