Michael James Gillespie (May 7, 1940July 29, 2020) was 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. He served as the head coach at

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

and head coach at

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

from 1987 to 2006. He led USC to the 1998 College World Series championship, having previously won it as a player in 1961.

Career

College

Gillespie started his coaching career at the

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loc ...

, a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

. He started the school's baseball program in spring 1971 after the school's fall 1969 founding. In sixteen seasons as head coach, he had a 420–167 record. Gillespie posted a 763–471–2 (.618) record as the coach of USC. In addition to the 1998 championship, he led USC to the CWS in 1995, 2000 and 2001, with the 1995 team advancing to the title game. In 2005, 13 former players coached by Gillespie were playing in

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), ...

, while six of his former players were All-Stars (including

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, and

Geoff Jenkins Geoffrey Scott Jenkins (born July 21, 1974) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers (1998–2007) and Philadelphia Phillies (2008). He is fourth on the Brewe ...

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, and

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). He resigned from USC on June 2, 2006. Gillespie also played baseball at USC under coach

Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is widely recognized as among the greatest records of any coach in the sport's Amateur baseball in the United States, amat ...

, and was a member of the 1961 College World Series champions. Along with

Jerry Kindall Gerald Donald Kindall (May 27, 1935 – December 24, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over ...

, he is one of only two individuals who have both played for and coached a College World Series champion. He was succeeded as USC's head coach by

Chad Kreuter Chadden Michael Kreuter (; born August 26, 1964) is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager, and former college baseball head coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1988 to 2003 for seven different franchis ...

, a former major league catcher who is married to Gillespie's daughter Kelly. In September 2007, Gillespie was named coach of

's baseball team, replacing

Dave Serrano David Scott Serrano is a former American baseball coach and pitcher. Serrano formerly served as head coach at Cerritos College from 1984 to 1985 and at California State University, Fullerton from 1986 to 1987 for coach Augie Garrido. He served as ...

, who had just guided the Anteaters to their first CWS appearance but left to take over at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. On January 8, 2010, Gillespie was inducted into the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coac ...

(ABCA) Hall of Fame.

Professional

On February 2, 2007, Gillespie was named manager of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pla ...

. He replaced

Gaylen Pitts Gaylen Richard Pitts (born June 6, 1946) is an American professional baseball manager and baseball coach, and a former third baseman at the Major League Baseball level. Playing career (1964–77) As a player, Pitts threw and batted right-handed ...

, who led the team to its second consecutive New York–Penn League Championship. In his only season, he led them to a 47–28 record.

Death

Gillespie died on July 29, 2020, in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. He was 80, and had suffered from lung issues and a stroke in the time leading up to his death.

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Gillespie's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.

References