Former Gator Head Coach Joe Arnold Named To College Baseball Hall of Fame
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | Baseball
LUBBOCK, Texas – Joe Arnold, who was the head coach of the University of Florida baseball program from 1984-94, was chosen to the 2015 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class, it was announced on Wednesday.
As a pitcher at Miami-Dade College, Arnold was a two-time All-American. In 1965 and '66, he finished with a combined record of 29-4, while being named the Most Valuable Player of the 1966 Junior College World Series. In 2006, he was recognized as a member of the 50th Anniversary NJCAA World Series Team. His record of 30 2/3 innings pitched at the 1966 Junior College World Series still stands.
After Miami-Dade, Arnold played for Arizona State University. In one year with the Sun Devils, he compiled an 11-1 record, giving him a total of 40 wins and five losses in three years of collegiate competition.
As the Florida Southern head coach from 1977 to 1983, he led the Moccasins to a 316-69 record for a .821 winning percentage. Arnold's Moccasins teams won Regional titles in six of his seven years and NCAA Division II National Championships in 1978 and 1981. From 1984-94, he served as head coach of the Gators and led the Orange and Blue to 434 wins and a .640 winning percentage. In addition, his Gator teams appeared in 1988 and '91 College World Series, the first two appearances in Omaha for UF. He directed the squad to seven NCAA Tournament berths, a pair of Southeastern Conference titles in 1984 and 1988, three SEC East crowns in 1984, 1985 and 1992 and three of the program's sixth SEC Tournament championships in 1984, 1988 and 1991.
This year's class, which will be inducted as a part of the annual celebration of college baseball on June 28-29 in Lubbock, Texas, is headlined by Lance Berkman, who led Rice to its first College World Series appearance before embarking on a stellar Major League career; Frank Viola, the talented left-hander who led his St. John's club to Omaha in 1980 and went on to a 15-year major league career that included winning the 1988 American League Cy Young Award.
Also included in the class are former Lubbock Christian and Texas Tech Coach Larry Hays, one of only eight coaches at any level of college baseball with 1,500 wins; Al Holland, who shattered records in his four years at North Carolina A&T; Bill Holowaty, the third-winningest coach in NCAA Division III history; Mike Kelly, who was the consensus national player of the year in 1990 and winner of the Golden Spikes Award in 1991; and Rick Reichardt, who won the first recognized collegiate national player of the year award in 1964.
“This class features players and coaches with some incredible superlatives,” said Mike Gustafson, executive director of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. “There are some unique and outstanding accomplishments by the individuals in this class.”
“Our voting committees consists of longtime college baseball media members, active and former coaches, retired umpires, past inductees, college baseball historians and in several cases they are also former players,” Gustafson said. “I commend them on another outstanding job.”
Tickets for the 2015 induction will be available in May on the Hall of Fame's website: www.collegebaseballhall.org.
