Wayne Graham

{{Short description|American baseball player and coach (1936–2024)}}

{{for multi|the South African field hockey player|Wayne Graham (field hockey)|the rugby union player|Wayne Graham (rugby union)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Wayne Graham

| image = Wayne Graham (cropped).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Graham with Rice in 2006

| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|04|06}}

| birth_place = Yoakum, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|09|03|1936|04|06}}

| death_place = Austin, Texas, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1956–1957

| player_team1 = Texas

| player_positions = Third base, outfield

| coach_years1 = 1971–1979

| coach_team1 = Scarborough HS (TX)

| coach_years2 = 1980

| coach_team2 = Spring Branch HS (TX)

| coach_years3 = 1981–1991

| coach_team3 = San Jacinto College

| coach_years4 = 1992–2018

| coach_team4 = Rice

| overall_record = {{winning percentage|1,173|528|2|record=y}}

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships = College World Series (2003)
5 NJCAA World Series (1985–1987, 1989, 1990)
7 C-USA tournament (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017)
9 C-USA regular season (2006–2008, 2010–2015)
3 WAC tournament (1997–1999)
9 WAC regular season (1997–2005)
SWC tournament (1996)

| awards = Baseball America Coach of the Year (1999){{cite web| url=https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/wayne-graham-legendary-rice-coach-dies-at-88/ |title=Wayne Graham, Legendary Rice Coach, Dies at 88 |publisher=Baseball America}}
5x C-USA Coach of the Year (2006–2008, 2010, 2012){{cite web |publisher=Conference USA |title=Wayne Graham Inducted Into College Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://conferenceusa.com/news/2012/6/30/Wayne_Graham_Inducted_Into_College_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame.aspx?}}
5x WAC Coach of the Year (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005)

| coaching_records =

| CBASEHOF_year = 2012

| module = {{Infobox baseball biography|embed=yes

| name = Wayne Graham

| image =

| image_size =

| position = Third baseman

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = April 10

| debutyear = 1963

| debutteam = Philadelphia Phillies

| finaldate = October 4

| finalyear = 1964

| finalteam = New York Mets

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Games played

| stat1value = 30

| stat2label = Plate appearances

| stat2value = 58

| stat3label = Batting average

| stat3value = .127

| teams =

Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1963}})
New York Mets ({{mlby|1964}})

| highlights =

| update =

}}

Wayne Leon Graham (April 6, 1936 – September 3, 2024) was an American college baseball head coach. He is known for being the head baseball coach for the Rice Owls in Houston, Texas. He coached one College World Series championship team and five NJCAA World Series championship teams. Also a former professional baseball player, Graham played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.

Early life

Graham was born in Yoakum, Texas on April 3, 1936.{{cite news |last1=McTaggart |first1=Bryan |title=MLB mourns loss of college baseball titan Wayne Graham |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/wayne-graham-dies-aged-88 |access-date=7 September 2024 |work=MLB |date=4 September 2024}} His father, Earl, later moved the family to Houston for work, but also was employed as a Southwestern Conference umpire.{{cite web|url=http://digital.houstonlibrary.net/oral-history/wayne-graham.php|title=Oral History Transcript, Houston Oral History Project|access-date= September 11, 2015}} Wayne was the batboy for the 1945 semi-pro Finger Furniture baseball team coached by his father.{{cite web|url=http://www.shelbyestus.com/rice/1945Postbaseball.jpg|title=1945 Houston Post photo|access-date= September 11, 2015}}

