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Remembering Bobby Winkles (by Pete Donovan, Special to the Sun/April 20, 2020)
Legendary coach Bobby Winkles, the architect of the modern era of Sun Devil Baseball, has passed away surrounded by his family and friends at the age of 90.
Winkles was Arizona State University's first varsity baseball coach and compiled a 524-173 record during his 13 years at the helm and was a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year. In all, Winkles won three national championships ('65, '67, '69) over the span of six years.
Plans for memorial services are pending.
Winkles took the ASU program from scratch and built it into one of the premier powerhouses in all of college baseball. Only six years into the program's history, Winkles led his 1964 Sun Devil squad into Omaha and ended up placing sixth. Just a year later, the Sun Devils reached the pinnacle of college baseball, finishing with a 41-11 record and the school's first National Championship.
Winkles led ASU back to the College World Series and again reigned as NCAA Champions in 1967 and 1969. Winkles was named the 1965 and 1969 NCAA Coach of the Year and The Sporting News Coach of the Year in 1965, 1967 and 1969.
He mentored 16 first-team All-Americans, 20 ASU Hall of Famers and 39 All-WAC honorees. He also coached 45 Major League Baseball draft picks, including 12 first-round selections, and 21 players who made to the Major Leagues. He recruited and coached such top talents as Rick Monday, Sal Bando, Sterling Slaughter, Reggie Jackson, Larry Gura and Gary Gentry during his coaching career.
A charter member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 1982 and the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1997. His No. 1 was retired by ASU on February 25, 1972 and the field at Packard Stadium was dedicated in his honor in 2001.
Bobby Brooks Winkles was born on March 11, 1930, in Tuckerman, Arkansas, to Clifford and Devona (Brooks) Winkles. After graduating from Swifton High School, Winkles went on to Illinois Wesleyan University and graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1952.
The White Sox signed him in 1951 while he was still a student and thought enough of his potential to give him a $10,000 bonus. They sent him to their Colorado Springs affiliate in the Class A Western League. Winkles missed the entire 1953 season, spending the year in the US Army infantry. He married Ellie Hoeman that same year; they had three daughters, Kelly, Jamie and Kristi.
Overall, Winkles played seven seasons in the minors through 1958 before receiving a telephone call from then-Arizona State athletic director Clyde Smith, who offered him the position to become ASU's head baseball coach at just 28 years old.
He was tasked with constructing Arizona State's first baseball field for a program that was at risk of being cut by school administrators just two years prior. The field was completed just a week before ASU's first varsity baseball season in 1959, where the Sun Devils posted a respectable 27-18 season.
ASU steadily improved throughout Winkles' tenure, as he brought the Sun Devils into steady competition with rival Arizona as the dominant program state in that time. ASU was 23-116 against the Wildcats in program history prior to Winkles' arrival, but Winkles went 38-34 against Arizona - 29-19 over his final eight seasons. The Sun Devils advanced to the College World Series for the first time in 1964 before earning the program's first-ever national title the following season.
The Sun Devils would earn two more national championships under Winkles' watch in 1967 and 1969. He was also a trailblazer in another area, as he became one of the first college coaches to transition to MLB. After leaving ASU, he managed four years in Major League Baseball with the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics, also spending several campaigns in assorted coaching roles with the Giants, White Sox and Expos.
Remembering Coach Winkes
"Although I never had the opportunity to play for him, his small stature didn't take away from what a giant he was. I believe that although he had MANY talents, his true gift was to get the absolute best out of every player he coached. His players would bear that out. I had the extreme privilege of being inducted into the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame with him, a week I'll never forget. I remember laughing the whole time because of his sense of humor! He was a man truly to be admired, not just for his accomplishments but for the truly great man he was. He will always be missed."
- Bob Horner/Sun Devil Baseball Class of '78, College Baseball Hall of Famer, No. 1 Pick in 1978 MLB Draft
"He was a champion of life. There was a tremendous amount of success on the field. However, his greatest success he had, was all the people that he touched - more importantly, what are his "Winkles Boys" - the friendships and the caring that has lasted all these years. To a player, to a man, the wins were an important part, but the joy and the values that he instilled in all of us, is what remains today. An incredible coach, teacher, mentor and lifelong friend. He will be missed in a most respected and reverent way. Bobby Winkles baseball, only one way to play: with the passion that he brought."
