MARIETTA, Ohio - Don Schaly '59, who built
Marietta College baseball into one of the most-respected programs
in the nation, will join six others as part of the eighth class of
National
College Baseball Hall of Fame.
The announcement was made Thursday, April 11. Schaly and the rest
of the class will be inducted during the two-day College Baseball
Night of Champions celebration in Lubbock, Texas, June 28-29.
Joining Schaly in the 2013 class is Sal Bando, a
standout third baseman at Arizona State from 1964-1965;
Ralph Garr, who batted .418 in a stellar career at
Grambling from 1964-1967; Tino Martinez of the
University of Tampa, for whom the Division II Player of the Year
award is named; and Roy Smalley of USC, a
shortstop for the Trojans from 1973-1974: Tom
Borland of Oklahoma State University, who fashioned a
perfect 11-0 record on the way to being named first-team
All-American in 1955; John Winkin, who coached at
Colby College, the University of Maine and Husson College from
1954-2006 and led his Maine Black Bear teams to six College World
Series appearances.
“This class brings a different flavor to the induction
process because it features our first Division III coach, perhaps
the greatest Division II player ever and three players from the
1950s, '60s and early '70s, which is a time period that has been a
bit underrepresented in past inductions," says Mike
Gustafson, executive director of the College Baseball Hall
of Fame. "We are excited to welcome them to the Hall of Fame."
Kent Tekulve '69, who recorded 184 saves during a
16-year Major League career, says it is fitting that Schaly is the
first Division III coach to be included in this relatively new Hall
of Fame.
“Before Don Schaly, Division III baseball was treated almost
like a club sport,” says Tekulve, a member of Marietta's
Athletics Hall of Fame. “He changed that mentality at
Marietta, but also in Division III baseball. He turned Marietta
into a real baseball program. I think we were the first to make a
spring trip, and then he made it a year-round commitment to staying
in shape and playing summer ball. What you saw after that was other
programs trying to copy what he was doing at Marietta.”
In 1975, Schaly guided the Etta Express to the World Series, which
was then a combined championship between Division II and III
programs. Marietta lost in the championship 10-7 to Florida
Southern, which was loaded with scholarship players. The following
season, the NCAA started a separate Division III tournament.
On that team was All-American Jim Tracy '78, who
went on to play in the Major Leagues and manage the Dodgers,
Pirates and Rockies.
“Coach Schaly is one of the best well-kept secrets in
baseball and now that secret will be revealed,” Tracy says.
“Coach Schaly left a lasting impression on me that influences
how I have gone about my business on a daily basis in professional
baseball.”
Schaly's credentials are impeccable. At the time of his retirement
in 2003, he had compiled the best record in NCAA Division III
history at 1,442-329. He coached more than 600 baseball players and
his accomplishments are legendary.
Schaly guided his teams to three NCAA Division III National
Championships and seven National Runner-up finishes, including the
2001 and 2002 seasons. He also won 18 Mideast Regional
Championships and 27 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships,
including 13 consecutive titles from 1990 to 2002. The OAC Coach of
the Year Award is named after him.
On May 4, 2002, Schaly became only the third coach in NCAA
Baseball history to amass 1,400 career victories, and his .814
winning percentage also ranks him as the winningest baseball coach
in the NCAA (all divisions).
Schaly also gathered an outstanding collection of coaching awards
during his career. In 1995, he was inducted into the American
Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame. He was named the
National Coach of the Year four times (1975, 1981, 1983 and 1986),
and in 2000 he was named Coach of the Century by Collegiate
Baseball. Schaly was also named the OAC's Coach of the Year 17
times and the Mideast Regional Coach of the Year 21 times.
He also coached 39 players who reached some level of professional
baseball.
Schaly died on March 9, 2005, after a short fight with cancer. At
his funeral in Marietta, hundreds of former players returned to pay
their tributes to the man who not only shaped their baseball lives,
but also their post-college careers.
Following his death, the College recognized Schaly by making his
No. 50 the first and only jersey ever retired. Marietta also
renamed Pioneer Park in 2006 to Don Schaly Stadium.
Brian
Brewer '93, who played for Schaly and took over
the program in 2004, says it was his mentor's commitment and
determination that built Marietta College into the nation's most
respected Division III baseball team. While Brewer has enjoyed a
great deal of success with his alma mater, including back-to-back
National Championships in 2011 and 2012, he says none of that would
be possible without the foundation established by Schaly.
“I love him like a father and I am the man I am today
because of Don Schaly's influence,” says Brewer, who also won
a championship in 2006. “Marietta College baseball is the
premiere Division III program because of the hard work of Coach
Schaly. This is not to take away from the hard work and dedication
of our current players and coaches, but we stepped into a situation
that was tailor made for us to be successful. This honor is one he
truly deserves.”
Schaly was more than a baseball coach, though. He was an assistant
football coach for 17 years and served as an Assistant Athletics
Director for more than 20 years. Schaly also played a primary role
in the formation of the Marietta College Athletic Hall of Fame,
into which he was inducted in 2004.
Schaly also had a very supportive family. His wife,
Sue, very seldom ever missed a game, while his
sons all served as batboys and two of them wore the pinstripes
— John '82 and Joe '86.
Both of them coach their own programs — John at Ashland
University and Joe with Thiel College. Jim '84 is
currently a college umpire who worked the Division I championship
in 2011, and Jeff '90 is Marietta's Assistant
Director of Athletics.
“We haven't had a chance to talk a whole lot, but we're all
very proud and just wish he were here to see it for himself. We
know he's very deserving,” John says. “He would be very
humble and try to point out how much help he had received from the
College, administrators, coaches, players, managers and
secretaries. That was important to him.”
For Tekulve, Schaly's influence extended well beyond the
diamond.
“You don't ever forget the on-field lessons that you learned
from him, but what had a bigger impact on many of his players was
how he helped develop us as men,” Tekulve says
April 11, 2013
Don Schaly '59 named to 2013 National College Baseball Hall of Fame class
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