Arizona State Sun Devils baseball

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Arizona State Sun Devils
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Founded 1885
University Arizona State University
Conference Pac-12
South Division
Location Tempe, AZ
Head coach Tracy Smith
Home stadium Phoenix Municipal Stadium – 1964
(Capacity: 8,775)
Nickname Sun Devils
Colors Maroon and Gold[1]
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National Championships
1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1981
College World Series Runner-up
1972, 1973, 1978, 1988, 1998
College World Series appearances
1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2005, 2007 (vacated), 2009, 2010
NCAA Tournament appearances
1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (vacated), 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Conference champions
1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1993, 2000, 2007 (vacated),[note 1] 2008, 2009, 2010

The Arizona State Sun Devils baseball program is part of the Pac-12 Conference. Since it became a member of the Pac-12 it has the highest winning percentage, at .681, of all schools that participate in division I baseball within the conference. ASU's NCAA leading 54 consecutive 30 win seasons is the most ever compiled in the nation. The Sun Devils' only losing season occurred in 1963.[2] The Sun Devils have been nationally ranked during at least a part of every season of their 54-year history and have finished 27 times in the Top 10, 22 times in the Top 5, and 5 times as the No. 1 team in the nation.[3]

ASU is one of the most successful college baseball programs in the country. The Sun Devils have won five national championships, the fourth-most by any school, and are 2nd only to the University of Southern California in total number of alumni to ever play in Major League Baseball.[4] Notable Sun Devil baseball alumni include Dustin Pedroia, Andre Ethier, Bob Horner, Barry Bonds, Paul Lo Duca, Rick Monday, and Reggie Jackson.

History

The Bobby Winkles years (1959–1971)

Arizona State University adopted baseball as a varsity sport in 1959. Under the guidance of coach Bobby Winkles, the Sun Devils finished their first season with a 28–18–1 record. In 1964, Coach Winkles lead the team to a 44–7 record winning the WAC title. They beat Utah twice in the WAC playoffs and then beat Air Force 6–1 and 7–6 to win District 7 and advance to the College World Series. In their first game the Sun Devils were shut out 7–0 by the Missouri Tigers. The next day they beat Mississippi 5–0 before losing their next game two days later 4–2 to Maine. The following year the Sun Devils went 9–3 in the WAC to win back-to-back conference championships. Rick Monday was selected as the first ever player taken in the Major League Baseball draft.

Again going back to the College World Series, their opening game against Lafayette was a blowout win 14–1. The offense again exploded against St. Louis 13–3. They beat Ohio State 9–4, then beat St. Louis again 6–2 where they faced Ohio State. Arizona St. lost the first game 7–3 but won the next game 2–1 to win their first national championship. The following season the defending national champions were unable to defend their title as they finished the season 41–11 finishing second in the conference and failed to make the post season. In 1967 the Sun Devils were able get back to the College World Series as they went 53–12 and made an appearance in the WAC championship losing the first game to BYU 3–0 before coming back to win the next two 6–3 and 4–3 to win the WAC championship. In the District 7 playoff series, they split the first two games of the series, winning 11–0 then losing 5–2. They were able to win the final game of the series 6–0 advancing to the College World Series. They opened winning two blowout games 7–2 and 8–1 against Oklahoma St and Boston College before winning a close one against Stanford 5–3. They were shut out in the next game against the Houston Cougars 3–0 before coming back to beat Stanford 4–3 and avenging the loss against Houston to win a blowout 11–2 to win their second national championship.

Once again, the Sun Devils followed up their national championship season with a second place conference finish and failed to receive a postseason berth. In 1969 the Devils were able to return to the World Series winning the WAC championship against BYU, then swept Idaho 7–1 and 3–2 in the District 7 playoff.[5][6][7] They dropped their first game of the CWS 4–0 to Texas, however they would win their next five games to win their third national championship in five years, winning the championship game 10–1 against Tulsa. This was the program's third national championship in the last five years.

After the 1971 season, Coach Winkles was hired by the California Angels. Bobby Winkles was ASU's first varsity baseball coach and maintained an impressive 524-173 record during his 13 years of coaching for the Sun Devils. A three-time NCAA Coach of the Year, Winkles took the ASU program from scratch and built it into one of the premier powerhouses in all of college baseball.

Reggie Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.[8]

Packard Stadium

Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark, located in Tempe, was the home of Arizona State baseball from 1974 to 2014. Dimensions of Packard are 338 feet (103 m) down the lines, 368 feet (112 m) in the power alleys and 395 to straightaway center. The fence is 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Located five feet beyond the center-field wall is the "Green Monster," a 30-foot-high batting eye. The outfield wall is lined with orange trees and just beyond the left field fence lies the Salt River which winds its way through the Valley of the Sun.

The facility is the home of two national championship teams and 17 NCAA regional tournaments. Arizona State’s all-time record at Packard is 1,035–272–1*, for a winning percentage of .792. In 2010, ASU went 36–3 at home and hosted a Super Regional for the fourth straight season, clinching a berth in the College World Series on their home field for the third time in four seasons. Since 2007, the Sun Devils have an astounding home record of 146–15*.[9]

A 2003 coaches survey published in Baseball America ranked ASU's baseball facilities among the Top 15 in the nation.

The final game played at Packard Stadium was on May 20, 2014, where ASU defeated Abilene Christian 4–2. The Sun Devils opened the 2015 season at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.[10]

Head coaches

Former and current players in MLB

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See also

Notes

  1. ↑ On December 15, 2010, the NCAA announced sanctions that forced Arizona State to vacate 44 wins from its 2007 season after a number of recruitment violations.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/asu/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2012-13/release/release_20130530aaa.pdf
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Spokesman-Review – Vandals Arizona-bound – May 29, 1969 – p.13
  6. ↑ Spokane Daily Chronicle Vandals seeks to rebound – May 31, 1969 – p.11
  7. ↑ Spokesman Review – ASU ekes out 3–2 win over Idaho – June 1, 1969 – p.2-sports
  8. ↑ Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.84, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  9. ↑ http://thesundevils.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/asu/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/WinklesPackardBrock
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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