Ron Polk

Ron Polk

File:Ron Polk MSU.jpg Polk coaching at Baum Stadium in 2007
Sport(s)	Baseball
Biographical details
Born	(1944-01-12) January 12, 1944 Boston, Massachusetts
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1966	Arizona (Grad. Asst.)
1967	New Mexico (Grad. Asst.)
1968-1971	Miami Dade-South CC (Asst.)
1972-1975	Georgia Southern
1976-1997	Mississippi State
2000-2001	Georgia
2002-2008	Mississippi State
2009-present	UAB (Volunteer asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall	1,373-702-2
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SEC Reg. Season: 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2001 SEC Tournament: 1979, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2005
Awards
National Coach of the Year: 1973, 1985
College Baseball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2009

Ronald George (Ron) Polk (born January 12, 1944) was a long-time head baseball coach at Mississippi State and is considered, by some, to be the "Father of Southeastern Conference Baseball." Polk compiled one of the most successful winning records, as a coach, in both MSU and Southeastern Conference history. In 31 seasons as an SEC coach he compiled a 1139-590-2 (.667) record. His career record stands at 1373-702-2. He currently ranks 8th on the all-time wins list nationally. His teams won five SEC regular season championships and five SEC tournament championships. His teams participated in the NCAA tournament twenty-three times, and reached the College World Series eight times.

187 players who played under him as a Head Coach signed professional baseball contracts. 27 of these players played in the major leagues. He coached 35 All-Americans and 76 All-Southeastern Conference players. During his tenure at Mississippi State, Polk had eight players drafted in the first round of the professional baseball draft. He is one of only three coaches in college baseball history to coach at three different schools that have played in the College Word Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Georgia Southern University - 1973; Mississippi State University - 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 2007; University of Georgia - 2001. He coached teams that played in Omaha in over a period of five decades (nine appearances) including as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona in 1966. Four of Polk's Mississippi State teams climbed to a #1 ranking in the country during the course of a given season (1985-89-92-06).

Polk is a member of the following Halls of Fame; Georgia Southern University Hall of fame (1990). American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1995). State of Mississippi Athletic Hall of Fame (1998). Mississippi State University Athletic Hall of Fame (1998). National College Baseball Hall of Fame (2009). He is a Former President of the American baseball Coaches Association (1985). Winner of the Lefty Gomez Award which is the highest award given by the American Baseball Coaches Association (1988). Mississippi State University named the baseball stadium The Polk-Dement Stadium (1997). Coach Polk has also completed seven tours on the U.S.A. National baseball team coaching staff serving as the head coach two times and as an assistant five times. He has coached in the Olympic Games two times once Seoul, South Korea in 1988 when the team won the gold medal and the other in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 when the team won the Bronze medal. Polk has authored two textbooks- The Baseball Playbook and The Baseball-Softball Playbook. These two textbooks are the leading teaching textbooks used in teaching baseball and softball classes in Colleges and Universities.

From 1972 to 1975, he served as the head coach at Georgia Southern. From 2000 to 2001, he coached at Georgia. He has also served as an assistant coach at Arizona, and New Mexico.

On July 28, 2008, Polk was announced as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers baseball squad. The Blazers are coached by Polk's former MSU assistant Brian Shoop.

On March 24, 2009, Polk, along with former Mississippi State player, Rafael Palmeiro, was elected to College Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Coach Polk now coaches each summer in the Cape Cod league with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks baseball team.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Georgia Southern () (1972–1975)
1972	Georgia Southern	31-19
1973	Georgia Southern	43-12			College World Series
1974	Georgia Southern	47-14			NCAA Regional
1975	Georgia Southern	34-19
Georgia Southern:		155-64 (.708)
Mississippi State (SEC) (1975–1997)
1976	Mississippi State	28-17	11-12
1977	Mississippi State	33-15	11-9
1978	Mississippi State	38-18	13-8		NCAA Regional
1979	Mississippi State	48-12	17-2	1st	College World Series
1980	Mississippi State	31-19	10-11
1981	Mississippi State	46-17	17-6		College World Series
1982	Mississippi State	28-23	11-13
1983	Mississippi State	42-15	17-5		NCAA Regional
1984	Mississippi State	45-16	18-5		NCAA Regional
1985	Mississippi State	50-15	16–8	1st	College World Series
1986	Mississippi State	34-21	12-15
1987	Mississippi State	39-22	13-13	1st	NCAA Regional
1988	Mississippi State	44-20	17-10		NCAA Regional
1989	Mississippi State	54-14	20-5	1st	NCAA Regional
1990	Mississippi State	50-21	17-9		College World Series
1991	Mississippi State	42-21	12-9		NCAA Regional
1992	Mississippi State	40-22	15-9		NCAA Regional
1993	Mississippi State	41-21	17-12		NCAA Regional
1994	Mississippi State	36-23	15-12
1995	Mississippi State	34-25	11-16
1996	Mississippi State	38-24	17-13		NCAA Regional
1997	Mississippi State	47-21	19-11		College World Series
Mississippi State (1st Tenure):		888-422 (.678)	326-213 (.605)
Georgia (SEC) (2000–2001)
2000	Georgia	32-26	14-15
2001	Georgia	47-22	20-10	1st	College World Series
Georgia:		79-48 (.622)	34-25 (.576)
Mississippi State (SEC) (2002–2008)
2002	Mississippi State	34-24-1	14-15
2003	Mississippi State	42-20-1	17-12		NCAA Regional
2004	Mississippi State	35-24	13-17		NCAA Regional
2005	Mississippi State	42-22	13-16		NCAA Regional
2006	Mississippi State	37-23	12-17		NCAA Regional
2007	Mississippi State	38-22	15-13		College World Series
2008	Mississippi State	23-33	9-21
Mississippi State (2nd Tenure):		251-168-2 (.599)	93-111 (.456)
Mississippi State (Total):		1139-590 (.659)	419-324 (.564)
Total:		1373-702-2 (.662)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of college baseball coaches with 1,100 wins

External links

• MSStateAthletics.com Bio