Former Arizona Wildcats coach Andy Lopez is about to receive one of the biggest honors of his life โ induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday. Yet Lopez described the occasion as โbittersweet.โ
Thatโs because Lopez wonโt be able to attend the funeral of friend and mentor Jerry Kindall, who died Christmas Eve. Kindallโs funeral is Thursday afternoon in Tucson; Lopezโs obligations with the ABCA in Indianapolis forced him to leave town Thursday morning.
Then again, Kindall likely would have wanted it this way.
โCoach would probably be upset with me for missing the convention if I didnโt go,โ Lopez said, laughing.
Lopez, who led the Wildcats to the College World Series championship in 2012 and retired after the 2015 season, reports that heโs in good health. The 64-year-old spends two days a week serving as a mentor at the Southern Arizona Community Academy. He works as an analyst for Pac-12 Networks during the college baseball season. Otherwise, he spends time reading the Bible and hanging out with wife Linda and their four adult children: Kristi, Kerri, Michael and David.
Lopez spoke with the Star this week about his storied career โ which includes two national championships (one at Pepperdine) and 490 wins over 14 seasons at Arizona โ as well as his relationship with Kindall. Here is a portion of that conversation:
How did you first get to know Coach Kindall?
A: โI admired his program, and I admired him as a coach and the way they went about it in the โ70s. We (UCLA) played them in โ75 and โ76, my last two years. I just liked the way they went about it. They played hard. They were classy in the dugout. They didnโt do a bunch of stupid things. I just really admired the way he did it. And they beat us.
โThen in 1983 I become the baseball coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, and I go to the (ABCA) convention. I went to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast. I introduced myself. As only Jerry Kindall can do, he made me feel so welcome. โI remember you as a player, Andy.โ So on and so forth. He probably didnโt. But thatโs just the way Coach was. I said, Coach, โIโm at Cal State Dominguez Hills. If thereโs any way I can get on your schedule โฆโ and before I could finish the sentence, โjust call me.โ Look at the records. We were on Arizonaโs schedule every year from 1984 to 1993. Weโd come here every year. So our friendship started.
โCoach Kindall was a tremendous influence on me. Not only a tremendous mentor but a dear friend. I miss him a lot. This weekend is going to be bittersweet for me. Iโm obviously very humbled, very thankful, but man, oh man.โ
You went from Dominguez Hills to Pepperdine, from Pepperdine to Florida. How did the Arizona opportunity come about?
A: โIn 1996 I was contacted by someone at the University of Arizona. I was in Omaha at the time with Florida. It was my second year. While I was there, the rumor was out that Coach Kindall was going to retire. I got back to Gainesville. Had a conversation with (former Arizona athletic director) Jim Livengood and basically said, โWe just got here.โ It was my second year at Florida. โI canโt. Iโm honored. But I canโt.โ Coach (Jerry) Stitt deserved that job. Iโm sure they were just seeing, โIs there any interest?โ
โI was so honored. Maybe one day down the road Iโd love to be considered again, because thatโs a special place, and a special job. For me it was special because of Jerry Kindall. I didnโt know Tucson except as an opponent. In the โ80s, I coached third base. The fans at Arizona were good at making sure you knew (they were there). It was my (second) year at Cal State Dominguez Hills. We were facing Joe Magrane. I think we were losing 12-1. And some guy from the left-field bleachers yells out, โHey, Andy, I see you have 35 career wins! Thirty-five!โ Then heโs reading Jerry Kindallโs numbers. I knew Coach Kindall. I knew what he represented. I knew what the program represented. I was always very much an admirer of it.
โAnd then in 2001 I was offered the job, and I jumped.โ
So you end up at Arizona. Was there a certain point when you felt like you really got things going?
A: โThere was work to be done. In our third year, we went to the College World Series. I was contacted by some people at UCLA about the UCLA job in 2004. There were a lot of rumors out there that I was done, that it was a done deal, that I already had my house up for sale and I was looking for homes in Los Angeles.
โOnce again my wife, who in the โ80s told me to stay in the profession, she looked at me and said, โDo you think you can win a national championship here in Tucson?โ I said yes. And she says, โThen why do we have to move? The girls are in high school. The boys love it here. I love Tucson. Youโre happy in Tucson. Why canโt you do what you think you can do here?โ And man, am I thankful for listening to that beautiful woman of mine. So I stayed, obviously.
โI got the job on July 18, 2001. The first year we pretty much inherited who we had. The second year we recruited, and it was a marvelous group of young guys. We went to a regional, and the next year we went to Omaha. I feel like I failed here because we should have won more than one. In 2008, we should have won a national championship here. We had the pitching to win a national title โ no ifs, ands or buts.โ
You finally won the College World Series in 2012. Going into that season, or at some point during it, did you have a feeling that this could be the team?
A: โWe were ranked pretty high. I thought we were very good, and I think the record proves it. Undefeated, 10-0 in postseason, never trailing in the College World Series. Thatโs a pretty special group. But I didnโt think we had the respect of a lot of people nationally.
โStanford came here to Tucson. And they were pretty good. They were nationally ranked. Close game on Friday โ we won (8-7). Beat them pretty soundly on Saturday (4-2). And really took it to them on Sunday (6-2). So we swept Stanford.
โOur familyโs routine, weโd go to the Claim Jumper (after games). Then my wife and I would drive home together. As we were driving home that (Sunday) night, she said โWow, that was a good weekend.โ And I looked at her and said, โYou know what, Linda? If I donโt mess these guys up, weโre going to be pretty good in the postseason.โ
โI have said this forever: When your best players are also your best human beings โฆ in 38 years as a head coach, there were times when my best human beings werenโt my best players. Great human beings, but there werenโt my 3-4-5 (hitters), Friday-night or closer-type guys. When your best players are also your best human beings, man, youโve really gotta do some bad things to mess it up.
โI felt, deep inside, that that group was going to be pretty special after that series against Stanford. Theyโre going to be a handful for somebody.โ
