A small signboard outside the UA’s jumbo Davis Sports Center is meant to remind visitors that from 1967-2011 it was hallowed turf, home of Kindall/Sancet Field.
Arizona’s baseball teams won national championships in 1976, 1980 and 1986 while occupying the field adjacent to McKale Center. It has now been replaced by a 74,000-square foot indoor practice facility that cost $17 million.
But if you close your eyes and try to transport yourself to May 10, 1980, you can imagine the bedlam produced on one of those magical evenings at Kindall/Sancet Field.
That was the night that a record 9,722 fans squeezed into the modest ballpark as Arizona attempted to win its first-ever Pac-10 championship in any sport. The guest of honor? Arizona State.
The Wildcats had a one-game lead over the Sun Devils on the final day of the regular season; getting a berth in the NCAA Tournament was uncertain. Arizona and Cal were 16-13, ASU 15-14. The Sun Devils had won the first two games of the series. Tension grew.
In one of the most celebrated victories of the frenzied UA-ASU baseball series, Arizona won 22-4.
Said UA catcher Don Hyman: “The cream always rises to the top. It was our best game of the year.’’
Three weeks later the Wildcats were in Omaha for the College World Series, where it lost the opener to St. John’s and then generated one of the epic runs in school history, winning consecutive elimination games against Florida State, Michigan, Hawaii, Cal and then Hawaii again to become national champs.
Arizona's Wes Clements is greeted by fans at Tucson International Airport in June 1980 after the Wildcats won the College World Series.
UA coach Jerry Kindall told reporters that the momentum created by that five-game winning streak was such that “There was no way we were going to lose.’’
Tucsonans bought in. The ’80 Wildcats set a single-season attendance record of 113,957, rallying around a team that featured five contributing Tucson high school players: pitcher Ed Vosberg of Salpointe Catholic, shortstop Clark Crist of Palo Verde, and three Catalina standouts: outfielder Scott Stanley and pitchers Joey Kellner and Jeff Morris.
Future major-leaguer Craig Lefferts, who moved to Tucson with his family four years earlier and was a walk-on on Arizona’s 1976 national championship team, was the winning pitcher in the 5-3 victory over Hawaii in the ’80 championship game.
The headliner on the ’80 Wildcat team was junior outfielder Terry Francona — yes, that Terry Francona — who hit .401 and was selected the NCAA player of the year.
The legacy of the 1980 national champs goes beyond a Pac-10 title and an inspiring series of victories in Omaha.
Six of those players reached the major leagues: Francona, Vosberg, leadoff hitter Dwight Taylor, third baseman Casey Candaele, centerfielder Johnny Moses and relief pitcher Greg Bargar. Beyond that, 11 of the 1980 Wildcats have made pro baseball their life’s work.
Arizona's Ed Vosberg helped the Wildcats to the 1980 CWS title, then pitched for eight different MLB teams between 1986 and 2002.
That’s got to be some type of record for one college baseball team.
Francona was manager of the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 and 2007 World Series championship teams. Today he is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians.
Candaele, who has coached in the big leagues and minor leagues for almost 30 years, is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.
First baseman Wes Clements, who led the club with 14 home runs and was a first-team All-American by the Sporting News, was a long-time minor league coach, manager and radio/TV analyst. He is now a hitting coach for a South Korean pro team.
Vosberg pitched for eight MLB teams from 1986-2002.
Morris has been a scout for the Cincinnati Reds for the last 18 years, and for the Baltimore Orioles eight years previously.
After 40 years in baseball, third baseman Pat Roessler is the assistant hitting coach for the Washington Nationals.
Stanley is a scout for the Miami Marlins and has been employed by MLB teams for 30 years.
Arizona baseball coach Jerry Kindall, with wife Georgia, carry the 1980 NCAA College World Series trophy upon returning home to Tucson.
Outfielder Alan Regier, also a career professional coach/scout, is an advance scout for the Colorado Rockies.
Lefferts is the Oakland A’s minor league pitching rehab coordinator, with about 20 years of coaching service.
Moses coached for the Mariners, Reds, Braves and Dodgers for 30 years.
Crist is manager of the Appalachian League Pulaski River Turtles, an assignment that followed 30 years as a scout for the Cardinals, Mets, Red Sox, Indians, Reds and Diamondbacks.
What made the journey of the 1980 Wildcats so compelling is that they opened slowly, 17-11 overall, before rallying to win the Pac-10 and national championship, finishing 45-20 overall.
“It was a team whose baseball IQ was exceptional,’’ Kindall told me in 2010, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the championship. “I was fortunate to be able to coach a group of young men like that.’’
