Winkles Among First College Baseball Hall Inductees

Illinois Wesleyan graduate Bobby Winkles of La Quinta, Calif., is among the first 10 people to be chosen for induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, selected by the College Baseball Foundation 80-member voting committee.

Winkles, a 1952 IWU grad who was a three-time NCAA “Coach of the Year” at Arizona State University, will be inducted July 3-4 in Lubbock, Texas, along with four other former coaches and five former college players.
Other coaches joining Winkles in the first induction class are Rod Dedeaux (Southern California, 1942-86); Ron Fraser (Miami, 1969-92); Cliff Gustafson (Texas, 1968-96); and Skip Bertman (Louisiana State, 1984-2001).
The first group of players includes Will Clark (Mississippi State); Bob Horner (Arizona State); Brooks Kieschnik (Texas); Robin Ventura (Oklahoma State); and Dave Winfield (Minnesota).

A 1997 inductee into the American Baseball Coaches Association Collegiate BaseballHall of Fame, Winkles was the NCAA “Coach of the Year” in 1965 and 1969 and The Sporting News ”Coach of the Year” in 1965, 1967 and 1969 when his team won national championships. Among the future major leaguers Winkles recruited and coached at ASU were Rick Monday, Sal Bando, and Reggie Jackson.

Winkles’s No. 1 jersey is retired at Arizona State, and the playing field at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark is named in his honor.

After leaving Arizona State, he managed four years in the major leagues with the California Angels (1973-74) and the Oakland Athletics (1977-78).

Winkles played shortstop at IWU for Jack Horenberger and batted .320, .350 and .427 for teams that placed first, second and fourth in the league. He was also an all-conference player in basketball for teams that won one league title and finished second two other years.

The College Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame is part of a new baseball complex being built at Texas Tech that will open before the 2008 season.