The Arizona State Sun Devils baseball program at the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(ASU) is part of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. Since it became a member of the Pac-12, it had the highest winning percentage, at .681, of all schools that participate in Division I baseball within the conference. ASU's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

leading 54 consecutive 30 win seasons was the longest streak in the nation. The Sun Devils have had just four losing seasons in program history (1963, 2017, 2018, and 2022). The Sun Devils had been nationally ranked during at least a part of every season of their 58-year history until 2017. The Sun Devils have finished 27 times in the Top 10, 22 times in the Top 5, and 5 times as the No. 1 team in the nation. ASU is one of the most successful college baseball programs in the country. The Sun Devils have won five national championships, the fourth-most by any school, and are 1st in total number of alumni to ever play in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. Notable Sun Devil baseball alumni include

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...

, Sal Bando,

Dustin Pedroia Any addition of 2018 will be reverted. Only players who were on a winning team's active roster during a World Series are listed as "World Series champions" in this context. Note that this is the same criterion as is used by Baseball-reference.com ...

, Andre Ethier, Bob Horner,

Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player and television personality. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (–), Florida Marlins (2004–, ), New York Met ...

, and Rick Monday.

History

The Bobby Winkles years (1959–1971)

Arizona State University adopted baseball as a varsity sport in 1959. Under the guidance of coach Bobby Winkles, the Sun Devils finished their first season with a 28–18–1 record. In 1964, Coach Winkles led the team to a 44–7 record, winning the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

title. They beat

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

twice in the WAC playoffs and then beat

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

6–1 and 7–6 to win District 7 and advanced to the 1964 College World Series. In their first game the Sun Devils were shut out 7–0 by the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

. The next day they beat

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

5–0 before losing their next game two days later 4–2 to

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The following year the Sun Devils went 9–3 in the WAC to win back-to-back conference championships. In 1965, Rick Monday was taken first overall in the inaugural Major League First-Year Player Draft. Their first game in the 1965 College World Series was a blowout win against Lafayette. The offense again exploded against

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

13–3. They beat

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

9–4, then beat St. Louis again 6–2 where they faced Ohio State. Arizona State lost the first game 7–3 but won the next game 2–1 to win their first national championship. The following season the defending national champions were unable to defend their title as they finished the season 41–11, finishing second in the conference, and failed to make the postseason. In 1967 the Sun Devils were able to get back to the College World Series as they went 53–12 and made an appearance in the WAC championship losing the first game to BYU 3–0, before coming back to win the next two 6–3 and 4–3 to win the WAC championship. In the District 7 playoff series, they split the first two games of the series, winning 11–0 then losing 5–2. They were able to win the final game of the series 6–0 advancing to the 1967 College World Series. They opened winning two blowout games 7–2 and 8–1 against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

before winning a close one against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

5–3. They were shut out in the next game against the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

3–0 before coming back to beat Stanford 4–3 and avenging the loss against Houston to win a blowout 11–2 to win their second national championship. Once again, the Sun Devils followed up their national championship season with a second place conference finish and failed to receive a postseason berth. In 1969 the Devils were able to return to the World Series winning the WAC championship against BYU, then swept

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

7–1 and 3–2 in the District 7 playoff. They dropped their first game of the 1969 College World Series 4–0 to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, however they would win their next five games to win their third national championship in five years, winning the championship game 10–1 against

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. This was the program's third national championship in the last five years. After the 1971 season, Coach Winkles was hired by the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. Bobby Winkles was ASU's first varsity baseball coach and maintained an impressive 524–173 record during his 13 years of coaching for the Sun Devils. A three-time NCAA Coach of the Year, Winkles took the ASU program from scratch and built it into one of the premier powerhouses in all of college baseball.

The Packard Stadium years

Winkles Field- Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark, located in Tempe, was the home of Arizona State baseball from 1974 to 2014. Dimensions of Packard are down the lines, in the power alleys and 395 to straightaway center. The fence is high. Located five feet beyond the center-field wall is the "Green Monster," a 30-foot-high batting eye. The outfield wall is lined with orange trees and just beyond the left field fence lies the Salt River which winds its way through the

Valley of the Sun A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

. The facility is the home of two national championship teams and 17 NCAA regional tournaments. Arizona State's all-time record at Packard is 1,035–272–1*, for a winning percentage of .792. In 2010, ASU went 36–3 at home and hosted a Super Regional for the fourth straight season, clinching a berth in the College World Series on their home field for the third time in four seasons. Since 2007, the Sun Devils have an astounding home record of 146–15*. A 2003 coaches survey published in ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' ranked ASU's baseball facilities among the Top 15 in the nation. The final game played at Packard Stadium was on May 20, 2014, where ASU defeated Abilene Christian 4–2. The Sun Devils opened the 2015 season at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Head coaches

College Baseball Hall of Fame Members

Players

Coaches

Ref:

Baseball Hall of Fame Members

Former and current players in MLB

* Jamie Allen * Gary Allenson * Doug Baker * Chris Bando * Sal Bando * Eddie Bane * Alan Bannister *

Floyd Bannister Floyd Franklin Bannister (born June 10, 1955) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros (–), Seattle Mariners (–), Chicago White Sox (–), Kansas City R ...

