The Arizona State Sun Devils baseball program at the Arizona State University (ASU) is part of the Pac-12 Conference. 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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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 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), ...

. Notable Sun Devil baseball alumni include Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando,

Dustin Pedroia Dustin Luis Pedroia (born August 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played his entire Major League Baseball career for the Boston Red Sox, from 2006 to 2019. He was a four-time All-Star, and won the Americ ...

Andre Ethier Andre Everett Ethier (; born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Do ...

, Bob Horner,

Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American retired 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 ...

, and

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

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 Bobby Brooks Winkles (March 11, 1930 – April 17, 2020) was an American baseball player and coach. After an eight-year career as an infielder in the minor leagues, he became the acclaimed college baseball coach at Arizona State University (ASU) ...

, 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, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

title. They beat

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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 ...

6–1 and 7–6 to win District 7 and advanced to the

1964 College World Series The 1964 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1964 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Co ...

. 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 fro ...

. The next day they beat

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

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

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. The following year the Sun Devils went 9–3 in the WAC to win back-to-back conference championships. In 1965,

was taken first overall in the inaugural Major League First-Year Player Draft. Their first game in the

1965 College World Series The 1965 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1965 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Col ...

was a blowout win against

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

. The offense again exploded against

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

13–3. They beat

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

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 Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

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 The 1967 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1967 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Co ...

. They opened winning two blowout games 7–2 and 8–1 against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and Boston College before winning a close one against Stanford 5–3. They were shut out in the next game against the Houston Cougars 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 state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

7–1 and 3–2 in the District 7 playoff. They dropped their first game of the

1969 College World Series The 1969 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1969 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Col ...

4–0 to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, 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-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. 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. 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 Packard Stadium was a college baseball park in the southwestern United States, located in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb just east of Phoenix. It was the home field of the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pac-12 Conference from 1974 to 2014. Opened i ...

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 Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

. 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'' 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 Phoenix Municipal Stadium is a baseball stadium, located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is often referred in short as Phoenix Muni. The stadium was built in 1964 and holds 8,775 people. It is currently the home to the Arizona State Sun Devils baseball p ...

Head coaches

Former and current players in MLB

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

Alan Bannister Alan Bannister (born September 3, 1951) is a retired professional baseball player who played in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies Chicago White Sox (1976–80), Cleveland Indians Houston Astros (1984) and Texas Rangers Original ...

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 Ro ...

* Tony Barnette *

Austin Barnes Austin Scott Barnes (born December 28, 1989) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Arizona State Sun Devils. Barnes was selected by the Florida M ...

* Jake Barrett * Marty Barrett * Chris Beasley *

Willie Bloomquist Willie Paul Bloomquist (; born November 27, 1977) is an American baseball coach and former utility player, who is the current head baseball coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He played college baseball at Arizona State for coach Pat Murphy f ...

Randy Bobb Mark Randall Bobb (January 1, 1948 – June 13, 1982) was a right-handed catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. Originally drafted by the California Angels in the 3rd round (43rd overall) of the 1966 amateur draft out of Verdugo H ...

* Barry Bonds * Ryan Bradley * Hubie Brooks *

Travis Buck Travis George Buck (born November 18, 1983) is an American baseball coach former professional outfielder, who is the current hitting coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Clevel ...

* Ryan Burr *

Kole Calhoun Kole Alan Calhoun (born October 14, 1987) is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. Calhoun played co ...

Mike Colbern Michael Malloy Colbern (April 19, 1955 – March 8, 2019) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Chicago White Sox in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Career Colbern was born in Santa Monica, California ...

* Brooks Conrad * Jim Crawford * Jacob Cruz * Colin Curtis *

Alvin Davis Alvin Glenn Davis (born September 9, 1960), nicknamed "Mr. Mariner", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and designated hitter. He played eight of his nine seasons for the Seattle Mariners and won the American League Rookie of the Year ...

