NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale University baseball head coach John Stuper will retire at the conclusion of the 2022 season, capping a 30-year career at Yale. Stuper has led the Bulldogs to four Ivy League titles and a pair of NCAA Regional appearances, breaking multiple school records along the way. That includes setting the school record for wins in a season twice, most recently in 2017.
“It is a sincere pleasure working with John and an honor being a part of his 30 incredible years leading the Yale baseball program. Yes, he knows the game, yes, he has produced professional players, yes, he has mentored leaders in the private and public sector, yes, he has won countless games, but what I admire most about John, is his love for his student-athletes. His passion for them in year one has not faltered and in fact gained momentum with every year he has been here,” said Victoria M. “Vicky” Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. “I am looking forward to seeing John back in the dugout, coaching his team in his usual passionate way, as our Bulldogs return to the field.”
Stuper has led the Bulldogs to 533 victories, including 267 in Ivy League play. He is the winningest baseball coach in school history. Over the last four seasons, Yale has won a pair of Ivy League titles and gone 53-27 in Ivy regular-season games — five wins more than any other conference team. The 2017 team won a school-record 34 games, which broke the record of 33 set by Stuper’s first team in 1993. Both of those teams made the NCAA Regionals, and the 2017 squad won a pair of games at the Corvallis Regional, Yale’s first NCAA wins since 1948.
“I’m fortunate enough to have coached some of the greatest people I’ve ever known,” said Stuper. “I’ve been incredibly blessed, and I’m grateful for that. The kids I’ve gotten to coach, they’re amazing.”
In addition to winning 33 games, Stuper’s 1993 team broke the school record for stolen bases with 160 over 44 games. That season, he earned New England Division I Coach of the Year and Northeast Region Division I Coach of the Year honors.
The Bulldogs have led the nation in significant defensive categories twice recently: double plays per game in 2019 (1.32) and fielding percentage in 2018 (.985, tying the NCAA record).
Stuper was named Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2017, and over the years, his players have earned numerous Ivy honors. Yale has had six Ivy League Pitcher of the Year award winners during Stuper’s tenure, tied for the most in the league since 1993. The Bulldogs have also had three Ivy League Player of the Year recipients and one Ivy League Rookie of the Year selection with Stuper at the helm.
Stuper’s players have earned national recognition as well, including one Baseball America All-American, two Louisville Slugger freshman All-Americans and four Academic All-America selections.
Under Stuper, 37 Bulldogs have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. That included a program-record four selections in 2019. Two of his former players, catcher Ryan Lavarnway ’09 and left-handed pitcher Craig Breslow ’02, have gone on to long major league careers. Lavarnway has played in the big leagues in 10 of the last 11 seasons. Breslow enjoyed a 12-year career and is now Assistant General Manager/Vice President, Pitching for the Chicago Cubs.
The program has also produced a pair of Olympians. Lavarnway and right-hander Ben Wanger ’19 played for Team Israel this past summer. Wanger came on in relief to finish Israel’s first Olympic victory — with Lavarnway catching.
Stuper pitched in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds from 1982-85. His most memorable performance came with the Cardinals in the sixth game of the 1982 World Series. With St. Louis trailing the Milwaukee Brewers three games to two in the best-of-seven series, the right-hander helped the Cardinals even the series with a 13-1, complete-game, four-hit victory. St. Louis went on to win the series the following day.
Stuper is married to Pam Stuper, who recently capped a 17-year career as Yale’s Caroline Ruth Thompson ’02 Head Coach of Field Hockey this past December.
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