Former UA Baseball Coach Jerry Kindall Dies At 82

Published: Monday, December 25, 2017 - 10:20am
Updated: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 - 1:54pm

Former University of Arizona baseball coach Jerry Kindall has died.

Kindall was the first man to win a College World Series as both a player and a coach.

Kindall coached the Wildcats baseball program for 24 seasons, winning three national titles. Among those he coached was Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona, a member of U of A’s 1980 championship squad.

Kindall’s time in Tucson came after a nine year stint as a big league shortstop. He starred at the position with the University of Minnesota, where he won a title with the Golden Gophers as a player in 1956.

Kindall, a member of Arizona’s Sports Hall of Fame, died Sunday of complications from a stroke suffered last week. He was 82.

Current Wildcats baseball coach Jay Johnson called Kindall “one of the greatest baseball coaches of all time.”

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