On-campus monument will honor Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium, UA's coaching legends

The Arizona Wildcats will recognize the former Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium with a monument honoring the two legendary baseball coaches, Arizona athletics said in a press release Saturday afternoon.

The site of the Wildcats' former baseball stadium off East Sixth Street on National Championship Drive will soon be home to Arizona's Indoor Sports Center. The UA will break ground on the new facility later this month, with scheduled completion set for December.

Recognition for the university's longtime baseball field — from 1967 to 2011 — will be on a date to be determined. Plans of the monument's design are still being finalized.

The Wildcats honored the late Kindall in a pregame ceremony Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field before Arizona's game with No. 3 Stanford. Participants included current coach Jay Johnson, former coaches Andy Lopez, Jerry Stitt and Jim Wing, and members of Kindall's family. Kindall's brother, Wayne, sang the national anthem and his grandson, Eric, threw out the first pitch.

Jerry Kindall’s grandson, Eric, throws out the first pitch. Kindall’s brother, Wayne, also sang the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/oSjOyx6Cs5

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) April 22, 2018

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Kindall coached the Wildcats for 24 seasons, leading the program to national championships in 1976, 1980 and 1986. Arizona compiled an 860-579-7 (.594) record under Kindall, who was elected into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Kindall coached at UA until 1996 and died at the age of 82 in December 2017.

Arizona is honoring its former coach throughout the season with black No. 9 patches on the left sleeve of its jerseys, along with "JK" stickers on the back of its helmets. A large No. 9 sign also sits on top of the scoreboard in right-center field.

Sancet's Wildcats made nine trips to the College World Series. The UA amassed a winning percentage of .740 in 1,122 games coached by Sancet (831-283-8) from 1950 to 1972. The coach was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

The former on-campus stadium changed its name from the original Wildcat Field to Frank Sancet Field during Arizona's run to the 1986 College World Series. It changed again in 2004 to its current name in honor of both Hall of Fame coaches. Arizona's football team has used the site as a practice field in previous years, after the baseball team moved to Hi Corbett Field in 2012.