Miami baseball all-time lineup is home run

Name the best of in anything is usually cause for debate and some consternation from someone who is upset their favorite was left off the list. The Miami baseball program hit a home run in naming their all-time team in honor of the 75th anniversary of its founding.

All of the players named to the Miami baseball program’s all-time team had an impact on the program. Several were a part of the Hurricanes four national championships. On the “team” are All-Americans, players who became successful major leaguers and an eventual World Series winning manager.

The team did not name a coach. Any discussion of the Miami baseball program has to begin with the godfather on the Miami diamond Ron Fraser. Fraser was the sixth Miami baseball coach but its most important. Before Fraser’s arrival in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes had never been to a College World Series or NCAA Tournament.

Before Fraser took over the Miami baseball program in 1963 the Hurricanes had an all-time record of 202 wins, 150 losses and six ties. They won 56.4 percent of the games they played in the 23 seasons before Fraser arrival. Fraser was the Miami baseball coach for 30 seasons from 1963-92. His career record was 1,271–438–9.

Fraser’s teams won 74 percent of the games they played. He is sixth all-time in college baseball history in winning percentage. It took Fraser nearly a decade to get the Miami baseball program going. Once he did they became the preeminent college baseball program for four and a half decades.

The Miami baseball program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance was in 1971. The missed the NCAA Tournament in 1972. In 1973 the Hurricanes began a streak of 44 consecutive invites to the NCAA Baseball tournament. That is the record across all men’s and women’s NCAA Sports.