Mickey Sullivan (February 6, 1932 – March 22, 2012) was the head baseball coach at Baylor from 1974 to 1994.

Early life

Sullivan was born in Aransas Pass, Texas on February 6, 1932 to Alva Sullivan and Effie Sullivan, née McCollum. Sullivan grew up in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and graduated from Sam Houston High School in 1950. As a senior

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

at Sam Houston, Sullivan led the city in rushing and scoring, making the 1949 ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' All-City Team. Sullivan was recruited to play college football by the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, ultimately accepting a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to attend

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Playing career

College career

As a freshman in 1950, Sullivan played on the freshman football team for

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Sam Boyd Samuel A. Boyd (April 23, 1910 – January 15, 1993) was an American entrepreneur, casino manager and developer. He was noted for introducing successful marketing, gambling and entertainment innovations into the casino gambling industry, as ...

. As a sophomore, Sullivan was a running back on the 1951

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed Floyd Casey Stadium in 1989, the Bears opened ...

team. Led by All-American

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Larry Isbell Lawrence Dale Isbell (January 8, 1930 – October 31, 1978) was an American baseball and gridiron football player. He was one of the rare players to be All-American in both baseball and in football. He was an All-American quarterback in 1951, wh ...

, the Bears went on to play in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

and finished the season ranked #9 by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and UPI, Baylor's highest finish in either poll. Ultimately, while never becoming a full-time starter, Sullivan went on to be a three-year letter winner under

George Sauer George Henry Sauer Sr. (December 11, 1910 – February 5, 1994) was an American football player, coach, college sports administrator, and professional football executive. Career Sauer attended the University of Nebraska where he was an All-Amer ...

. As a baseball player, Sullivan earned All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

honors in 1952, 1953, and 1954 and earned All-American honors as an outfielder in both

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. As a senior, Sullivan hit .519, a

record.

Professional career

After his sophomore year at Baylor, Sullivan was approached by the Washington Senators and offered a minor league baseball contract but Sullivan elected to return to Baylor. Upon his graduation from Baylor, Sullivan signed with the Dallas Eagles of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Sullivan spent the 1954 season playing minor league baseball for the Artesia Numexers of the

Longhorn League The Longhorn League was the name of a Minor league baseball circuit that operated from through in the Southwestern United States. In , it was renamed the Southwestern League and operated through before changing its name to the Sophomore Leag ...

, a Class C affiliate of the Eagles. Sullivan began the 1955 season with the Class A

Sioux City Soos The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

of the Western League until being called up to the Eagles for the last 52 games. Sullivan also spent the 1956 and 1957 season with the Eagles before retiring.

Coaching career

Upon his retirement from professional baseball, Sullivan began his coaching career as a football coach at Jane Long Middle School in Houston. Sullivan became an assistant football, baseball, and basketball coach at Bellaire High School before moving to Westbury High School where Sullivan was an assistant football coach and the head baseball coach. Sullivan ultimately returned to Bellaire High School as the head football coach. Sullivan also served a scout for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

where, among other players, he scouted Nolan Ryan. Sullivan returned to Baylor in 1969 as the freshman football coach. In 1972,

Grant Teaff Grant Garland Teaff (; born November 12, 1933) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at McMurry University (1960–1965), Angelo State University (1969–1971), and Baylor University (1972–1992), compiling ...

promoted Sullivan to recruiting coordinator, a position he held until 1978. In 1974, Sullivan became Baylor Bears baseball's 17th head coach, a position he would hold for the next 21 seasons. Sullivan endured just three losing seasons over those 21 years, leading Baylor to three

tournament championships and back-to-back trips to the College World Series in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. In addition to 1977 and 1978, Sullivan also led Baylor to the NCAA Tournament in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Sullivan coached thirty-one players who were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including four who were selected in the first round: Jon Perlman (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

), Stan Hilton (

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Pat Combs Patrick Dennis Combs (born October 29, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1989 and 1992. Combs, who statistically has drawn comparisons to pi ...

(

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

), and

Scott Ruffcorn Scott Patrick Ruffcorn (born December 29, 1969) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies between 1993 and 1997. Amateur career Ruffcorn attended S ...

(

). Sullivan coached ten players who went on to play

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

: Steve Macko, Perlman,

Andy Beene Ramon Andrew Beene (born October 13, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Beene played College baseball with Baylor University. Beene was initially drafted by the New York Yankees in 1978, but they did not ...

Fritzie Connally Fritzie Lee Connally (born May 19, 1958) is a former professional baseball player. A right-handed third baseman, he played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs. After a career at Baylor Universi ...

Lee Tunnell Byron Lee Tunnell (born October 30, 1960) is an American professional baseball coach and retired player. He played as a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball. He was the bullpen coach for the Milwaukee Brewers ...

Ken Patterson Kenneth Brian Patterson (born July 8, 1964), is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1988-1994. He taught private lessons in the Central Texas area from 1998-2004 before beginning his coaching ...

Blaine Beatty Gordon Blaine Beatty (born April 25, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Minor league career Beatty was a first-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 1984 out of San Jacinto College, ...

, Combs, Ruffcorn, and

Dean Crow Paul Dean Crow (born August 21, 1972) is former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Crow played for the Detroit Tigers in . Career Crow attended Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, and played collegiate baseball at the University of Miami ...

. On April 17, 2012, Steve Smith broke Sullivan's Baylor all-sports' record of 649 career victories.

Personal life

In 1959, Sullivan married his wife Marilyn. Together, they had a son, Vince, and a daughter, Tina. On March 22, 2012, Sullivan died at the age of 80 after a long battle with cancer. His memorial service was held at

Baylor Ballpark Baylor Ballpark is the baseball stadium at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The stadium was built on the site of Ferrell Field, Baylor's home from 1977 to 1998, by mid-February in 1999. The Bears have hosted three NCAA regional and two super regi ...

on March 26.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Mickey 1932 births 2012 deaths All-American college baseball players Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Texas Baylor Bears baseball coaches Baylor Bears baseball players Baylor Bears football coaches Baylor Bears football players Dallas Eagles players People from Houston Players of American football from Texas Sioux City Soos players People from Aransas Pass, Texas National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees