The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) held its annual Hall of Fame banquet for 2019 inductees.
Pat Doyle, who was head coach for the Delta College baseball team from 1977 to 2000, was elected this year.
Doyle remained head coach for 23 season and lead the Mustangs baseball team to 17 playoff appearances, for a career win/loss record of 568-274.
Doyle was informed in July 2018 that he had been inducted into the Hall of Fame, his first time on the ballot. He was officially inducted at the ABCA Hall of Fame Banquet in January 2019.
“You know it was just one of those things where it’s not something that was always on my radar and I was nominated for it. I just thought ‘oh gee, you get nominated.’ And so I was fortunate to get inducted after my first year of nomination,” he said.
After his time with the Mustangs, Doyle coached several European baseball tournaments. He also served as an assistant coach for Team USA in the 1994 World Baseball Classic.
Doyle describes his coaching style as a defense focused playstyle, but emphasized that there was more to coaching than knowledge of the game.
“They need to have compassion and understanding with the age group they’re dealing with and make the game fun. You don’t need to be a knowledgeable, professionalized baseball coach.”
ABCA looks to coaches who not only have a strong baseball resume, but also have positive impacts on the game and their communities.
“As a longtime ABCA member, Doyle has made an impact on the sport at the high school and collegiate level as well as internationally. Additionally, volunteering his time and knowledge at international coaching clinics in additional to regional and national events, such as the ABCA, has made an impact of coaches not only in California but around the world,” said membership coordinator Zach Haile.
While he may have a career that looks tough to beat, Doyle believes the current Delta baseball program is in good hands with head coach Reed Peters.
“It’s much more open recruiting now, and Reed does a great job recruiting,” Doyle said.” You get players and a lot of different areas besides the Delta College area here. So you know that the love hasn’t changed and he’s done a great job of adjusting to that and I think his record and success speak for itself.”