* Ike Davis * Mike Devereaux * Chris Duffy * Jeff Duncan *

Duffy Dyer Donald Robert "Duffy" Dyer (born August 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who is the manager of the Kenosha Kingfish of the Northwoods League collegiate summer baseball league. He played in Major League Baseball as a c ...

* Jake Elmore * Mike Esposito *

Larry Fritz Laurence Joseph Fritz (February 14, 1949 – July 22, 2010), nicknamed "Zeb", was an American professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, as a pinch hitter. He appeared in only one ...

* Gary Gentry *

Shawn Gilbert Albert Shawn Gilbert Jr. (born March 12, 1965, in Camden, New Jersey) is an American former professional baseball player. He attended Agua Fria Union High School in Avondale, Arizona. After high school, he attended Fresno State and Arizona State ...

* Tuffy Gosewisch *

Larry Gura Lawrence Cyril Gura (; born November 26, 1947) is a left-handed former 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 Chicago Cub ...

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

Mitch Jones Mitchell C. Jones (born October 15, 1977) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009. Amateur career Jones played ball in high school at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah, and was ...

* Merrill Kelly * Mike Kelly *

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for ...

Jason Kipnis Jason Michael Kipnis (born April 3, 1987; nicknamed "Kip") is an American professional baseball second baseman who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. He attended Glenbrook N ...

* Lerrin LaGrow * Ken Landreaux * Jeff Larish *

Mike Leake Michael Raymond Leake (born November 12, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamo ...

Jim Lentine James Matthew Lentine is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He played all or part of three seasons in the major leagues, from to , for the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. He is based in San Clemente, California, and working ...

* Jack Lind *

Pat Listach Patrick Alan Listach (born September 12, 1967) is the former Manager of the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League and a former Major League Baseball shortstop, minor league manager, and major league third base coach. Amateur career ...

* John Littlefield *

* Pete Lovrich * Sean Lowe * Jerry Maddox * Drew Maggi * Deven Marrero * 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). A ...

* Gabe Molina *

* Paul Moskau *

Ricky Lee Nelson Ricky Lee Nelson (May 8, 1959 – November 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 1986. Career Nelson attended Arizona State University and was se ...

Chris Nyman Christopher Curtis Nyman (born June 6, 1955) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played during two seasons at the Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. He was signed by the White Sox as an amateur free ag ...

* Jim Otten *

Bob Pate Robert Wayne Pate (born December 3, 1953) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played in 1980 and 1981 with the Montreal Expos. Listed at 6' 3", 200 lb., he batted and threw right handed.Dustin Pedroia Dustin Luis Pedroia (born August 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played his entire Major League Baseball career for the Boston Red Sox, from 2006 to 2019. He was a four-time All-Star, and won the Americ ...

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Ken Phelps Kenneth Allan Phelps (born August 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman. He played for six different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1980 to 1990, primarily with the Seattle Mariners. Baseb ...

* John Poloni * Paul Powell * Gary Rajsich * Len Randle * Scott Reid * Brady Rodgers *

Ron Romanick Ronald James Romanick (born November 6, 1960) is an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. He is the minor league pitching coordinator for the New York Mets organization. Romanick played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the C ...

* Andrew Romine * Kevin Romine * Dennis Sarfate * Alan Schmelz * Mike Schwabe *

Brian Serven Brian Nicholas Serven (born May 5, 1995) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Serven was drafted by the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2 ...

* Sterling Slaughter *

Eric Sogard Eric Sidney Sogard (born May 22, 1986) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, and Chicago C ...

* Josh Spence *

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* Mel Stocker * Craig Swan *

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* Jim Umbarger *

Ed Vande Berg Edward John Vande Berg (born October 26, 1958) is an American former professional left-handed baseball pitcher. Career Berg is an alumnus of Redlands High School and Arizona State University. Drafted by the Seattle Mariners The Seattle M ...

Fernando Viña Fernando Viña (''VEEN-ya'') (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 Se ...

* Don Wakamatsu * Brett Wallace * Trevor Williams * Antone Williamson * Bump Wills

Notes

References

External links

* {{Pacific-12 Conference baseball navbox