One of college baseball’s legendary coaches, Mike Gillespie passed away Wednesday at the age of 80.
“On behalf of UCI Athletics Department, I want to offer heartfelt condolences to Coach Gillespie’s wife, Barbara, his children, Kelly, Mitch, Matt and Tiffany; his grandchildren and his extended family,” Director of Athletics Paula Smith said. “Mike was a leader, mentor, successful coach, and trusted colleague. We have lost a great baseball coach and even better man. He touched so many lives and he will be missed by many.”
Gillespie coached UC Irvine for 11 seasons (2007-2018), leading the Anteaters to the College World Series in 2014. He was named National Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2014 and was named Big West Coach of the Year in 2009, when he guided the ‘Eaters to the conference title. Under Gillespie the Anteaters made five postseason appearances, including regional titles in 2008, 2011 and 2014.
Current head coach Ben Orloff, who played for and coached alongside Gillespie for years, added his thoughts: “Today has been tough. There are not enough words to describe Coach Gillespie. He is among the greatest coaches in the history of college baseball. He was a larger than life figure on and off the field. Anyone that had an opportunity to be around him is better because of it. He means so much to me personally. I’ve been so lucky to spend the time I have around him the last seven years. He’s made and continues to make me a better person and coach. I have kept his nameplate in his office that I now occupy as a reminder of what it means to be a coach and to constantly try to make him proud.”
The American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer finished his career as the program’s winningest coach at 393 and amassed a 1,156-886-2 record overall in 31 seasons as a Division I head coach.
Gillespie, who’s number 19 was retired at UCI in 2018, coached several major league players, including Keston Hiura, who is currently playing for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Prior to UCI, Gillespie coached USC for 20 seasons, helping the Trojans to the national title in 1998. He also won a title as a player at USC in 1961 and was inducted in to the USC Hall of Fame. Gillespie and Jerry Kindall are the only two men to play on and coach a CWS championship baseball team.
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