David Grangaard/Sun Devil Baseball Class of '68, 1967 National Champion
Bobby Winkles Trophy Case
1965 National Champion
1967 National Champion
1969 National Champion
College Baseball Hall of Fame – Class on 2006
ABCA Hall of Fame – Class of 1997
ASU Hall of Fame – Class of 1982
NCAA Coach of the Year (1969)
The Sporting News Coach of the Year (1969)
The Sporting News Coach of the Year (1967)
NCAA Coach of the Year (1965)
The Sporting News Coach of the Year (1965)
All-Americans
1963 Sterling Slaughter, RHP, first team
1964 Skip Hancock, RHP, second team
1965 Luis Lagunas, 2B, first team
1965 Rick Monday, OF, first team
1965 John Pavlik, RHP, second team
1966 Reggie Jackson, OF, first team
1967 Gary Gentry, RHP, first team
1967 Scott Reid, OF, first team
1968 Fred Nelson, 2B, first team
1969 Billy Cotton, C, second team
1969 Larry Gura, LHP, first team
1969 Paul Ray Powell, OF, first team
1970 Lenny Randle, SS, third team
1971 Alan Bannister, SS, first team
1971 Roger Schmuck, 1B, first team
1971 Craig Swan, RHP, third team
All-Time Draft Picks
1971 (3):
Roger Schmuck, OF, Kansas City Royals, 1st (s)
Ken Hansen, RHP, Cincinnati Reds, 2nd (s)
Mike Hansen, RHP, Boston Red Sox, 5th (s)
1970 (1):
Lenny Randle, INF, Washington Senators, 1st (s)
1969 (10):
Paul Ray Powell, OF, Minnesota Twins, 1st (7)
Billy Cotton, C, New York Mets, 1st (j)
Ron Davini, C, Chicago White Sox, 1st (j)
Ralph Dick, OF, Minnesota Twins, 1st (s)
Billy Cotton, C, New York Mets, 1st (s)
Larry Gura, LHP, Chicago Cubs, 2nd
Larry Fritz, 1B, New York Mets, 3rd (s)
Lerrin LaGrow, RHP, Detroit Tigers, 6th
John Dolinsek, OF, Houston Astros, 8th
Joseph Ruby, LHP, Cleveland Indians, 22nd
1968 (8):
#Billy Cotton, C, New York Mets, 1st (s)
Dave Grangaard, 3B, Houston Astros, 2nd (s)
Joe Arnold, RHP, Houston Astros, 3rd (s)
Larry Linville, OF, Chicago White Sox, 6th (s)
#Dave Grangaard, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers, 6th (j)
#Ron Davini, C, Cleveland Indians, 7th (s)
Gordon Crook, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers, 8th (j)
Fred Nelson, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers, 18th
1967 (9):
Randy Bobb, C, Chicago Cubs, 1st (s)
Jay Armstrong, SS, Chicago Cubs, 2nd (j)
#Scott Reid, OF, Philadelphia Phillies, 2nd (s)
#Dave Grangaard, 3B, Minnesota Twins, 3rd (s)
Gary Gentry, RHP, New York Mets, 3rd (s)
#Ron Davini, C, New York Yankees , 3rd (s)
Jack Lind, SS, Houston Astros, 7th (s)
#James Brown, LHP, New York Mets, 7th (s)
#Larry Linville, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers, 12th (s)
1966 (6):
Reggie Jackson, OF, Kansas City A's, 1st (2)
Duffy Dyer, C, New York Mets, 1st (s)
Glen Smith, OF, Minnesota Twins , 2nd (j)
#James Armstrong, SS, Chicago White Sox, 2nd (s)
Dale Spier, RHP, San Francisco Giants, 18th
#Jack Lind, 3B, Cleveland Indians, 31st
1965 (8):
Rick Monday, OF, Kansas City A's, 1st (1)
#Glen Smith, OF, San Francisco Giants, 2nd
Sal Bando, 3B, Kansas City A's, 5th
Luis Lagunas, 2B, Minnesota Twins, 16th
#Jay Armstrong, SS, Houston Astros, 17th
James Gretta, 1B/OF, St. Louis Cardinals, 21st
Ray Stadler, C, New York Mets, 23rd
#Duffy Dyer, C/OF, Milwaukee Braves, 38th
Bold - Indicates player made it to the MLB
# - Indicates player was drafted but did not sign that season
(x) - denotes overall selection if first-round pick.
(j) - January Draft (first or second phase)
(s) - June Secondary Phase
