The American Baseball Coaches Association announced today that two coaches will be honored with the prestigious ABCA/Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award in 2025: Dan Griesbaum Sr. of Grosse Pointe South High School (Mich.) and former University of Wisconsin-Madison head baseball coach Tom Meyer. The pair will be presented the award during the 2025 ABCA Convention, which is scheduled for January 2-5 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The American Baseball Coaches Association believes that the highest calling of a baseball coach is to teach life’s lessons and model the character traits of honesty, integrity, respect and personal responsibility. The ABCA Ethics in Coaching Award honors individuals who embody the ABCA Code of Ethics. In 2017, the award was named in honor of ABCA Board Member, Hall of Fame inductee and former Executive Director Dave Keilitz.
Dan Griesbaum Sr. has dedicated 41 years to Grosse Pointe South High School, taking the reins as head baseball coach in 1984. Having reached milestone victory number 900 in 2024, he currently holds the top spot among active coaches in career wins in the state of Michigan and ranks fourth all-time. His leadership led the team to state championships in 2001 and 2018, and he holds the record for the most appearances in the Division One Final Four, with a total of eight.
Besides his baseball coaching accomplishments, he contributed to Grosse Pointe South's athletic program as an assistant football coach for 18 years and as a volleyball coach for four years. He taught health for 30 years before retiring in 2014 and has stepped in to serve as Interim Athletic Director three times throughout his career.
A graduate of South Lake in 1971 and Central Michigan University in 1975, Griesbaum was the MVP of the 1975 Chippewas team. His outstanding contributions to sports have earned him inductions into the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2008), the National Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, and the City of St. Clair Shores Athletic Hall of Fame.
Tom Meyer has served as both a teacher and baseball coach for more than 60 years. His coaching career began in 1959 as assistant coach at Northwestern University (Ill.). From 1964-69, Meyer served as the head baseball coach at Northern Illinois University before joining the staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where from 1970-83, he coached and taught physical education, serving as an assistant for one season before becoming head coach in 1971. During the summers of 1975 and 1977, Meyer also coached the Swedish National Team, competing in tournaments in Belgium and Holland.
In 1985, Meyer started the baseball program at Brookfield (Wisc.) Academy before being named head coach at Riverside University High School (Wisc.) in 1990. Now an assistant for the Riverside team, Meyer has been involved with the program for more than 30 years.
A co-founder of both the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the University of Wisconsin Dugout Club, Meyer also played a key role in developing the Milwaukee RBI League that included an instructional program, an eight-team Select League, and an all-star travel team that competed in the RBI Regional Tournament. Meyer's involvement in baseball extends to having served as a past chair of both the ABCA's Editorial and Public Relations Committees.