|
Mark Marquess celebrates his 30th season as The Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball and his 38th associated with the Stanford Baseball program in 2006. Under his guidance and watchful eye, Stanford Baseball has developed into one of the most admired and respected collegiate programs in the nation. The all-time winningest coach in any sport at Stanford has established and maintained levels of excellence and longevity that few coaches at any level or in any sport can match.
The highlights of Marquess' career to this point came when the Cardinal captured back-to-back College World Series titles in 1987 and 1988 to become one of only four programs in the 59-year history of the CWS to have ever won two or more consecutive CWS titles. Both of Marquess' championship clubs did it after having their back against the wall. His 1987 team won the first CWS crown in school history, finished the season 53-17 overall and was 21-9 in the Pac-10 Southern Division - winning the league title by five full games. But, the Cardinal had to win its final three CWS games after a second round loss to claim the title, defeating Oklahoma State in the championship game. Stanford completed the back-to-back feat in 1988 by winning an amazing eight postseason elimination games, four in both the CWS and an NCAA Regional, concluding its unbelievable run by defeating league rival Arizona State in the CWS championship game. Not only does the 58-year-old Marquess have the two CWS championships as part of a long and successful resume, he enhanced it recently when he led his squad to a school-record five consecutive College World Series appearances from 1999-2003 with the Cardinal reaching the CWS championship game or series in three of those seasons (2000, '01, '03). The five straight trips to Omaha were just two shy of Oklahoma State's record run of seven from 1981-87. Stanford has reached the CWS in an amazing seven of the last 11 campaigns overall. Stanford's recent near misses for another national title began in 2000 when the Cardinal went unbeaten in its CWS bracket before dropping a 6-5 heartbreaker to Louisiana State in the championship game. In 2001, Stanford again swept through its bracket without a loss before falling to Miami in the championship contest. Two years later, the Cardinal made an amazing run through a 2003 CWS losers' bracket with three straight wins in elimination games to reach the championship again, extending Rice into the final game of the inaugural best two-of-three CWS championship series. Stanford also captured NCAA Super Regionals in each of the first five years of the format (1999-2003) and has qualified for the NCAA Regionals 23 times in the last 25 campaigns, while adding Pac-10 titles in 12 of the last 23 seasons (includes Southern Division championships and co-titles). Nearly as eye-opening as its postseason glory and Pac-10 championships is the consistent level of success Marquess has brought to the program. Stanford has suffered just one losing season during his first 29 seasons prior to 2006 and has finished either first or second in the prestigious Pac-10 a total of 22 times in the last 25 seasons (includes Southern Division finishes). Marquess has racked up other impressive numbers as the Cardinal skipper with a 1229-593-5 (.674) overall record in 1827 career games through February 19, 2006, a 109-50 (.686) postseason mark and a 490-314 (.609) showing in the Pac-10, arguably the toughest conference in the nation. He currently ranks seventh in victories among active NCAA Division I baseball coaches and is 15th on the all-time win list. Marquess became the 23rd NCAA Division I baseball coach to reach the 1000-win mark with a victory over Florida State on February 9, 2001. Just over two years later he picked up No. 1100 versus Nevada on February 17, 2003. His latest milestone came with win No. 1200 over California at Sunken Diamond on March 5, 2005. He won his 100th career postseason game in Stanford's NCAA Super Regional clinching win over Long Beach State on June 7, 2003. Marquess' players are main fixtures on the radar screens of professional baseball organizations with 127 chosen in the MLB First-Year Player Draft over the past 21 seasons, including 17 in the last 19 years that were taken in either the first round or as a Compensation A pick. Marquess has also developed several fine young coaches that were either former assistants or players on The Farm, including David Esquer (head coach - California), Mark Machtolf (head coach - Gonzaga), Dave Nakama (former head coach - San Francisco State; current assistant coach - Stanford), Mark O'Brien (head coach - Santa Clara) and Ed Sprague (head coach - Pacific). The accolades have streamed Marquess' way throughout his illustrious career at Stanford, including three NCAA Coach of the Year selections (1985, '87, '88). His most recent honor came in 2003 when he earned his ninth Pac-10 Coach of the Year award. He was previously chosen as the Pac-10 Southern Division Coach of the Year