Article

Bowyer Receives Call from the Hall
MSU baseball coach inducted into ABCA Hall of Fame

by Garret Felder
January 19, 2006

Take 948 wins during 34 seasons and mix in 19 conference titles and 18 NCAA post-season appearances together to make a career that has proven a consistency of success. Add in an outgoing personality and endless energy and you have Minnesota State head baseball coach Dean Bowyer.

After putting MSU baseball on the map and creating thousands of close player relationships, Bowyer finally got his call to the Cooperstown of college baseball coaches—the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Yet beyond this personal achievement, reflects a greater honor for this university.

“(The hall of fame induction) is not so much a great honor for myself, but a great honor for our program,” Bowyer said. “This honor shows the consistency of our program despite limited money. It shows that we recruited talented players and developed their talent and their passions for the game and the program.”

Following his selection for the 2006 induction class in February 2005, Bowyer was honored at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago Jan. 6, along Ed Cheff of Lewis and Clark State College (coach of 29 years and 13 NAIA national titles), Tommy Thomas of Valdosta State University (coach of 38 years and 1,234 wins) and Phil Swimley of University of California, Davis (coach of 39 years the ninth coach in history to win 900 games).

The ABCA awards this prestigious honor, along with the Lefty Gomez award, to any deserving coach from Division I, II, III or junior college baseball programs. But from his long time as a coach, Bowyer fondly remembers all the athletes he’s had the pleasure of working with.

“The neat thing is how many relationships that I have built through the years,” Bowyer said. “Seeing my players develop and mature and get the mindset of how they can help the team is what I have loved most.”

While Bowyer enjoys his top honor as a coach, he is still a very motivated man who won’t slow down his quest for excellence.

“It would be nice to win conference every year and get back to the College World Series since we haven’t been there since 1986,” Bowyer said. “But most importantly I want our program to play hard, have fun playing, and do the best they are capable of.”

Adding to Bowyer’s achievement, his squad has also been ranked No. 28 in the Collegiate Baseball Newpapers NCAA Division II Pre-Season Poll. Although it is something to be proud of, Bowyer believes it is not as important as the health status of his team.

“A lot of the poll depends on the year before but obviously the end of the year poll is more important,” Bowyer said. “If we can stay healthy through out the season, we could have a great ball club.”

Along with the pre-season poll ranking, Bowyer also announced that senior Ryan Greene, junior Adam Sudbeck and former captain Matt McMurtry would be the captains of the 2006 baseball squad.

“Sudbeck is a great competitor, works hard and will lead verbally and by example,” Bowyer said. “The guys have shown great respect for Greene since he has been here and McMurtry will challenge the guys by example as well.”

MSU has six weeks to prepare for their fist action of the season as they travel to Carollton, Ga., to face West Georgia State University Mar. 2-4.