COLLEGE BASEBALL'S
WINNINGEST COACH
RETURNS TO ST. FRANCIS
For
Immediate Release
May 9, 2005
Gordie
Gillespie captured nearly half of his 1,674
collegiate baseball coaching victories at University
of St. Francis during a span covering 19 years
from 1977 through 1995.
In
2006, college baseball’s all-time winningest
coach will add to that 804-488 mark when
Gillespie returns to the St. Francis program
to replace his former assistant coach Tony
Delgado, who announced earlier this year
that he would retire upon completion of the
2005 season.
For
Gillespie, the current 2005 campaign
marks his 53rd season of coaching on the diamond,
where he has amassed a 1,674-857 overall record.
The next closest challenger to Gillespie’s
record is Texas’ Augie Garrido, who owned
a 1,525-712 mark heading into play Monday.
Gillespie’s
re-introduction was made at a press conference
on Monday, May 9 by USF president Dr. Michael
Vinciguerra and Dave Laketa, director of athletics.
"We
are very pleased that the ‘winningest’
coach, Gordie Gillespie, will once again
wear a Saint jersey," said Vinciguerra.
"He will be an ambassador for the university’s
vision and commitment to be the center of education
in our region."
Besides
his coaching duties, Gillespie also will
assist in the university’s fundraising
efforts.
Gillespie,
who turned 79 last month, returns to the area
after a successful 10-year run at Ripon College
in Wisconsin, where he worked with his son,
Bob, the school’s director of athletics.
Entering
this weekend’s Midwest Conference Tournament,
Gillespie has compiled a 235-127 record
at Ripon and has led the Red Hawks to the NCAA
III playoffs five of the last six years, while
capturing five league titles, including one
stretch of four in a row.
Gillespie has also been named conference
coach of the year four times (1999, 2001, 2002
and 2003).
"We
are most blessed that Coach Gillespie has
taken up our offer to return to St. Francis,"
said Laketa, who played football for Gillespie
at St. Francis from 1986-89. "Between his
time here as well as at Joliet Catholic High
School and Lewis University, he has made a tremendous
impact on the lives of an extraordinary amount
of young student-athletes in the Joliet area,
including myself.
"For
our future student-athletes to experience that
same feeling first hand as part of their overall
education will be an unbelievable benefit to
them in preparation for life after college."
An inductee into 15 halls of fame and a four-time
NAIA national baseball coach of the year, Gillespie
took 16 of his 43 teams to the NAIA World Series
between his time at Lewis and St. Francis from
1953-1995.
At Lewis, Gillespie produced a 634-241
record in 24 years (1953-1976), capped off by
three straight NAIA World Series titles from
1974-76. One year later, Gillespie moved
on to St. Francis, where eight of his teams
earned a bid to the World Series, highlighted
by the 1993 team that won 38 of its final 39
games en route to the school’s first-ever
national championship in any sport.
Gillespie, the father of seven through
a previous marriage (Mike, Gordie, Jr., Greg,
Bob, Margaret Mary, Billie and Jackie), made
his way onto the Joliet scene in 1950, serving
as the director of athletics for the Catholic
Youth Organization (CYO). Soon afterwards, he
found himself coaching Lewis University’s
basketball team, which was in its second season
of competition in the fall of that year. That
would start a run of 104 sport seasons on the
sidelines, including the 2005 baseball campaign.
In all, Gillespie's teams have failed
to record at least a .500 mark on only 11 occasions.
In seven of those years, he fell just one win
short of the break-even point.
At the same time that he was building strong
programs in baseball at Lewis, as attested by
eight NAIA World Series appearances, Gillespie
was functioning in a dual role, directing the
fortunes of the Flyer basketball program from
1950-1965.
At. St. Francis, he started both the football
(1986) and women's basketball program (1976-77),
besides serving as the head baseball coach,
to go along with his duties as director of athletics
from 1976-86 and athletic chairman from 1986-1995.
Prior to making his way over to USF to coach
football, Gillespie posted an incredible
222-54-6 record on the gridiron during an illustrious
27-year stay at Joliet Catholic High School,
highlighted by five state championships (1975,
1976, 1977, 1978 and 1981). For those accomplishments,
he was named the head coach of the Chicago Tribune's
All-Time Illinois High School Football Team
in 1991.
For the record, the graduate of Kelvyn Park
High School and DePaul University has captured
2,182 victories against 1,074 losses for a .670
winning percentage in four different sports.
"It
is only appropriate that Coach Gillespie
conclude his incredible career, where he started
it, in a region known for its quality blue-collar
athletes and championship-caliber clubs, which
are due in large part to him," stated Laketa.
"His return only adds to our renewed commitment
to athletics as part of the overall learning
experience at St. Francis and will extend the
long-standing tradition of excellence in the
program that he started, that he and Tony nurtured
and that Tony continued over the past 10 years."
Gillespie and his wife, Joan, will reside
in Joliet. Between the two of them, they have
a combined total of 35 grandchildren.
"This
is a very exciting time at USF - one of growth,
of recommitment to our roots and mission and
of outreach to our greater community,"
concluded Vinciguerra. "We are pleased
that Gordie is back on our team at the University
of St. Francis."
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