James Clyde Dietz (July 31, 1938 – March 27, 2022) was an American former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and coach. He served as the head baseball coach at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

from 1972 to 2002, compiling a record of 1,230–751–18. After coaching the freshman basketball team and the junior varsity baseball team at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, Dietz was appointed as the head basketball coach at Lewis–Clark Normal School—now

Lewis–Clark State College Lewis–Clark State College is a public college in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, located in North Central Idaho, north central Idaho at Lewiston, Idaho, Lewiston. Founded in 1893, it has an approximate annual enr ...

—in May 1971, but turned down that offer a week later to take the head baseball coaching position at San Diego State. Under Dietz, the Aztecs went to the NCAA Tournament eight times (1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991) while 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, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

five times (three regular season, two tournaments) and the

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

twice (one regular season, one conference). In the fall of 2001, Dietz announced his retirement from coaching at SDSU, and was replaced by Aztec alum and baseball Hall Of Famer

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

following the 2002 season. On April 15, 2011, the Aztecs retired Dietz's jersey number 4. Dietz died on March 27, 2022, in

Florence, Oregon Florence is a coastal city in Lane County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies at the mouth of the Siuslaw River on the Pacific Ocean and about midway between Newport and Coos Bay along U.S. Route 101. As of the 2020 census, the city had a to ...

, from complications from

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

and

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

References

External links

San Diego State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietz, Jim 1939 births Living people Baseball second basemen Jamestown Tigers players Oregon Ducks baseball coaches Oregon Ducks men's basketball coaches San Diego State Aztecs baseball coaches Southern Oregon Raiders baseball players High school baseball coaches in the United States University of Oregon alumni Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Baseball players from Oregon

See also

References

External links