Norm Carlson Looks Back.. - UF Major Leaguer "Doug Corbett"
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | Baseball
Those who followed Gator baseball in the 1970s can remember Doug Corbett as a tireless pitcher who set an SEC record for innings pitched, and/or as a batter who had a knack for coming up with timely hits to win games.
He was both, setting a SEC career record for innings pitched (1971-74), throwing 12 complete game wins in 1974 and winning six with key extra base hits. When he wasn't pitching he was the UF designated hitter.
Corbett is credited with one of the longest, or perhaps the longest home run ever hit over the left field fence at Perry Field. He won the 1973 Tennessee game with a home run, which bounced off the top of the Aeronautical Engineering building beyond the left field fence. That building was a World War II Quonset hut style facility, which sat in the space now occupied by the parking lot between O'Connell Center and Perry Field
"If O'Connell Center had been there then the ball probably would have hit where the sidewalk runs right next to that building," said Coach Dave Fuller, the head baseball coach in 1973.
Corbett left UF holding several school pitching records, and was regarded as one of the finest hurlers in Gator history, a distinction still held today. He led the team in earned run average for three straight years, posting ERA's of 2.03 in 1972, 1.97 in 1973 and 1.76 in 1974. In his senior season he pitched 12 complete games, leading the conference in pitching with a 12-3 record. He also set a league mark for innings pitched with 334 2/3.
During his Gator career, Corbett set UF records for wins (25), complete games (25), strikeouts (190) innings pitched (334.2) and appearances (64). When he wasn't pitching he was the designated hitter, collecting 35 hits, four home runs, seven doubles and 25 RBI's in 1974. His four-year career batting average was .268 with 17 doubles and seven home runs.
He pitched in the major leagues for eight seasons, a career cut short by a major knee injury prior to the 1988 season. With the Minnesota Twins In 1980, he set American League rookie records with 73 appearances, 23 saves and an ERA of.1.99. Rob Murphy is the only former Gator pitcher to have a longer career in the major leagues with 11 years.
Corbett saved 17 games with an American league high 54 appearances in the strike-shortened 1981 season and represented the Twins in the All-Star game. In his two seasons with the Twins, who traded him to California in 1982, he appeared in a league-high 127 games, had 40 saves and a 2.21 ERA. As a result, he was named the Twins' "Pitcher of the Year" in 1980 and 1981, and became the only pitcher even named the team's "Most Valuable Player" by the Minnesota chapter of the Baseball Writers of America in 1981.
With the California Angels he was a member of teams which captured 1982 and 1986 Western Division titles. In 1986 he was the winning pitcher in and extra-inning game against the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the League Championship Series, which gave the Angels a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Corbett returned to the Gators as pitching coach in 1988. His staff that season ranked 11th nationally in ERA and Florida made its first trip to the College World Series under head coach Joe Arnold. Following that season he left UF to open a pitching school in Altamonte Springs.
"I went into college baseball uninformed," says Corbett. "I really loved it, but I never dreamed it would be as time consuming as it was. I devoted a lot of years to baseball and spent a lot of time away from my family. I decided it was time to get out."
Corbett left some wonderful memories for the Gator baseball fans, none of them bigger than that doubleheader sweep of Tennessee back in 1973.
Norm Carlson recently retired from the University Athletic Association after 40 years of service. Carlson serves as historian for Gator athletics and will contribute a regular column to gatorzone.com.
