The NCAA News - News & Features

All-time College World Series team selected

Oklahoma State's Incaviglia is top vote-getter among players

More than 2,000 voters cast ballots to select an all-time College World Series team in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Division I Baseball Championship.

The team, boasting great hitters and clutch pitchers, was selected under the sponsorship of Ocean Spray and the Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald.

Following is the team, with years of competition in parentheses:

Pitcher -- Steve Arlin, Ohio State University (1965, '66).

Pitcher -- Burt Hooton, University of Texas at Austin (1969, '70).

Catcher -- Mike Day, Oklahoma State University (1982, '83, '84, '85).

First base -- Will Clark, Mississippi State University (1985).

Second base -- Todd Walker, Louisiana State University (1993, '94).

Shortstop -- Spike Owen, Texas (1981, '82).

Third base -- Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State (1986, '87).

Outfield -- Barry Bonds, Arizona State University (1983, '84).

Outfield -- Mark Kotsay, California State University, Fullerton (1994, '95).

Outfield -- Dave Winfield, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (1973).

Designated hitter -- Pete Incaviglia, Oklahoma State (1983, '84, '85).

Head coach -- Rod Dedeaux, University of Southern California (1951, '55, '58, '60, '61, '63, '64, '66, '68, '70, '71, '72, '73, '74, '78).

The 11 players and head coach come from nine different schools and four different decades. Oklahoma State has three players on the team and Texas has two.

Voting was conducted through ballots printed in the World-Herald over a four-week period. Nominees for the all-time team were selected by a blue-ribbon panel of former College World Series coaches, media and NCAA Division I Baseball Committee chairs.

The panel selected outstanding performers from each of the five decades of the College World Series and chose five all-decade teams (see April 1 issue of The NCAA News). The all-decade choices then composed the ballot for the all-time team.

In addition to Dedeaux, World-Herald voters selected four other head coaches to be honored along with the all-decade players. Coaches did not have to participate in a particular decade to qualify. The four coaches are the late Jim Brock, Arizona State; Cliff Gustafson, Texas; Gene Stephenson, Wichita State University; and Augie Garrido of Cal State Fullerton.

Incaviglia was the top vote-getter among the players with 1,245 votes, narrowly edging Bonds, who had 1,243. Owen was involved in the tightest balloting, beating out Oklahoma State's Danny Thompson, 684 to 654.

Other vote totals for the winners were Ventura (1,188), Clark (1,116), Winfield (1,002), Kotsay (862), Hooton (882), Walker (694), Day (596) and Arlin (582). Dedeaux, who led his Trojans to a record 10 national championships, was the top vote-getter overall with 1,367 votes. A total of 2,094 ballots were cast by World-Herald voters.

The 50th College World Series begins May 31 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.