seven times in the final 16 seasons of the league (1983, '85, '87, '90, '94, '97, '98) and the Pacific-10 Coach of the Year during the first season of the league's restructuring in 1999. Marquess' most recent club in 2005 became his 12th straight to qualify for the postseason and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Waco Regional before falling to host and eventual CWS participant Baylor, 4-3 in 12 innings. Last season's team finished with a 34-25 overall record to extend Stanford's string of consecutive winning seasons to 12 in a row. The Cardinal finished 12-12 in the Pac-10, tying for sixth-place, the lowest finish ever by a Marquess-coached team. His 2004 squad spent 10 weeks as Baseball America's No. 1 club and captured a second straight Pac-10 title in a campaign that saw the Cardinal win the second-most regular season games in school history (44) before being eliminated by Long Beach State in an NCAA Regional. The team finished with a 46-14 overall record to extend a school-record string of consecutive 40-win seasons to 10 and was ranked ninth in final polls by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. Marquess' 2003 unit dominated NCAA Regional and Super Regional action with five consecutive victories to reach the College World Series for a school-record fifth straight season. In Omaha, the unit set a new College World Series mark by playing eight games before finally succumbing to Rice in the third and deciding contest of the inaugural CWS championship series. Stanford's 13 postseason games, the last 10 of which were televised live by ESPN, were also a new school record as were its 10 postseason victories. In addition, the Cardinal won its first outright Pac-10 title since 1999, finished with a 51-18 overall record to rank tied for third on the school's single-season victory list and became the fourth Stanford team to reach the 50-win mark in five years. In 2002, Stanford reached a bracket final to finish tied for third at the College World Series and posted a 47-18 overall record. The Cardinal swept its first six postseason contests and won a total of seven postseason games but a pair of CWS losses to eventual national champion Texas ended its season. Stanford entered the year as the nation's consensus No. 1 team and stayed on top of the Baseball America poll until April 1 but a mini-slide in late April relegated the Cardinal to a second-place finish in the Pac-10. Marquess guided a young and inexperienced 2001 Stanford team with no seniors on its roster to a third straight College World Series as the Cardinal won a total of four elimination games in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional just to qualify for the CWS. Stanford ended up reaching the championship game at the CWS for the second straight year before falling to Miami in its title shot. The Cardinal completed the season with a 51-17 record, marking the third straight year Stanford had posted 50 or more wins and Marquess was named the 2001 ABCA West Region Coach of the Year. In 2000, Marquess and one of his most experienced Cardinal teams were within six outs of Stanford's third CWS title with a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning of the championship game versus LSU, before the Tigers scored four times in the final two innings for a 6-5 win. Still, the Cardinal finished the season with a 50-16 record to give Stanford back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time in school history. Stanford came through with victories in three elimination games at the NCAA Regional and Super Regional on its way to the 2000 CWS. The Cardinal also shared the 2000 Pac-10 regular season championship with Arizona State and UCLA. Once again, Stanford was clutch with its back to the wall, beating UCLA in the final two games of the regular season for a share of the conference crown. His 1999 club finished tied for third at the College World Series and won a Southern Division Pac-10 title. The team went on an incredible run towards the end of the season, winning 23 of 24 games including its first seven contests of the postseason during the stretch. Back-to-back losses to Florida State in a CWS bracket final eventually ended the Cardinal's campaign at 50-15, marking only the third time in school history and the first since the 1990 team won a school record 59 games that a Stanford squad had reached the 50-win mark. His 1998 team spent a college baseball record 14 straight weeks atop the Baseball America poll and topped eventual national champion USC by a single game to win the Pac-10 Southern Division title but was knocked off in NCAA Regional action. Pitcher Jeff Austin became Stanford's third National Player of the Year winner. The 1997 squad finished tied for third at the College World Series, losing to eventual champion LSU in a bracket final. The team captured a Pac-10 Southern Division title with a 21-9 conference mark en route to a 45-20 overall record. His 1995 club returned the Cardinal to Omaha after a four-year absence