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PING!BASEBALL
SPOTLIGHT COACH
Mike Gillespie
UC Irvine Anteaters |
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 The
Anteaters of UC Irvine, after an impressive appearance in
the 2007 College World Series, are on track to make a return
appearance this season. And they are doing it with a new coach
in the dugout. The rookie coach is Mike Gillespie, who took
over as Head-Anteater in October, 2007 when then-coach Dave
Serrano went took the helm at Cal State Fullerton. To inherit
a CWS veteran team is hard enough, but Gillespie was also
faced with the task of doing it while losing five full-time
starters and two of the top three pitchers who helped take
the Anteaters to Omaha.
New coach, plus new lineup, equals rebuilding
season, right? Wrong! Gillespie led Irvine to an impressive
18 wins in their first 20 games, with wins over the likes
of USC and Hawaii. Gillespie was able to oversee a team that
hit a .306 average through the season, while getting a team
ERA of 2.88. When you get pitching from the likes of Scott
Gorgen (11-3, 2.31 ERA) and Daniel Bibona (9-3, 3.03 ERA),
it makes even a rookie coach’s job easy.
Now that I probably have college baseball
purists yelling at their screen, let me tell you a little
more about this “rookie” coach. Technically, he’s
not a college baseball head coach rookie. He was out of the
college game last year, but before that, he was the head coach
at a school called the University of Southern California.
During a 20-year career there, Gillespie led the Trojans to
763 wins (my college degree tells me that’s an average
of 38 wins a season), and five appearances in the College
World Series in Omaha. Out of those five appearances, Gillespie’s
Trojans were the runner-ups in 1995 and the champions in 1998.
While at USC, Gillespie produced 28 Major League players (that
means not just pro ball, but “The Big Show”).
In 2002, Gillespie took his talents to a
different level. He coached the USA Baseball National Team,
and coached them well. Team USA, under Gillespie, amassed
an impressive record of 27-3-1, including a 21-game unbeaten
streak and a championship victory over the always-talented
Cuba.
Gillespie is one of only two men (Jerry Kindall
of Arizona is the other) to have both played for and coached
an NCAA-championship baseball team. Gillespie played left
field for USC, when they won the championship in 1961, and
then coached is alma-matter to another championship in 1998.
However, in 2006, Gillespie left the Trojans
in an “encouraged retirement,” and went on to
scout for the Yankees, and coach the rookie team Staten Island
Yankees. His talents and desire brought him back to the college
game in 2007, and to UC Irvine.
After his Anteaters swept through the tough
Lincoln, NE regional, and knocked the host team Nebraska Cornhuskers
from the tournament, Gillespie is two wins away from returning
to Omaha and the CWS. If he gets there, something tells me
this rookie coach would do just fine in Omaha.
PREVIOUS COACH SPOTLIGHTS
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