Frederick Charles Brayton (October 20, 1925 – March 28, 2015), usually known as Chuck Brayton or Bobo Brayton, 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 p ...

head coach; he led the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program com ...

for 33 seasons, from 1962 to 1994. He is the winningest coach in school history, with a record of 1,162 wins, 523 losses and eight ties—the fourth-best total in

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 ...

history at the time he retired. His Cougar teams won 21 conference titles (two Northern Division and 19 Pac-8/10), including 11 in a row from 1970 to 1980. He led the Cougars to the

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 ...

in 1965 and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, and was the fifth baseball head coach in NCAA history to exceed a thousand wins. Win number 1,000 came in 1990 in his 29th season, at home on April 11, and he coached four more years. Brayton was a three-sport varsity athlete at Washington State and played

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 wh ...

in 1944 for interim coach

Jack Friel John Bryan Friel (August 26, 1898 – December 12, 1995) was an American college basketball coach, the head coach of the Washington State Cougars for 30 seasons, from 1928 He holds the school record for victories by a men's basketball coach with ...

and from 1946 to 1948 for

Buck Bailey Arthur Buckner Bailey (June 2, 1896 – October 28, 1964) was a college baseball head coach; he led the Washington State Cougars for 32 seasons, from 1927 through 1961, except for three seasons during World War II, and had an overall record of ...

; he was named the school's first baseball All-American in 1947. As an incoming freshman in September 1943, Brayton

hitchhiked Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

across the state to Pullman from

Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Skagit Ind ...

in northwestern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. After his freshman year, he served 18 months in the Army Air Forces. His #14 jersey was retired by the school in 2003, and he was inducted into the

National College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collect ...

in 2007.

Bailey–Brayton Field Bailey–Brayton Field is a college baseball stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference, and is located ...

, the Cougars' home stadium since 1980, is named for Brayton and his predecessor,

(1896–1964). When the old field was displaced by the new Mooberry track, Brayton constructed the new stadium on a budget, using items salvaged from Sick's Stadium in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, as well as donated materials and volunteer labor. Formerly "Buck Bailey Field," Brayton's name joined his mentor's in January 2000. Prior to coaching at WSU, Brayton was the head coach for over a decade at Yakima Valley Junior College, and also its head football coach for five seasons. He had a record of 251–68 () in 11 seasons at Yakima and won ten championships. While at Yakima, a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

nearly killed him and he was hospitalized for a month; he wore a helmet the rest of his coaching career. In declining health in his later years, Brayton died at age 89 at his Pullman home in 2015, and was buried at the city cemetery.

Head coaching record

References

External links

College Baseball Hall of Fame websiteVideo of induction speechYakima Valley Community College Athletics Hall of FameBaseball Essentials
– Remembering Chuck "Bobo" Brayton (1925–2015)
Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brayton, Chuck 1925 births 2015 deaths All-American college baseball players National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Washington State Cougars baseball coaches Washington State Cougars baseball players Washington State Cougars football players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players American men's basketball players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links