Team of the 80’s – UNM Baseball

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The 1980s was a seminal time for Lobo baseball.  The 1985 team earned the first national rankings in the programs’ history, climbing to as high as No. 14 in the polls.  Only one man was at the helm through the 1980s, Vince Cappelli, and he twice led UNM to 40+ wins in a season.

The 1980 squad went 41-22 and the 1985 squad topped it by going 42-17.  Most of Cappelli’s 384 wins, which is third all-time at UNM, came in the 1980s.

The 1980s also saw Cappelli win WAC Coach of the Year honors in 1985, as well as 17 players earn All-WAC honors, four All-Americans and 15 draft choices including five in 1985.

“Selecting the players for the team of the 1980s was a great challenge,” said current head coach Ray Birmingham. “The 1980s saw some of the first truly great Lobo teams in terms of performances, and its when Lobo baseball started to become known nationally.  All of the honorees represented the state of  New Mexico the right way.”

Here is the Lobo Baseball All-Decade Team for the 1980s:

P | Dean Duane (1982-85)

 

*Tenth in career complete games with 12.

*Second in career pitching starts with 45.

*Most wins in a season with 14.

*Best winning percentage in a season at 1.000, going 14-0.

*Fourth in career wins with 23.

*Drafted by Kansas City in 1985.

 

Author of the greatest pitching season in Lobo history, Duane went a perfect 14-0 in 1985, setting marks for winning percentage and wins.  He thew 105.1 innings and had a 2.98 ERA that season, but he was also the team leader in wins in 1983. He was named First Team All-WAC and All-America in 1985, getting drafted in the 19^th round by Kansas City in 1985.

P | Kevin Andersh (1982-84)

 

*Led the 1984 team in games started with 14.

*Led the 1984 team in innings pitched with 80.2.

*Led the 1984 team in strikeouts with 79.

*Drafted by Pittsburgh in the opening round in 1984.

 

Andersh was a workhorse for UNM, and turned a masterful 1984 season into becoming UNM’s second opening round draft pick behind 1971’s Jim Kremmel, who was a first round pick in the supplemental draft.  Andersh earned first team all-WAC honors after striking out 79 in 80 2/3 innings.  After that season, the Lobo was drafted in the first round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, being the 15^th selection overall in the 1984 draft.

P | Rod Nichols (1983-85)

 

*Led the 1984 squad in wins with 6.

*Led the 1984 in ERA with a 3.93.

*Drafted by Cleveland in the 15^th round in 1985.

 

A three-year letterman who statistically played second-fiddle to Andersh and Duane, Nichols carved out his own path with a stellar 1984 campaign.  He led that team in wins (6) and in ERA (3.93), and then he proved the perfect complement to Duane in the 1985 season.  He parlayed that into being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 15^th round of the 1985 draft.  He played seven seasons in the major leagues with Cleveland, Atlanta and the L.A. Dodgers.

P | Joe Coleman (1985-88)

*All-time leader in single-season appearances with 32.

*Third in career appearances with 75, and was record holder for 28 years.

*Lead the team in wins in both 1987 and 1988.

*Also led the 1987 team in saves with 3.

 

Coleman was a durable and fantastic reliever who also could give the Lobos a quality start.  His 32 appearances in 1987 still holds as the all-time single-season mark, and his 75 career appearances was a record at UNM for 28 years.  He still is third in career appearances, and he led the 1988 team in starts (16) and strikeouts (60).

1B | John Snyder (1985-86)

*Led the 1986 team in home runs with 12.

*Second in Lobo history in Tournament slugging percentage at 1.000.

*First Team All-WAC in 1985.

 

Snyder was a two-year anchor in the infield at first base, and the slugger was at his best when it mattered most.  While he hit 12 home runs to lead the 1986 squad, his postseason acumen put him over the top. Snyder owns the second-best career for best slugging percentage in a conference tournament setting, slugging exactly 1.000, and no Lobo was ever higher in the WAC Tournament.  His three postseason home runs in third all-time, and he is one of four Lobos to ever hit two dingers in a single tournament game.

2B | Jimmy Logan (1983-86)

*1986 team leader in doubles.

 

A four-year letterwinner and a three-year starter at second base, Logan was a rock at the keystone position in the mid 80s for UNM.  The son of former Atlanta Brave Johnny Logan, he led the 1986 team in doubles.  When his career ended, he was in the top 10 at UNM in hits, doubles, triples and average.

3B | Glen Russell (1982, 84-86)

*Tied for sixth in career sacrifice flies

*Led the 1986 team in at bats (187).

*Led the 1986 team in hits (76).

*Led the 1986 team in RBI (56).

*First Team All-WAC in 1986.

 

Russell goes down as one of the first great Lobo shortstops, of which there have been many.  Another four-year letterwinner, he built his Lobo career up to a huge 1986 season in which he earned First Team All-WAC honors at shortstop, just the fourth Lobos to earn that honor in the first 20+ years of WAC baseball.  Russell’s senior year saw him lash out with a .406 average, leading the team in hits (76) and RBIs (56) while also leading in at bats (187).

