Former University of Arizona baseball coach Jerry Kindall has died.
Kindall was the first man to win a College World Series as both a player and a coach .
Kindall coached the Wildcats baseball program for 24 seasons, winning three national titles. Among those he coached was Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona, a member of U of A’s 1980 championship squad.
Kindall’s time in Tucson came after a nine year stint as a big league shortstop. He starred at the position with the University of Minnesota, where he won a title with the Golden Gophers as a player in 1956.
Kindall, a member of Arizona’s Sports Hall of Fame, died Sunday of complications from a stroke suffered last week. He was 82.
Current Wildcats baseball coach Jay Johnson called Kindall “one of the greatest baseball coaches of all time.”
