The memorial service for Arizona Hall of Fame baseball coach Jerry Kindall was what you’d expect for a man of such dignity and accomplishment. More than 1,000 people attended. The top names in UA baseball history returned to Tucson: big-leaguers J.T. Snow, Chip Hale, Scott Erickson and Trevor Hoffman. So did those who have been away from Tucson for decades. One of them, starting center fielder Dwight Taylor from Kindall’s 1980 national championship team, could not swing the finances to travel from Alabama to honor his coach. Typical of the bond of Kindall’s Wildcats, a teammate paid Taylor’s travel expenses. Jim Fleming, a part-time player from Salpointe Catholic in the mid-1970s, who went on to become assistant general manager for the Florida Marlins, flew to Tucson from his home in Oklahoma. Kindall, who died of a stroke at 82, left a bigger-than-life legacy in Tucson.
