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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougs hog spotlight at Hall festivities


Fellow inductee Fred Lynn, left, looks on as ex-WSU coach Bobo Brayton speaks during College Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies. Photo courtesy of Jim Watkins
 (Photo courtesy of Jim Watkins / The Spokesman-Review)
George Watson Special to The Spokesman-Review

LUBBOCK, Texas – Chuck “Bobo” Brayton joked about having to play a game during his youth in Birdsview, Wash., a place so small “they had to pipe air in to those people.”

Roughly seven decades later, Brayton and 10 others, including one of his former players and ex-Seattle, Toronto and New York Mets standout John Olerud, were on college baseball’s big stage Wednesday as they were inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in ceremonies produced by the College Baseball Foundation.

“Jud Heathcote, who used to be the basketball coach at Michigan State, the great philosopher he is, said, ‘Bobo, you’re going into that Hall of Fame, and once again you’ve proven that longevity is better than talent,’ ” said Brayton, who coached at Washington State from 1962 to 1994. “We as players and coaches owe the game. We owe the game its identity, we owe the game its integrity, and we owe the game its tradition.”

Those aspects were certainly on display for the ceremonies held at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Each inductee was presented with a portrait from their playing or coaching days as well as a commemorative belt buckle symbolic of their visit to Texas.

But no two inductees were closer than Brayton and Olerud. Olerud, arguably the best to play for the Cougars, said being inducted with his former coach made the event even more meaningful.

“You look at the guys you’re being included with and being selected, all the great players who played college baseball, it’s pretty special,” said Olerud, who played at Washington State from 1987 to 1989. “College was such a big transition for me growing up and maturing, and Bobo was a big part of that. I learned how to work hard and put out the effort, all those sorts of things. To be included with him makes it special.”

The class had a Pac-10 feel. Also inducted this year were former Arizona coach Jerry Kindall, who led the Wildcats to three national championships; former Arizona State coach Dr. Jim Brock, who paced the Sun Devils to two national crowns, 13 College World Series appearances and 11 Pac-10 titles; and former Southern California slugger Fred Lynn, who won CWS titles with the Trojans in each of his three seasons.

Kindall also was enshrined with his former coach, the late Dick Siebert, who coached 2006 inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Dave Winfield at Minnesota.

“I am so honored to be inducted with this class in the College Baseball Hall of Fame with a mentor I admired so much,” Kindall said. “He and my dad taught me all of my baseball. I honor his memory for being the disciplinarian he was and for being the organizer he was.”

Also included in the induction class were Michigan pitcher Jim Abbott, Hawaii pitcher Derek Tatsuno, Texas player and coach Bibb Falk, Wichita State infielder Phil Stephenson and Oklahoma State slugger Pete Incaviglia, who was unable to attend the ceremony because of a family emergency.

Four veteran (pre-1947) inductees were also honored during the week’s festivities – John “Jack” Barry from Holy Cross (1905-08, player; 1921-60, coach), Lou Gehrig from Columbia (1922-24), Christy Mathewson from Bucknell (1898-1900) and Joe Sewell (1918-20, player; 1964-69, coach).