David Charles Esquer (born April 13, 1965) is an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He is the head coach of the

Stanford Cardinal baseball The Stanford Cardinal baseball team represents Stanford University in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Stanford athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Pac-12 Conference. The Cardinal play their home games o ...

team. He previously served as head coach of the

California Golden Bears baseball The California Golden Bears baseball team represents the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other California athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bears ...

team from 2000–2017.

Early life and education

Esquer attended

Palma High School Palma School is a grade 6-12 Catholic boys school located in Salinas, California, United States. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey, its motto is "Palma Merenti," which translates in English as "Palms to the Victor." History Palm ...

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

where he played basketball, football, and baseball. Esquer was team captain and MVP of the baseball team and was named his high school's athlete of the year. He attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and was a starting

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for

under head coach

Mark Marquess Mark Edward Marquess (born March 24, 1947) is an American college baseball coach. He served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal baseball team from 1977 to 2017. Early life and professional baseball career Born and raised in Stockton, Cal ...

and as a senior helped Stanford win the 1987 College World Series, in which he was named to the all-tournament team for hitting .350 with six RBI.

Professional playing career

After graduating from Stanford with a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in sociology in 1987, Esquer played three seasons in the minor league organizations of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

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

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Coaching career

In 1991, Esquer returned to Stanford to become an assistant coach at Stanford under Marquess. After six seasons at Stanford, from 1997 to 1999, Esquer was an assistant coach at

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

handling recruiting, hitting instruction, infield coaching, and third base coach duties. Beginning in the 2000 season, Esquer was hired as head baseball coach at

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

. In 18 seasons with the Golden Bears, Esquer recorded a record of 525–467–2 (.529), and led the Bears to NCAA Regionals in 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2015, and was named

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

coach of the year in 2001. In 2011, Esquer led the Bears back to their first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

appearance since 1992 and was named national baseball coach of the year by the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nati ...

. On June 16, 2017, Esquer stepped down from his position at Cal to accept the head baseball coaching position at Stanford, his alma mater.

Head coaching record

The following is a table of Esquer's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.

Personal life

Esquer and his wife Lynn have two children, Gabrielle and Xavier.

References