By Dan Nilsen
Mike Gatza never talked much about his multi-sports heroics at Flint St. Michael High School and beyond.
He didn’t have to.
Gatza’s hard-driving touchdown runs and hard-hitting tackles on the gridiron were felt all around the Flint Parochial League in the mid-1950s. His scoring average on a basketball court was consistently in the mid-teens.
Best of all, his pitching and hitting on the diamonds carried him as far as the College World Series in his years at baseball powerhouse Western Michigan University.
“He could do it all,” said Dick Knight, a friend and teammate of Gatza’s in high school. “He was a monster. He scored touchdowns you wouldn’t believe. But baseball was his thing.”
Gatza was a first-team All-Parochial League pick in football and basketball his junior and senior years, a unanimous pick in football as a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior halfback who also played linebacker. Flint Journal sports writer Len Hoyes called him “the hardest runner in the league.”
“Plowing into him was like hitting a brick wall,” said Knight.
“Believe me, I know.
“In practice, we’d scrimmage and tackle each other. I’d look up to see Mike getting the ball, and I’d bend down to tie my shoelaces. He really hit you hard.”
Gatza also dabbled in track and field, competing in the 100, 220 and the pole vault.
In the spring of his senior year 1958, Gatza pitched St. Mike’s to the Parochial League championship, the Warriors’ first baseball title since 1954. A week later, his 14-strikeout, two-hit, 4-2 win over Tech High also gave the Mikes the City Class B championship for the second time in three years.
“He pitched all the time,” Knight grumbled. “I played third base and never got to touch the ball. He’d strike them all out.”
Gatza’s clutch hitting stood out as well.
In mid-April, his bases-loaded double in the bottom of the seventh gave St. Mike’s a 9-8 win over Mt. Morris.
A week later, down 1-0 in the top of the seventh at Fenton, he broke up a no-hitter with a single, then stole second and third base and scored on a single. Again in the 12th, he singled, stole second and scored the go-ahead run on another hit. He pitched all 12 innings with a four-hitter and nine strikeouts in a 3-1 win.
Gatza never got any looks from colleges, but the Detroit Tigers showed interest in signing him.
“He turned down the Tigers because his brother Paul was on a Tiger farm team and recommended he go to school and get a degree,” said Julie Gatza, his wife.
So Gatza went to Western Michigan as a walk-on in baseball. It’s where he also met his future wife.
“He asked me out on a date,” said Julie. “The whole time he never talked about the fact that he played baseball for WMU. He didn’t brag about any of his past accomplishments. He talked about his 11 brothers and sisters and his mother. So I knew then he was a special person.”
Mike’s bat did the talking. On April 30, 1960, Gatza hit a grand slam for the WMU freshman team in a 13-0 win over Flint Junior College in Kalamazoo.
In 1961, now a varsity outfielder batting second in the lineup, Gatza was a Second-Team pick on the All-Mid-American Conference team, as Western went undefeated and won the MAC championship.
In June at the College World Series, Gatza tripled home a run in the sixth inning for a 1-0 lead. He had two of the team’s six hits, but the Broncos lost their opener to Boston College, 3-2. They did beat Texas 8-2 but were eliminated by Syracuse 6-0.
In 1962, Gatza’s hitting earned him First-Team All-MAC and Second-Team All-District selection, where he led the Broncos in batting average (.350), runs scored (24), hits (30), at-bats (100) and slugging percentage (.470).
In April 1963, Gatza broke his collarbone trying to make a diving catch. He still helped Western to another undefeated MAC championship and wins over Notre Dame and Illinois in the District IV playoff to earn his second career trip to the College World Series.
Gatza went on to teach and coach briefly at Owosso St. Paul High School, but eventually wound up as a senior accountant for General Motors in Swartz Creek. With a full-time job and nine children, his playing days were over. Still, he didn’t reminisce about them.
“Mike never bragged about his past athletic accomplishments to his children,” Julie said. “Neither did he set any high standards for them and expect them to measure up. He believed in allowing them to choose their own way and do their best.
“While growing up, they often heard about their dad’s athletic history, sometimes from strangers or their friends’ parents. ‘What, you’re Mike Gatza’s kid? I remember reading about him all the time in the newspaper. He was a great athlete!’”
Mike Gatza passed away in 2016 at age 75 after a long history of heart ailments and bypass surgeries.
“He was my idol,” said Knight. “One of the toughest guys in class, but he would try to avoid a fight and talk the other guy out of it. A true gentleman. Never a carouser. It was all sports to him.”