Playing career

Graham attended Reagan High School in Houston, winning a Texas state baseball championship in 1952.{{cite news |last1=Galvan |first1=Jaime |title=Legendary Rice Owls baseball coach Wayne Graham dies at age 88 |url=https://www.khou.com/article/sports/wayne-graham-rice-owls-baseball/285-eee9593e-f96d-4f82-a8ba-5f558b0aa976 |access-date=7 September 2024 |work=KHOU |date=4 September 2024}} He subsequently played college baseball and studied engineering at the University of Texas,{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=grahawa01 |title =Wayne Graham Stats

| publisher= Baseball Almanac |access-date= December 10, 2012}} where he played two seasons under coach Bibb Falk.{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/wayne-graham-dies-aged-88|title=MLB mourns loss of college baseball titan Wayne Graham|work=MLB.com|date=September 4, 2024|first=Brian|last=McTaggart}} In order to earn money to support his wife and two children at the time, Wayne left school to pursue a professional baseball career.{{cite news |last1=Barron |first1=David |title=Like many at Rice, coach is a true scholar in his field |url=https://www.chron.com/sports/rice/article/like-many-at-rice-coach-is-a-true-scholar-in-his-1851688.php |access-date=7 September 2024 |date=16 June 2006}}

Graham was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1957.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grahawa01.shtml|title =Wayne Leon Graham| publisher= Baseball-Reference.com |access-date= December 10, 2012}} He played eleven years in pro ball, with the Phillies and Mets organizations. Graham was named Texas minor league player of the year in 1962 after hitting .311 for the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers.{{cite web |title=Wayne Graham |url=https://www.tshof.org/store/p113/Wayne_Graham.html |publisher=Texas Sports Hall of Fame |access-date=7 September 2024}}

Graham received two brief MLB call-ups in the early 1960s. In early {{by|1963}}, he was recalled by the Phillies, playing in ten games for manager Gene Mauch. Graham then appeared in twenty games for the 1964 New York Mets under the tutelage of legendary skipper Casey Stengel. He batted .127 in 55 at-bats in his short major league career.

Coaching career

=High school=

When his playing career ended, Graham returned to the University of Texas to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1970, and he later added a master's degree in physical education at the University of Houston in 1973.{{cite news |last1=Duarte |first1=Joseph |title=Turned down twice for UH baseball job, Wayne Graham ended up just fine |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rice/article/Turned-down-twice-for-UH-baseball-job-Wayne-12914497.php |access-date=7 September 2024 |work=Houston Chronicle |date=15 May 2018}}

His coaching career began at Scarborough High School in Houston. Graham coached for nine seasons at Scarborough and one year at Spring Branch High School before moving on to coach junior college baseball at San Jacinto College in Houston.

=San Jacinto=

Beginning in 1981, Graham turned San Jacinto into the one of the best junior college baseball teams in the country. After regular conference titles in Graham's first few seasons, the Gators became a dominant force in 1984 when they began a run of seven consecutive 50-win seasons and berths in the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. After losing in the 1984 championship game, San Jacinto won three consecutive titles from 1985 to 1987. After falling short again in 1988 by taking second place, the Gators went back-to-back in 1989 and 1990.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/legendary-rice-baseball-coach-wayne-graham-dies-at-88-college-baseball-hall-of-famer-turned-program-around/|title= Legendary Rice baseball coach Wayne Graham dies at 88: College Baseball Hall of Famer turned program around |work=CBS Sports|date=September 4, 2024|first=Mike|last=Axisa}} Those five national titles in six years eventually led to Graham being named Junior College Coach of the Century by Collegiate Baseball. In 1988, Graham skippered the Hyannis Mets, a collegiate summer baseball team in the Cape Cod Baseball League.{{cite news |url=http://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/apa/yarmouth/sharedview.article.aspx?href=BAR%2F1988%2F01%2F21&id=Ar01012&sk=87DE7BF8&viewMode=image |title=Hyannis Mets Get New Coach |page=10 |newspaper=Barnstable Patriot |location=Barnstable, MA |date=January 21, 1988}} In his 11 seasons at San Jacinto, Graham posted a 675–113 record (.856 win percentage), earned five national coach of the year awards, and produced multiple professional players, most notably pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

