Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
A desire to be the best and meet what he described as the toughest challenge in all sports was one of the driving forces for Mike Kane. A hard-as-nails second baseman who came back home for his college career, Kane was philosophical when asked about his desire to succeed in baseball.
“A round bat hitting a round ball,” he remarked. “Maybe the hardest single thing to do in athletics. Baseball is a game of failure and that has taught me so much. It has helped me in the game of life, and I am grateful for that.”
Kane, who was a standout for head coach Greg Wallace from 2001 through 2003, certainly found plenty of success in the sport that he chose to focus on. He was a three-year starter in the middle infield for the Vikings and he was instrumental in leading them to 83 wins against 45 losses during that time frame.
“We had some extremely good players during that time,” he said, quickly deflecting credit and passing it along to his teammates. “We played the game the right way and Coach Wallace was someone who challenged us every day. He wanted us to fight with grit.”
It certainly fit the mode for slugging Kane, who finished his career in 2003 with three school records and was in the top 10 in 15 offensive categories (nine career and six single season). To this day he is still in the top 10 in a total of eight categories.
A career .376 hitter, he played in 124 games in three seasons and collected 169 hits in 450 at-bats while scoring 108 runs and knocking in 125. He ripped 37 doubles, 14 home runs and six triples (five of which came during his senior season).
He was a three-time all-conference performer in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, earning second team honors in 2001 and moving up to first team in 2002 and 2003.
His senior year he obviously mastered the “round bat hitting a round ball” challenge as he hit .406 with 69 hits in 170 at- bats while scoring 34 and getting 58 runs-batted-in, which is still the third best single season total in Augustana history.
Kane had 15 doubles that year with five triple and five home runs, and he was named to the NCAA Division III Baseball Coaches of America All-America team. His teammates also chose him as their team’s Most Valuable Player.
Not bad for a local kid who actually started his college career away from the Quad Cities. After graduating from Davenport Assumption High School, where he helped the Knights to a state championship as a senior, he packed his bags and headed to North Iowa Area College in Mason City, Iowa. The 180-plus distance between his home in Blue Grass and
his first year of college was a bit daunting for a guy who had always counted his father Mike and mother Lynn among his biggest supporters.
“I was thinking of transferring to Northern Iowa University to get a bit closer to home,” he remarked about his decision to leave NIAC after one year. “My parents really couldn’t see me play and I missed that. I like conversations with them after games, and it wasn’t possible my freshman year because of the distance. I would like to thank my entire family, especially
my mom and dad for the sacrifices they made in the past to get me where I am today.”
Enter a conversation during the summer of 2000. Augustana was coming off a tremendous season where the Vikings went 38-8 and five of the losses were to CCIW champion Carthage. There were plenty of holes to fill as one of the best senior classes in Augustana baseball history graduated in the spring of 2000.
“I ran into Coach Wallace that summer and he said, ‘C’mon in and let’s chat’ and one thing led to another,” recalled Kane. “Coming back home to play was the best decision for me. My folks were able to see me more easily and we had a bunch of local guys like Chris Beard, Ernie Jack, Jason Pettit, Zach Vroman and Aaron Miguel and that was great.”
Wallace was effusive in his praise of Kane. “This recognition is so well-deserved and a true testament to Mike’s hard work and dedication as a former member of our program,” he said. “Mike was a fierce competitor and a great teammate. His offensive abilities were remarkable and you could count on him in an pressure moment.”
Kane also was in the last class of Augustana players who did not have a permanent home field. The Vikings would move into Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field prior to the 2004 campaign. Kane didn’t think the lack of a home field hindered his team one bit.
“I really don’t think it bothered us at all,” he said. “The game was still the same and I thought it was sort of neat to travel around the Quad Cities and play in the different venues. I really enjoyed it, and I think my teammates felt the same way. We just wanted to play and compete and that was the message that was sent from the top of the program all the way
down to the players.”
Kane, who graduated from Augustana in 2004 with a degree in communications, currently serves as the regional manager/director of the Great Lakes for Harcross Chemicals, a company based out of Kansas City, Kansas. He oversees profit and loss statements for four chemical plants in Minneapolis, Davenport, Omaha and Chicago.
He credits his wife of 20 years Amy for helping him find the job 12 years ago. The couple has a daughter Kennedy, who is currently a junior at Davenport Assumption High School, and a son Kannon, a fifth grader in Davenport at John F. Kennedy School. Mike currently helps coach the 12 and under Quad City Area Knights baseball team and he also sits on that organization’s board of directors.
“Beyond the stats, he’s always been a great representative of the program,” commented Wallace. “It was truly an honor to have watched him play and I am proud of the person and family man he is today. Mike always displayed confidence and commitment in everything he did on and off the field.”
Kane is thankful for his Augustana years. “Augustana molded me into the professional I am today. The faculty and coaches who guided me were leaders then and still are today. My hat goes off to all of them,” he commented.
He was especially effusive of his praise of the coaches he had along the way. “Coach Wallace and Harry Pells were there when I started at Augustana but men like Scott Harding and John Furlong were influential as well and I had them at both Assumpiton and Augustana."
