April 11, 2007

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Former Minnesota head baseball coach Dick Siebert and former Michigan student-athlete Jim Abbott were voted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the College Baseball Foundation announced on Tuesday. Siebert and Abbott join former Golden Gopher player Dave Winfield as the three Big Ten representatives elected to the Hall in its two-year history.

Siebert led the Golden Gophers from 1948-1978, finishing his 31-year tenure with a 754-360-8 record (.676). He led Minnesota to five appearances in the College World Series with national championships in 1956, 1960 and 1964, and is one of only five coaches in Division I history to have won three College Baseball World Series titles. A two-time NCAA National Coach of the Year, Siebert captured 11 Big Ten regular-season championships and is third on the conference's all-time wins list. 

Siebert is one of five coaches in the Class of 2007, and is joined by Jim Brock of Arizona State, Chuck "Bobo" Brayton of Washington State, Bibb Falk of Texas and Jerry Kindall of Arizona, who played under Siebert at Minnesota from 1955-56.
 
The first Wolverine to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Abbott compiled a 26-8 record during his three-year career at Michigan. In 1988, the pitcher became the first baseball player to win the AAU Sullivan Award, which honors the top amateur athlete of the year. In that same year, Abbott also won the Jesse Owens Award, recognizing the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, marking the first time a baseball player had received the honor.

A member of Team USA, Abbott was the winning pitcher in the gold medal game against Japan in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. Abbott began his professional career in 1986 with the California Angels without ever playing in the minor leagues, and retired in 1999 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. Abbott joins former standout players Pete Incaviglia of Oklahoma State, Fred Lynn of USC, John Olerud of Washington State, Phil Stephenson of Wichita State and Derek Tatsuno of Hawai'i as members of the Class of 2007.

Also to be inducted with the Class of 2007, the first-ever Veteran Class of pre-1947 includes baseball legends Christy Mathewson of Bucknell, Lou Gehrig of Columbia, Joe Sewell of Alabama, and John "Jack" Barry of Holy Cross.

Siebert, Abbott and the rest of the inductees will be officially enshrined during a three-day celebration of college baseball in July in Lubbock, Texas.

Big Ten Baseball

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