=Rice=

Graham took over at Rice in 1992. He inherited a program that had tallied only seven winning seasons in 78 years of Southwest Conference play and had only finished above fourth place once. As at San Jacinto, he turned the program into a national powerhouse. A program that had never before qualified for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament made 23 consecutive tournament appearances (1995–2017) and won 20 consecutive regular-season or tournament conference championships (1996–2015) in three different conferences (Southwest Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and Conference USA). Rice has also been to the College World Series seven times (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008). Graham's crowning achievement was the 2003 College World Series, in which Rice won its first national championship in any sport in its 91-year history. Not one to rest on his laurels, Graham quipped during a post-game interview, "We want to do it again."{{cite book |title=Baseball America 2004 Almanac: A Comprehensive Review of the 2003 Season |date=2004 |publisher=Baseball America, Inc. |isbn=9780945164234 |page=376 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlqR6hQON2kC |access-date=7 September 2024}} On April 16, 2016, Graham won his 1,100th Division I game (3–2 over Western Kentucky). He has more than 1,600 wins as a collegiate head coach.Rice Athletics: http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/graham_wayne00.html Graham was also largely responsible for Rice's on-campus baseball stadium, Reckling Park, being built in 2000.{{cite news |last1=Hill |first1=Glynn |title=The Wayne Graham era at Rice draws to a close |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rice/article/The-Wayne-Graham-era-at-Rice-draws-to-a-close-12926791.php |access-date=7 September 2024 |work=Houston Chronicle |date=21 May 2018}}

In 2004, Graham once again presided over history, as three Rice pitchers were drafted in the first eight picks of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, the only time three teammates have ever been selected in the first round. Graham's Rice teams produced first-round picks Jose Cruz, Jr. (1995), Matt Anderson (1997), Lance Berkman (1997), Bubba Crosby (1998), Kenny Baugh (2001), Jon Skaggs (2001), David Aardsma (2003), Philip Humber (2004), Jeff Niemann (2004), Wade Townsend (2004, 2005), Joe Savery (2007), and Anthony Rendon (2011). Eight of those players were pitchers, and Graham was known for developing players that went undrafted out of high school, such as Niemann and Townsend.

During the 2017 season, despite finishing in 6th place in Conference USA, Graham led Rice to their 23rd consecutive NCAA tournament. Needing to win the Conference USA tournament title to qualify for the NCAA tournament and to keep the streak alive, he led to Owls to the conference title. Rice won four consecutive games and rallied late in the championship to upset #11 nationally ranked Southern Miss 5–4 on a walk-off double.{{cite news |last1=Magee |first1=Patrick |title=Rice tops Southern Miss on walk-off before record crowd in C-USA title game |url=https://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/conference-usa/university-of-southern-mississippi/article153181094.html |access-date=7 September 2024 |work=Sun Herald |date=28 May 2017}} Graham never had a losing season as a high school or college coach until his final season at Rice in 2018. His contract was not extended after that season.{{Cite news|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rice/article/The-Wayne-Graham-era-at-Rice-draws-to-a-close-12926791.php|title=The Wayne Graham era at Rice draws to a close|work=Houston Chronicle|access-date=2018-06-06}}

In 2012, Graham was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Death

Graham died in Austin on September 3, 2024, at the age of 88.{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Matt |title=Wayne Graham, who led Rice baseball to seven College World Series, dies at 88 |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/college/article/rice-baseball-wayne-graham-dead-obit-19741881.php |access-date=4 September 2024 |publisher=Houston Chronicle |date=4 September 2024}}

Head coaching record

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Rice Owls

| conference= Southwest Conference

| startyear = 1992

| endyear = 1996

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1992

| name = Rice

| overall = 29–26

| conference = 15–21

| confstanding = 5th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1993

| name = Rice

| overall = 36–18

| conference = 7–11

| confstanding = 5th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1994

| name = Rice

| overall = 34–21

| conference = 12–6

| confstanding = T–2nd

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1995

| name = Rice

| overall = 43–19

| conference = 15–9

| confstanding = T–2nd

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference tournament

| season = 1996

| name = Rice

| overall = 42–23

| conference = 9–15

| confstanding = t-6th

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Rice Owls

| conference= Western Athletic Conference

| startyear = 1997

| endyear = 2005

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 1997

| name = Rice

| overall = 47–16

| conference = 20–9

| confstanding = 1st (South)

