Nine Reasons Why I respect Stanford Baseball coach Mark Marquess

Saturday June 3^rd, 2017 (6+3=9… Yes I am into weird coincidences), Stanford Cardinal baseball fell to the Cal State Fullerton Titans 4-2 which not only ended Stanford’s season but Coach Mark Marquess’ career on the Farm. While Stanford was a top-10 team, Fullerton owned Stanford this season winning their season series and would have swept if not for a blown 6-0 lead and swept Stanford in the Regional this past weekend.

Any other year, I would be furious at Stanford for blowing their best shot in almost a decade to not only return to Omaha but actually compete for a National Championship. For some reason this year, I am only saddened that Mark “Nine” Marquess will no longer be the head coach for Stanford baseball. I am not the first person to talk about what he brought to Stanford nor will I be the last but I wanted to dedicate this article to Coach Marquess with “NINE” reasons why I will always respect what Coach Marquess did at Stanford University.

9) If you asked a little kid if he could go anywhere if the world, you would probably get Disneyland or the North Pole. For Coach Marquess, his answer would have been Stanford and for 48 of his 70 years on this planet, he made Stanford his “anywhere in the world” home.

8) There have been 20 baseball coaches in Stanford history starting with W.A. Lange in 1897 to Marquess today who started in 1977. Marquess won over 1600 games while the other 19 coaches combined for 1200 victories.

7) Marquess coached 47 All-American players, 11 Golden Spikes Award Finalists, 3 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, 2 National Player of the Years, 1 National Pitcher of the Year, and was a National Coach of the Year 3 times.

6) Marquess was not just about wins and losses on the diamond; winning in the classroom was MORE important. Marquess has coached 14 Academic All-Americans.

5) Marquess will retire with a .655 winning percentage in postseason play.

4) Over 200 players have been drafted under Marquess. Some of those players would end up winning MLB World Championships while others would go on to do great things off the diamond like NFL Hall of Famer John Elway.

3) In 40 years of baseball, Marquess had 2 losing seasons….. 2!!!

2) While it would seem to come at #1 for many, I think the 2 National Championships that Marquess brought to Stanford fits perfectly in this spot.

1) Meeting you for the first time and saying you wanted me to play for you and that required getting good grades. It’s one thing to hear about it but to be about it is something you don’t get at any other University. Stanford is what being a student-athlete is all about.

I know Coach Marquess would have loved to go out with a championship in hand but I think he knows what he has done for this program and this University is something that will last for decades and the bar will always be winning on and off the field; and if you can’t handle that, you better look elsewhere because Stanford is the dream and it starts at a young age and will stay with you for the rest of your life. You may not have pitched a complete game on the Farm but this call to the bullpen ends with a standing ovation and the chants “Thank You Marquess”.