Longtime Palisades Charter baseball coach Mike Voelkel announces retirement

After more than 40 years of coaching baseball, including almost 20 at Palisades Charter, Mike Voelkel decides to announce his retirement.

Palisades baseball coach Mike Voelkel (center) with Joe Torre (left) and Billy Crystal. / Courtesy Palisades baseball

Mike Voelkel has forgotten more baseball than most can remember.

The longtime Palisades Charter high school baseball coach says he's retiring after nearly 20 seasons with the Dolphins, which included navigating the program through the devastating Palisades Fire in January of 2025.

"It is with enormous gratitude to have been able to share with you how important the baseball program is to the community, school and me over the past 18 years," Voelkel said. "By working with all the families in that time, we have built a foundation for a successful program that will serve past, present and future generations. We've accomplished most everything dreamed possible within the quest of high academics, morals and athletic excellence."

"I believe it's time to pass the leadership over to the next coach.  So, I am retiring from the baseball program," Voelkel added.

Voelkel was 316-196 with 11 Western League titles in 18 seasons.

Voelkel made sure his Dolphins had a season to play — especially the seniors — despite not having a home field to practice or play games on after the Palisades Fire claimed more than 20,000 acres of land, destroying more than 6,800 structures, burning parts of the Palisades Charter High School campus, and most tragically, claiming one dozen lives.

Voelkel managed to save his best coaching for last, leading the Dolphins to an 18-11 overall record and a 14-4 Western League record — good enough for second place and a berth to the LA City Section Division I playoffs.

The successful season was managed despite playing at roughly 20 different ballparks throughout the year, according to Voelkel.

"Not including true road games, we've probably played at 15 different ball parks this season," Voelkel said with a chuckle mid-season. "It's been wild. But we've embraced a road warrior mentality, and it was important to me to give these seniors a season."

The Los Angeles Unified School District started the Palisades Charter High School rebuild plan in early May, but the opening phase of the rebuild soured Voelkel due to the baseball field being floored for temporary bungalows.

• STORY: Palisades baseball in search of home field as school rebuilds from wildfires

"In my time here, we've raised millions of dollars for this field. The fencing, the netting, the equipment, ball machines, batting cages, maintenance, dugouts — it took 250 bags of clay to build our mound," Voelkel said.

"It was all gone in one day."

Bulldozers plow through Palisades Charter High's baseball field to create a flat surface where temporary classrooms can be placed while are rebuild of the campus takes place from the wildfires. / Courtesy of Palisades baseball

Palisades will look for its new baseball coach immediately.

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