SS | Jim Fregosi (1983-85)

*Most runs in a single season (86 in 1985).

*Most games played in a single season (67 as a freshman in 1983).

*Third-highest single season batting average (.445 in 1985).

*Two-time First Team All-WAC (1984-85).

*1985 All-American.

*Drafted by St. Louis in the 2nd round in 1985.

 

Fregosi, the son and namesake of the former Major League player and manager, the younger Fregosi had a brilliant three-year career at UNM.  The two-time First Team All-WAC selection made it as a third baseman in 1984, but it was his unreal 1985 season that saw him set a slew of records that still hold to this day.  Fregosi hit .445 as a junior in 1985, going 94-for-211 on the year, at the time the second-best mark in school history, and it’s still third over 36 years later.  He set single-season marks in 1985 for runs (86), his on-base percentage of .547 is still second all-time, his mark of 12 triples is still second all-time, and his 180 total bases was second and is still fourth.  He parlayed that season into becoming a second round draft choice, 42^nd overall, of the St. Louis Cardinals.

OF | Steve McKee (1985-87)

*Third all-time in single season on-base percentage (.538 in 1987)

*Eighth in career slugging percentage (.643).

*Fourth in single season walks (53 in 1987).

*First Team All-WAC in 1987

 

McKee was a one-man wrecking crew in 1987 earning First Team All-WAC honors as an outfielder after an incredible offensive season.  The team leader in games played in 1987 with 58, he also led the team in at bats (199), runs (69), Hits, (68), RBIs (46), doubles (16), triples (6), home runs (7), total bases (117), walks (53), stolen bases (16), and hit by pitches (11).

OF | Jay Slotnick (1984-85)

*Only Lobo to ever hit for the cycle twice in a career.

*Led 1984 team in at bats with 196.

*Led 1984 team in hits with 65

*Led 1984 team in runs with 45.

*Signed a free agent contract with Montreal in 1985.

 

Slotnick had a terrific campaign in 1984, and then did the seemingly impossible in 1985.  Slotnick was the hitting leader in 1984, leading the team in games played with 55.  Over those 55 games, he led the Lobos in at bats with 196, hits with 65 and runs with 45.  But the next season, Slotnick became the second player in school history to hit for the cycle, doing so against Texas Tech on February 10.  Just six weeks later, he amazingly did it again, hitting for the cycle against Iowa, becoming the only Lobo to ever do it twice, and just one of 10 players to ever hit for the cycle in school history.  Slotnick eventually signed with the Montreal Expos as a free agent in 1985.

OF | Larry Harrison (1980-83)

*Single season games played record holder with 67 in 1983.

*All-time career leader in games played with 244.

*All-time career leader in triples with 31.

*Tied for fifth in all-time career at bats with 837.

*Seventh in all-time career hits with 282.

*Started 124 consecutive games, seventh-best in school history.

 

Harrison was the first great four-year letterwinner that played completely in the 1980s.  The all-time career record holder in triples with 31, he is one of six Lobo players to ever score 200 or more career runs, scoring 204.  He also ranks in the Lobo top-10 in at bats (837, 5^th) and hits (282, 7^th).  Harrison started 124 straight games, a Lobo record at the time, and a mark that held up for 11 years.  The mark is still seventh all-time.

C | Greg Hall (1984-85)

*Fourth all-time in career batting average at .394.

*Hit 34 doubles in two seasons.

*Two-time All-WAC catcher (1984, 1985).

*Drafted in the 23^rd round by the San Diego Padres.

 

Hall was a superb backstop for two seasons, who was so good offensively that he led the team in a few categories in 1985 that Jim Fregosi didn’t, and he was the team leader in most offensive categories in 1984.  The owner of the sixth-highest single season batting average in school history, he hit .434 in 1985, still the best mark ever for a Lobo catcher.  Overall in his two seasons he hit .394, going 149-for-378, the fourth-best mark in school history, and again, the best by a catcher.  He was twice named All-WAC, and he parlayed his Lobo career into a being a 23^rd round draft choice of the San Diego Padres.

DH | Chad Kuhn (1985-88)

*Led the 1988 team in runs with 45.

*Led the 1988 team in triples with 5.

*A two-time draft choice, selected in 1987 (Oakland, 28^th) and 1988 (San Diego, 31^st)

 

A four-year player for New Mexico, Kuhn started as a pitcher, but moved from the mound to behind the plate, eventually settling in as a designated hitter.  The powerful Kuhn made the most of everyday action in 1987 and 1988, leading the team in games played with 55 in 1988.  That season he led UNM in runs scored (45) and triples (5).  That came a season after he tied for the team lead in homers with seven.  He was a 28^th round pick in the 1987 draft of the Oakland A’s, but he returned and got drafted again, this time in the 31^st round by San Diego.