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Posted By: <b>J Levine</b><p>Not sure everyone saw this amidst the USC loss and the miner fiasco, but Rod Dedeaux passed away on Thursday...Rod was the John Wooden of college baseball and a fantastic guy. When the Dodgers were sold a couple years ago, a friend of mine worked on the deal. The result was me sitting next to Dedeaux in the owner's suite. I got to see his famous cane/bat signed by 70 different personalities including Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, presidents, and actors. Amazing man who gave me 45 minutes of his time to talk baseball (mostly older ball), his time in the majors (2 games in 1935 for the Dodgers), and his coaching. He introduced me to many Dodgers of the past that day (Koufax, Lasorda, Newcombe, among others) and the new owner. The man was truly a great coach, smart as a whip even at 89 (when I met him), and a nice guy. If you want to read about it a little more...<br /><br /><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2282067" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2282067</a><br /><br />Joshua

Passing of an icon (slightly O/T)
 

Posted By: <b>cn</b><p> I would not call him an icon. When he coached very few colleges had big time programs and they used metal bats. This is a vintage BB forum where they all used wooden bats!

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Posted By: <b>Damian</b><p>I think there is enough interest in the topic and the poster stated it was slightly OT. I found it of interest. Just my opinion.<br /><br />Damian

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>After reading his short bio, and listening to the way he treated Joshua, I believe this man WAS an icon....He sounds like he was one of the "old guard" and there are far too few of those left.....my grandfather was one (I am sure some of ya'lls were too)...but that's another story. I have no issue with announcing something like this. I like great stories too and Joshua's was one. (let's please don't "pile on" in this thread)... Unless it's about this great gentleman, save it.... best regards <br /><br />edited for spelling

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Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>Though briefly, Dedeaux played for the 1935 Dodgers, so the topic is not off. He is the most famous college coach ever. Readers who have gained interest in him can find his autograph around, both as singles and on Olympic team balls. <br /><br />I'm not a fan of aluminum bats, but I had one as a kid and that thing lasted for years under extreme conditions. I hit rocks with it, left in the back yard all winter under the snow, and it was driven over a few times by the riding lawn mower.

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Posted By: <b>Daniel Bretta</b><p>There is already a movement in Omaha to get a statue erected of Coach Dedeaux out in front of Rosenblatt Stadium - home of the college world series. He was a great man.

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Posted By: <b>JimB</b><p>Growing up in L.A., a lot of little leaguers dreamed of playing on one of his teams on their way to the big leagues. I personally was more interested in Jackie Robinson's alma mater, UCLA, but there is no doubt, he was a legend.<br />JimB

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Posted By: <b>Anthony</b><p>Growing up in Santa Monica in the 70's we were all pretty hardcore UCLA fans (it's only a few miles east) but everyone wanted to play baseball for Dedeaux and SC. He was to baseball what John Wooden was to basketball.

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>In high school I played for Bellaire High (surrounded by Houston). The coach there might have been the best baseball coach in Texas history, Coach Knoblauch..(Chuck Knoblauch's dad)..We had families moving there to play on the team, which I guess is common nowadays....I'll never forget those times...

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Babcock</b><p><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/uffda51/Dadeaux.JPG"><br /><br />Rod Dedeaux is pictured on the cover of this recent book. The photo is from 1935, courtesy of USC.