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 1998

| name = Rice

| overall = 46–17

| conference = 26–4

| confstanding = 1st (South)

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 1999

| name = Rice

| overall = 59–15

| conference = 25–5

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2000

| name = Rice

| overall = 43–23

| conference = 19–11

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2001

| name = Rice

| overall = 47–20

| conference = 26–10

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Super Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2002

| name = Rice

| overall = 52–14

| conference = 28–2

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = national

| season = 2003

| name = Rice

| overall = 58–12

| conference = 25–5

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series champions

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2004

| name = Rice

| overall = 46–14

| conference = 24–6

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2005

| name = Rice

| overall = 45–19

| conference = 21–9

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Super Regional

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Rice Owls

| conference= Conference USA

| startyear = 2006

| endyear = 2018

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 2006

| name = Rice

| overall = 57–13

| conference = 22–2

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 2007

| name = Rice

| overall = 56–14

| conference = 22–2

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2008

| name = Rice

| overall = 47–15

| conference = 21–3

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = College World Series

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference tournament

| season = 2009

| name = Rice

| overall = 43–18

| conference = 16–8

| confstanding = 2nd

| postseason = NCAA Super Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2010

| name = Rice

| overall = 40–23

| conference = 17–7

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 2011

| name = Rice

| overall = 42–21

| conference = 16–8

| confstanding = T–1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2012

| name = Rice

| overall = 41–19

| conference = 17–7

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 2013

| name = Rice

| overall = 44–20

| conference = 15–9

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Super Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = confboth

| season = 2014

| name = Rice

| overall = 42–20

| conference = 23–7

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship=conference

| season= 2015

| name= Rice

|overall= 37–22

|conference=22–8

|confstanding=1st

| postseason= NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2016

| name = Rice

| overall = 38–24

| conference = 19–10

| confstanding = 4th

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference tournament

| season = 2017

| name = Rice

| overall = 33–31

| conference = 16–14

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2018

| name = Rice

| overall = 26–31–2

| conference = 11–15–2

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record subtotal

| name = Rice

| overall = 1,173–528–2

| confrecord = 531–244–2

}}

{{CBB yearly record end

| overall = 1,173–528–2

}}{{cite web|title=Annual Conference Standings|url=http://www.boydsworld.com/data/|work=BoydsWorld.com|access-date=February 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220044845/http://www.boydsworld.com/data/|url-status=live|archive-date=February 20, 2013}}{{cite web|title=2010 Texas Longhorns Baseball Media Guide: History|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tex/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/ba-0910-mg-history.pdf|publisher=Texas Sports Information|access-date=February 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112151012/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tex/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/ba-0910-mg-history.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 12, 2012}}{{cite web|title=2011 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Media Guide|url=http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205098049|work=WACSports.com|access-date=February 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614181402/http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=205098049|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 14, 2012}}{{cite web|title=2013 Conference USA Baseball Media Guide|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/c-usa/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/CUSA13Baseball.pdf|access-date=February 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110221826/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/c-usa/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/CUSA13Baseball.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 10, 2014}}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb=115032 |espn=22241 |br=g/grahawa01 |fangraphs=1004938 |brm=graham001way |retro=G/Pgrahw101 }}
{{SABR Baseball Biography Project|a1fd3a13}}
[https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=grahawa01 Wayne Graham] at Baseball Almanac

{{Western Athletic Conference Baseball Coach of the Year navbox}}

Category:1936 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:People from Yoakum, Texas

Category:Baseball players from Houston

Category:Rice Owls baseball coaches

Category:Texas Longhorns baseball players

Category:University of Houston alumni

Category:Philadelphia Phillies players

Category:New York Mets players

Category:San Diego Padres (minor league) players

Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players