* Tony Barnette * Austin Barnes * Jake Barrett * Marty Barrett * Chris Beasley * Willie Bloomquist * Randy Bobb *

Ryan Bradley Ryan Scott Bradley (born November 17, 1983) is an American former competitive Figure skating, figure skater. He is the 2008 Skate Canada International silver medalist, the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, the 2011 United States Figure Skating ...

* Hubie Brooks * Travis Buck * Ryan Burr * Kole Calhoun * Mike Colbern * Brooks Conrad * Jim Crawford * Jacob Cruz * Colin Curtis * Alvin Davis *

Ike Davis Isaac Benjamin Davis (born March 22, 1987) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. From 2010 through 2016, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and New York Ya ...

* Mike Devereaux * Chris Duffy * Jeff Duncan * Duffy Dyer * Jake Elmore * Mike Esposito * Andre Ethier * Larry Fritz * Gary Gentry * Shawn Gilbert * Tuffy Gosewisch *

Larry Gura Lawrence Cyril Gura (; born November 26, 1947) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from to . He won a national championship at Arizona State University and spent 16 years in the Major Leagues. He played for the ...

* Eric Helfand * Doug Henry * Kevin Higgins * Donnie Hill * Bob Horner * Dave Hudgens * Darrell Jackson *

* Mitch Jones * Luke Keaschall *

Merrill Kelly Kenneth Merrill Kelly (born October 14, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on April 1, 2019. Kelly formerly played for the SK Wyverns of the KBO Le ...

* Mike Kelly * Ian Kinsler * Jason Kipnis * Lerrin LaGrow *

Ken Landreaux Kenneth Francis Landreaux (born December 22, 1954) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 through 1987. Play ...

* Jeff Larish * Mike Leake * Jim Lentine * Jack Lind * Pat Listach * John Littlefield *

* Pete Lovrich * Sean Lowe * Jerry Maddox * Drew Maggi * Deven Marrero *

Alec Marsh Alec Tylar Michael Marsh (born May 14, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. Amateur career Marsh was born and grew up in Milwaukee, Wiscons ...

* Adam McCreery * Oddibe McDowell * Cody McKay * Luis Medina * Lemmie Miller *

Blas Minor Blas Minor Jr. (born March 20, 1966), is a former professional baseball pitcher who played from 1992 to 1997. He would play for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–1994), New York Mets (1995–1996), Seattle Mariners (1996), and Houston Astros (1997) ...

Gabe Molina Cruz Gabriel Molina (born May 3, 1975) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed relief pitcher who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, and St. Louis Cardinals between 1999 and 2003. Early life A native of Denv ...

* Rick Monday * Paul Moskau * Ricky Lee Nelson * Chris Nyman * Jim Otten * Bob Pate *

Rick Peters Rick Peters is an American actor. He has appeared in several films and numerous television shows, and is perhaps best known for his role as Bobby Manning in '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye''. He also plays the role of Elliot Larson in the 4th season ...

* Ken Phelps * John Poloni * Paul Powell * Gary Rajsich * Len Randle * Scott Reid * Brady Rodgers * Ron Romanick * Andrew Romine * Kevin Romine * Dennis Sarfate * Alan Schmelz * Mike Schwabe * Brian Serven * Sterling Slaughter * Eric Sogard * Josh Spence * Tim Spehr * Todd Steverson * Mel Stocker * Craig Swan * Jon Switzer * Spencer Torkelson * Jim Umbarger *

Ed Vande Berg Edward John Vande Berg (born October 26, 1958) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Berg is an alumnus of Redlands High School and Arizona State University. Drafted ...

Fernando Viña Fernando Viña ; born April 16, 1969) is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball second baseman and former MLB analyst for ESPN. His parents Andres and Olga emigrated from Cuba in 1968. From through , Viña played for the Seattle Mariners ...

* Don Wakamatsu * Brett Wallace * Alika Williams * Trevor Williams * Antone Williamson * Bump Wills * Gage Workman

Notes

References

External links

* {{Big 12 Conference baseball navbox