Coach Jim Crawford, in the middle of the huddle with the glasses on, brings his team in for a few last-minute instructions before the game starts against Patagonia High School on May 1, 2001.

 Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

Crawford was a baseball legend

Here’s a little-known truth aboutΒ Jim Crawford, who coached St. David High School to 15 state baseball championships between 1965 and 2002: He turned down a chance to coach at his alma mater, Arizona State, when the Sun Devils were probably the No. 1 baseball program in America.

But Crawford chose to live in Benson, near his hometown of (tiny) Pomerene and β€œcommute” to St. David, where he was a father figure and baseball coach in five decades.

When ASU was a powerhouse in the ’60s,Β Bobby Winkles, the head coach, asked Crawford if he would consider moving to Tempe and being his assistant coach. Winkles knew what those in St. David knew. Crawford was one of a kind.

In 2001, Crawford received the highest award in high school coaching. He was named national Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. One person gets that award every year. One person in America. In 2001, it was Jim Crawford.

The son of a Bisbee miner died last week. Crawford was 85. He left a legacy for high school coaching in Southern Arizona that will last forever.

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