Irvine Head Coach Joined By Bob Milano & Jim Stone
Dallas, TX — UC Irvine head coach Mike Gillespie was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame Friday. Gillespie was honored at the ABCA’s annual convention in Dallas, Texas.
Mike Gillespie
Gillespie, who took over the reins of the UC Irvine Baseball program in the fall of 2007, has had a storied career. Ranked 24th in victories among active coaches at the Division I level, Gillespie holds an 850-504-2 record with a .627 winning percentage.
In 2009 Gillespie was named the Big West Coach of the Year after leading UCI to its first-ever conference title with a 22-2 mark to boast the second-best winning percentage in conference history at .917. The team was ranked No. 1 during the regular season for the first time, holding the spot for six straight weeks. The program also played host to an NCAA regional for the first time in school history.
In his first season with the Anteaters, Gillespie led UC Irvine to its third consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, as the team recorded the second-highest number of wins in the school’s Division I history with 42. UCI went undefeated in regional action prior to falling in three games in super regional play.
Gillespie’s coaching fame includes a 20-year career at USC, where he recorded a 763-471-2 (.618) mark and guided the Trojans to 15 postseason appearances, four College World Series appearances (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001) and a national title in 1998 for which Gillespie was named National Coach of the Year by Collegiate
Bob Milano
Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Former Cal head coach Bob Milano and Jim Stone from UMass-Lowell were inducted Friday as well.
Milano guided the California baseball program from 1978-1999 and led the Golden Bears to three College World Series appearances. He retired in 1999 as the school’s most successful baseball coach with a 688-644-4 career record.
Head coach for 22 years and a veteran of 29 years directly involved in the Cal baseball program, Milano’s career not only included three College World Series appearances and a stint in 1997 as the head coach of the United States National Team, but a gold medal as an assistant
Jim Stone
coach for the USA National Team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Stone compiled a 801-393-7 record in 37 seasons at UMass-Lowell. He had seven 30-win seasons and at least 20 wins in each of his last 22 seasons.
Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine and current Tampa Bay Rays slugger Carlos Pena are among Stone’s most prominent former players. Glavine won 305 games in his big league career, while Pena belted 39 home runs in 2009.