Gary Adams (baseball)

Gary Adams
Biographical details
Born (1939-09-04) September 4, 1939 (age 85)
Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Playing career
1959–1962UCLA Bruins
Position(s)Second base
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1968UC Riverside (asst.)
1970–1974UC Irvine
1975–2004UCLA
Head coaching record
Overall1169-891-12
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 Division II National Championships (1973, 1974)
1 Division I College World Series Appearance (1997)
11 Division I NCAA tournament Appearances (1979, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004)
5 Division II NCAA tournament Appearances (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974)
3 Pac-8/Pac-10 South Division Titles (1976, 1979, 1986)
1 Pac-10 Title (2000)
Awards
1 Division II Coach of the Year Award (1974)
2 Division II District VIII Coach of the Year Awards (1973, 1974)
1 Pac-10 Coach of the Year Award (2004)
2 Pac-10 South Coach of the Year Awards (1979, 1986)

Gary Adams (born September 4, 1939) is an American former college baseball coach, the head baseball coach of the UCLA Bruins from 1975–2004. Adams also served as the first head coach at UC Irvine from 1970–1974, winning two Division II national championships there.[1]

Adams attended UCLA, where he played baseball from 1959–1962. After his playing career, Adams was an assistant coach at UC Riverside from 1965–1968 before becoming a head coach.[1][2]

Coaching career

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Adams was named the first head coach of the Division II UC Irvine baseball program prior to the 1970 season. Under Adams, the Anteaters reached the Division II NCAA tournament in each of the program's first five seasons. In both 1973 and 1974, the team advanced to the College World Series and won the Division II National Championship.[3][4]

Adams replaced Art Reichle as the head coach at UCLA following the 1974 season. Adams coached at UCLA for 30 seasons, appearing in 11 NCAA tournaments and the 1997 College World Series. Adams retired following the 2004 season and was replaced by then-UC Irvine head coach John Savage.[5][6]

Adams has coached big league greats such as Eric Karros, Todd Zeile, Troy Glaus, Chase Utley, Eric Byrnes and Casey Janssen.

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Independent (College Division) (1970–1973)
1970 UC Irvine 33–12–3 NCAA Regional
1971 UC Irvine 27–17–1 NCAA Regional
1972 UC Irvine 33–19–1 NCAA Regional
1973 UC Irvine 44–12 College World Series
Independent (1974–1974)
1974 UC Irvine 48–8 College World Series
UC Irvine: 185–68–5
UCLA (Pacific-10 Conference) (1975–2004)
1975 UCLA 31–22 7–11 3rd (South)
1976 UCLA 35–25 16–8 1st (South) Pac-8 Tournament
1977 UCLA 31–30 10–8 2nd (South)
1978 UCLA 39–20 9–9 2nd (South)
1979 UCLA 43–18 21–9 1st (South) West Regional
1980 UCLA 31–22–3 15–15 t-3rd (South)
1981 UCLA 21–35 7–23 6th (South)
1982 UCLA 38–27 11–19 4th (South)
1983 UCLA 28–24–1 12–18 5th (South)
1984 UCLA 28–32 8–22 6th (South)
1985 UCLA 34–30–1 13–17 5th (South)
1986 UCLA 39–23 21–9 1st (South) West Regional (National Seed)
1987 UCLA 40–25–1 16–14 2nd (South) West II Regional
1988 UCLA 31–28 12–18 5th (South)
1989 UCLA 27–32 10–20 5th (South)
1990 UCLA 41–26 14–16 4th (South) Midwest Regional
1991 UCLA 29–30 13–17 4th (South)
1992 UCLA 37–26 14–16 3rd (South) Mideast Regional
1993 UCLA 37–23 17–13 2nd (South) Central I Regional
1994 UCLA 22–36 11–19 5th (South)
1995 UCLA 29–28 12–8 5th (South)
1996 UCLA 36–28 16–14 3rd (South) Central I Regional
1997 UCLA 45–21–1 19–11 2nd (South) College World Series
1998 UCLA 24–33 11–19 5th (South)
1999 UCLA 31–33 13–11 T–3rd Wichita Regional
2000 UCLA 38–26 17–7 t-1st Baton Rouge Super Regional
2001 UCLA 30–27 9–15 7th
2002 UCLA 26–35 9–15 7th
2003 UCLA 28–31 11–13 t-5th
2004 UCLA 35–29 14–10 t-3rd Oklahoma City Regional
UCLA: 984–823–7 388–424
Total: 1169-891-12

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

[3][5][7]

Writing, Wine Making and Family

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After spending 41 years coaching college baseball, retirement brought on a new set of challenges and opportunities. With five daughters now grown and gone, there has been plenty of time on Gary's hands, and he and his wife, Sandy, have embarked on an exciting new life – publishing books and a new passion, growing high- quality Syrah grapes for wine. Currently, The Adams’ are in their tenth season of producing estate Syrah and third season of Malbec. Adams has five children's books available, as well as the hard cover book, "Conversations With Coach Wooden" a book that brings delightful stories and surprises to the readers about the great coach, great man and even greater friend John Wooden.

Adams has five daughters, Kristy, Kimberly and Katherine (previous marriage); Jessica and Audrey.

Notes

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  • Adams has written number of books, including Conversations with Coach Wooden, and children's books, The Ladybug Story, So Flat, So Deep, So Far, and The Little Clock Who Had No Hands.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "#13 Gary Adams". UCLABruins.com. UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Baseball: Gary Adams Headed to UCLA Hall of Fame". PE.com. Press-Examiner. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Anteater in the Draft/Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2010 UC Irvine Baseball Media Guide. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ^ "All-Time Results" (PDF). NCAA Division II Baseball Record Book. NCAA. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  5. ^ a b "2011 UCLA Bruins Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  6. ^ Manuel, John (2 July 2004). "Savage Takes Over at UCLA". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  7. ^ "2012 Pac-12 Conference Baseball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
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