Sept. 20, 2002
TUCSON, Ariz.- Former Arizona All-American baseball player and head coach Jerry Stitt will be inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame on September 21.
Stitt, who now works in academics for the Arizona athletic department, spent the better part of 27 years as a player, assistant coach, associate head coach and in the top spot for the University of Arizona, as well as seven years at Salpointe High School here in Tucson.
A 1968 ABCA All-American outfielder, he finished his three-year career at UA with .326 batting average. He earned All-Western Athletic Conference and All-District 7 honors in 1967 and '68, and as a senior he led the Cats in batting (.366) and steals (29).
Upon graduation from Arizona, Stitt played three seasons in the Cleveland Indians' farm system before moving back to Tucson to take a job as teacher and head baseball coach at Salpointe. In 1994 he was inducted into Salpointe's Sports Hall of Fame after posting a 93-72 record in seven seasons as the baseball coach for the Lancers.
He returned to UA in the fall of 1978 as an assistant coach under former Wildcat skipper Jerry Kindall. For the next 23 years he helped Arizona to two national titles, four College World Series appearances and three Pac-10 titles. Known as one of the top hitting instructors in the game, Stitt's teams batted a combined .327 under his guide and 53 position players were taken in the Major League Baseball draft during his tenure as a coach at UA.
Hired as head coach to replace the retiring Kindall in 1996, Stitt compiled a 157-125 record (.557) in five seasons as the skipper. His 1999 team got Arizona back into postseason play for the first time in five seasons.
Stitt earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and his PhD from Arizona.
Joining Stitt in this year's Hall of Fame class is Pat Anderson, Tom Black, Fred Bull, Walt Kellner, Diane Lewis-Carey, Al Faccico, Ashby Lohse, Roger McClusky, Sheila Reinhart and Fred Stofft.
Stitt joins a list of current and former Arizona greats to be inducted in the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame, including Coach Kindall, men's head basketball coach Lute Olson, former track and field coach Dave Murray, Sean Elliott, Fred Enke and "Pop" McKale.
