Robinson inducted into College Baseball Hall of Fame
Jackie Robinson was one of 12 former players and coaches elected Wednesday for the third induction class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
UCLA's only four-sport athlete played baseball for the Bruins in 1940 after two seasons at Pasadena Junior College. He later major league baseball's color barrier when he made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
Robinson, who died in 1972, joined Owen Carroll, a former pitcher at Holy Cross and coach at Seton Hall, and Billy Disch, who coached Texas to 22 Southwest Conference titles from 1911-39, as three Vintage-Era inductees. The designation is for those who played or coached in college before 1947.
"These are guys that made a significant contribution to the early history of college baseball," said Mike Gustafson, co-chairmain of the hall. "They played in an era before All-American teams and the awards that are commonly used to judge the performance of most recent players."
Also elected were former major leaguers Steve Arlin (Ohio State), Eddie Bane (Arizona State), Floyd Bannister (Arizona State), Neal Heaton (Miami), Burt Hooten (Texas), the late Dick Howser (Florida State), Ben McDonald (LSU) and Greg Swindell (Texas). Former Oklahoma State and New Mexico State coach Gary Ward also was elected.
The inductees will be honored during a July 2-4 celebration in Lubbock, Texas.
The 12 were selected from dozens of nominees by a committee of more than 90 voters. No players or coaches who are active at any level of baseball are eligible to be elected. Last year's inductees included Jim Abbott, Pete Incaviglia, Fred Lynn and John Olerud.
In two seasons at Pasadena Junior College, Robinson batted .417 with 43 runs scored and 25 stolen bases in 24 games. At UCLA, he became the school's only four-sport letterwinner, competing in baseball, football, basketball and track and field.
After breaking baseball's color barrier, Robinson carved out a Hall of Fame career in the big leagues, hitting .311 with 137 homers, 734 RBI and 197 stolen bases from 1947-56.
Arlin, who played at Ohio State from 1965-66, helped lead the school to consecutive College World Series appearances. In 1965, he had a CWS-record 20 strikeouts in a 15-inning, 1-0 victory over Washington State.
"I feel privileged and honored to be a part of college baseball's elite," Arlin said. "Representing Ohio State and the Big Ten makes this all the more special for me since those days were some of the best in my life, spent with some of my closest friends."
Bane, who pitched at Arizona State from 1971-73, is the only Sun Devils pitcher to throw a perfect game. Bannister, who played from 1974-76 before a long major-league career, pitched 29 complete games and led the Sun Devils to back-to-back College World Series appearances.
Heaton, the first Hurricanes player to participate in a major-league All-Star Game, pitched at Miami from 1979-81 and still holds many school records.
Hooton went 35-3 with a school-record 1.14 ERA at Texas from 1969-71. In his last season, he threw a seven-inning no-hitter against Sam Houston State and a 13-inning 1-hitter against Texas Tech in which he struck out 19.
Howser played shortstop at Florida State from 1956-58 before returning to coach there in 1979. He also played eight seasons in the majors and won a World Series as a manager with Kansas City in 1985.
McDonald, who pitched at LSU from 1987-89, set the school's career mark with 373 strikeouts and was the No. 1 overall draft pick by Baltimore in 1989.
Swindell, a knuckleballer who pitched at Texas from 1984-86, helped the Longhorns to two College World Series appearances.
Ward, currently an assistant under his son, Rocky, at New Mexico State, coached at Oklahoma State from 1978-96 and with the Aggies from 2001-02.