Baseball Reacts To Augie Garrido’s Passing

Augie Garrido, the winningest baseball coach in NCAA history, died Thursday. His passing was felt by many around the game whose lives were impacted over the years by Garrido.

Huston Street was one of the many big leaguers Garrido coached and the closer on Texas’ 2002 national championship team.

Garrido spoke at this year’s American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Indianapolis, packing the convention hall.

Florida State coach Mike Martin ranks second to Garrido on the all-time wins list. He recognized Garrido in a statement.

“College baseball and the world lost one of the finest men in our coaching profession,” Martin said. “Augie dedicated his life to making young men better people. He will be deeply missed by myself and many others.”

Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson spent 10 years on staff at Texas as Garrido’s pitching coach. In a statement, he reflected on how much that experience helped him develop as a coach.

“I’m glad I had the privilege to coach and learn from coach Garrido,” Johnson said. “It was an honor to be around that guy every day. I was blessed to get the opportunity to coach with him and learn from him. I couldn’t have had a better mentor in the game. We still talked at least once a week. When I got the head coaching job here at OU, I told him I wanted to carry on his legacy with all the things he taught me; the details, the approach to the game, how to manage the environment and the game. I really don’t think there was a better coach in America that understood the environment of the game than him. I know I’ll miss him and the game will miss him. He was such a great mentor and friend to everyone in the game.”

Former Texas lefthander Austin Wood memorably threw 13 innings and 169 pitches in a relief outing against Boston College in the NCAA Tournament. Texas won the game, the longest in NCAA Tournament history, in 25 innings and went on to a runner-up finish at the College World Series.

 

Can’t stop thinking about Coach and his family. He is a Giant in a sport won and lost by a game of inches. He says relationships are what matters. As I get older the more I realize the importance of those relationships. Thinking and praying for you, Coach.

— Austin Wood (@AustinTx_wood) March 13, 2018