Here’s your first set of inductees to the College Baseball Hall of Fame, currently under construction in Lubbock.
Former USC head baseball coach Rod Dedeaux has been elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the College Baseball Foundation announced today.
He is one of 10 members who will comprise the first-ever induction class for the Hall of Fame located in Lubbock, Texas. Other members of the class include coaches Bobby Winkles of Arizona State, Skip Bertman of LSU, Ron Fraser of Miami and Cliff Gustafson of Texas, in addition to former players Bob Horner of Arizona State, Robin Ventura of Oklahoma State, Dave Winfield of Minnesota, Will Clark of Mississippi State and Brooks Kieschnick of Texas.
Dedeaux, who passed away on Jan. 5 at the age of 91, coached USC to 11 national championships, including an NCAA-record five consecutive titles from 1970-74. In his 45-year tenure at USC (1942-86), Dedeaux also posted an overall record of 1,332-571-11 (.699) while recording 28 conference titles. At his retirement, he had won more games than any other college baseball coach (he currently ranks seventh among Division I coaches). He coached 59 former players who played in the major leagues, including Tom Seaver, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson, Fred Lynn, Dave Kingman, Roy Smalley, Don Buford, Ron Fairly, Rich Dauer, Steve Busby, Jim Barr and Steve Kemp.
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The 2006 HOF class will be inducted as part of a two-day celebration to be held July 3-4 in Lubbock. Several events during the celebration will be carried nationally by Fox Sports Network, as well as the Fox College Sports Networks (Atlantic, Central and Pacific).
“The excitement has been building within the college baseball community since this project was first announced two years ago,” said CBF Chairman/CEO John Askins. “Our entire community is thrilled to honor this outstanding group of individuals, whose accomplishments will withstand the test of time.”
According to the official press release (PDF) of the College Baseball Foundation, two of the pre-1947 nominees will be enshrined later this fall. Bios and stats for the five players inducted are here, the same for the coaches is here. The list of 46 original nominees seems to have disappeared for some reason – at least, I can’t find it.
Oh, well. Despite the grumblings of the last commenter in my previous post, I think this is a good list. You can never pick a top five without leaving someone worthy off. I’m sure Pete Incaviglia will be in there by 2008 or shortly thereafter.