SAN FRANCISCO – During the past 100 years, the Pac-12 Conference has produced some of the greatest baseball players of all-time and, on Monday night, 30 of those players were named to the Pac-12 All-Century Baseball Team. The team was unveiled on Pac-12 Networks’ flagship studio show ‘Sports Report’.
A 36-member blue ribbon panel cast their ballots for 20 infielders/outfielders, 10 pitchers as well as Pitcher, Player and Coach of the Century. USC’s Mark Prior was named Pitcher of Century, Washington State’s John G. Olerud earned Player of the Century honors and USC’s legendary manager Raoul “Rod” Dedeaux was selected as the Coach of the Century.
Arizona State led all schools with seven members, followed by USC and UCLA with six, Stanford with four and Oregon State and Arizona with two. Cal, Washington and Washington State each had one player selected. In all, eight decades are represented – 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s.
Pac-12 All-Century Team members have compiled numerous accolades throughout their baseball careers including:
- 18 NCAA College World Series Titles
- 9 National Player of the Year Awards
- 23 Conference Player of the Year Awards
- 315 Major League Baseball Seasons
- 16 MLB World Series Titles
- 11 Cy Young Awards
- 10 MLB MVP Awards
- 32 Gold Glove Awards
- 96 MLB All-Star Appearances
- 5 MLB Rookie of the Year Awards
- 4 Olympians
Prior was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Century after establishing himself as one of the most dominating pitchers in college baseball history. The hard throwing right-hander won 25 games and averaged 11.5 strikeouts with just 2.1 walks per nine innings in his Trojan career. In 2001, he was only the second collegian ever to sweep every National Player of the Year award and was the first Trojan to win the Golden Spikes Award while going 15-1 with a 1.69 ERA and notching a Pac-10 record 202 strikeouts with just 18 walks. He helped USC to College World Series trips both of his seasons. The Chicago Cubs made him the No. 2 overall pick of the 2001 MLB Draft and he pitched for them for five seasons (2002-06), including being named to the 2003 All-Star team. He then spent time in the minors before the toll of various arm and shoulder injuries ended his career in 2013.
Olerud earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors after re-writing the WSU record books as both a pitcher and first baseman. In 1988, he became the only pitcher in NCAA history to win 15 games and hit 20 home runs as he was 15-0 and hit 23 that year. He was named College Athlete of the Year by Baseball America. He still holds numerous WSU records, including career batting average at .434 and single season batting average at .464. On the mound, Olerud was 26-4 and posted a 3.17 ERA while throwing 241.1 innings over his three seasons. During his career he set two Pac-10 records and 10 Pac-10 North marks. Prior to his senior season, Olerud signed a contract with Toronto and went directly to the Major Leagues. In 1993, he became the first Blue Jay to win a batting title, hitting .363, and became just the ninth MLB player since 1900 to collect 200 hits and walk 100 times. Olerud played for Toronto, the New York Mets and Yankees, Seattle and Boston during his 17-year career. He is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, given annually by the College Baseball Hall of Fame, was named in his honor.
Dedeaux was selected as Coach of the Century after ending his career as the winningest baseball coach in NCAA Division I-A history with a 1,332-571-11 (.669) record over 45 years (1942-86). His Trojan teams won an unprecedented 11 NCAA titles, including five in a row and 28 conference crowns. He was named Coach of the Year six times by the College Baseball Coaches Association and was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 1970. He was the recipient of the U.S. Baseball Federation’s W.P. “Dutch” Fehring Award of Merit for outstanding service to baseball in 1989. Dedeaux helped develop more than 50 major leaguers. He helped introduce baseball into the Olympics and coached the 1984 USA team to a silver medal. He also founded and served as general manager of the annual USA-Japan Collegiate World Series.
Below is a complete list of the Pac-12 All-Century Baseball Team.
Pac-12 All-Century Baseball Team
CATCHER
AJ Hinch, Stanford, 1992-96
Casey Myers, Arizona State, 1998-01
Todd Zeile, UCLA, 1984-86
FIRST BASE
Mark McGwire, USC, 1982-84
John G. Olerud, Washington State, 1987-89
SECOND BASE
Bret Boone, USC, 1988-90
Xavier Nady, California, 1998-2000
Chase Utley, UCLA, 1998-2000
SHORTSTOP
Dustin Pedroia, Arizona State, 2002-04
Jackie Robinson, UCLA, 1940
THIRD BASE
Troy Glaus, UCLA, 1995-97
Chip Hale, Arizona, 1984-87
Brett Wallace, Arizona State, 2006-08
OUTFIELD
Barry Bonds, Arizona State, 1983-85
Michael Conforto, Oregon State, 2012-2014
Jacoby Ellsbury, Oregon State, 2003-2005
Terry Francona, Arizona, 1978-80
Mike Kelly, Arizona State, 1989-91
Fred Lynn, USC, 1971-73
Oddibe McDowell, Arizona State, 1983-84
PITCHER
Mark Appel, Stanford, 2009-13
Trevor Bauer, UCLA, 2009-11
David Berg, UCLA, 2012-15
Randy Johnson, USC, 1983-85
Mike Leake, Arizona State, 2007-09
Tim Lincecum, Washington, 2004-06
Jack McDowell, Stanford, 1983-87
Mike Mussina, Stanford, 1988-90
Mark Prior, USC, 2000-01
Tom Seaver, USC, 1965
COACH OF THE CENTURY
Raoul “Rod” Dedeaux, USC, 1942-86
PITCHER OF THE CENTURY
Mark Prior, USC, 2000-01
PLAYER OF THE CENTURY
John G. Olerud, Washington State, 1987-89
