WATERVILLE, Maine --- Colby College legend John Winkin was named to the 2013 Class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Hall as part of the College Baseball Night of Champions celebration in Lubbock, Texas, on June 28-29.
Winkin was at Colby from 1955 to 1974 and served as baseball
coach and athletics director. He had a 301-202-5 record in his time
with the Mules and was the National Baseball Coach of the Year in
1965. Winkin, or 'Wink" has so many of his good friends call him,
had his Colby No. 5 uniform retired on March 12, 2011, and the
uniform is displayed in the trophy room of the Harold Alfond
Athletics Center.
Click the following link to watch the uniform retirement
ceremony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHH4j9RUqwI
While he had success as a baseball coach at Colby, Winkin also
was an important administrator. He helped create another Colby
legend when he hired Dick Whitmore as men's basketball coach in
1970. Whitmore retired two years ago with a career record of
637-341 in 40 years at Colby.
"John Winkin is an all-time great! He was great at
Colby, a leader and brilliant developer of talent and strategist at
UMO, and a dear friend, Whitmore said. "He is now where he belongs,
among the nation's elite."
Winkin went on to coach the University of Maine after his time
at Colby and posted a 642-430-3 record in 22 years. He took six
teams to the College World Series and the Black Bears twice
finished third in the nation. Winkin was the New England Division I
Coach of the Year in 1975 and was named Northeast Region Division I
Coach of the Year on six occasions.
Winkin came out of retirement to coach baseball at
Husson College in Bangor, Maine, and on March 12, 2006, he recorded
his 1,000th career coaching victory.
While seemingly retired from coaching, Winkin decided to coach
at Husson University and went over 1,000 career wins. He had a
100-74-8 record with Husson and finished his coaching career in
2007 at 1,043-706-16.
Winkin had numerous players sign pro baseball contracts,
including two former Colby players. Norm Gignon played with the
Chicago Cubs in the 1967 season and Ed Phillips pitched for the
Boston Red Sox in 1970.
Former major leaguers Sal Bando, Ralph Garr, Tino Martinez,
and Roy Smalley also will be inducted into the College Baseball
Hall of Fame in June. Also included in the class are former
Oklahoma State All-American Tom Borland and former Marietta College
coach Don Schaly.