from college baseball's promised land and started a school record streak of 10 consecutive 40-win seasons (1995-2004) by posting a 40-25 mark. Stanford tied for fifth at the CWS and took second in the Pac-10. Marquess' team saved its best baseball for conference play in 1994 when the club picked up a Pac-10 Southern Division crown. The Cardinal was 21-9 versus the Six-Pac to qualify for a Regional despite a 15-15 record outside of conference play that left Stanford with a 36-24 overall mark. In 1990, Marquess led the Cardinal to a school-record 59 wins (59-12). After capturing the Pac-10 Southern Division title, Stanford swept through the NCAA West I Regional in four straight games and eventually tied for third at the College World Series. Marquess guided Stanford to a 47-15 overall record, won the Pac-10 Southern Division title and finished in a tie for fifth-place at the College World Series in 1985. The Cardinal ended the regular season as the nation's top-ranked team in the ESPN-Collegiate Baseball national poll. During the season, Marquess became the winningest coach in Stanford Baseball history, surpassing the 326 victories of former skipper Ray Young (1968-76). His 1983 and 1984 teams gave him his first two Pac-10 Southern Division crowns with the 1983 squad also becoming Marquess' second consecutive College World Series club. Marquess took his first group to Omaha in 1982 when Stanford came within one victory of becoming the first team in school history to reach the 50-win mark, finishing the campaign with a 49-18-1 overall record. Both the 1982 and 1983 squads tied for fifth at the College World Series. In fact, all 13 clubs Marquess has taken to the CWS have won at least one game in Omaha. The 1982 squad was the first Cardinal team to qualify for the CWS since 1967, when Marquess was a First Team All-American first baseman for Stanford. The school's only other appearance in Omaha came in 1953 when the Cardinal also picked up its first CWS win. Marquess has also been a well-known coach on the international level. In 1988, he won International Coach of the Year honors after leading the United States Olympic baseball team to a gold medal that year at the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Marquess guided his club to a 4-1 record during the Olympics, defeating Japan, 5-3, on September 28 to capture the first gold medal in baseball for the United States. Prior to arriving in Seoul, Marquess led the national team to the silver medal at the 15th World Amateur Baseball Championships in Italy. The Americans posted an 11-2 mark in the tourney, losing both games to gold medalist Cuba in the bottom of the ninth inning. For the summer, the USA squad recorded a 42-11 overall record. As head coach of the USA National Team, Marquess led the club to a silver medal at the 1987 Intercontinental Cup Tournament in Cuba. In the summer of 1984, he served as an assistant coach on the USA squad that competed at the World Amateur Championships also in Cuba. As head coach of USA Baseball in 1981, Marquess guided the United States collegiate team to a gold medal at the World Games in Santa Clara. Following that accomplishment, he led the club to the gold medal at the Intercontinental Cup in Edmonton, Canada. His squad edged Cuba, 5-4, in the finals to mark the first time since 1970 that the United States had beaten the Cubans in international competition. In addition, Marquess became the only person ever to post victories over the Cuban team as both a player and a coach. From 1989-98, Marquess served as President of USA Baseball, an organization that handles all aspects of amateur baseball - from the Little League level through the college-aged player and the Olympic squad. Marquess' success as a coach can be traced to his days as a player. A three-year starter at first base for Stanford (1967-69), Marquess earned First Team All-American honors in 1967 and garnered Second Team All-American recognition in 1968. He was also named First Team All-Pac-8 and All-District-8 both seasons. His name is still etched in the school's record book as his .404 batting average in 1967 is fifth all-time on the school's single-season list and his 15 career triples are tied for fifth. In addition, Marquess is one of only nine people to have both played in and coached at the College World Series, and he also competed on the 1967 USA Pan American Games team that captured the gold medal. A member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, he is one of 32 members of the Stanford Baseball family to have a place in the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. One of the greatest two-sport athletes ever on The Farm, he complimented his collegiate baseball career with three years on the Cardinal football squad as a quarterback, split end, defensive back and punt returner. After graduation, Marquess signed with the Chicago White Sox organization in 1969 and spent four seasons as a professional baseball player before serving as a player/coach with the Des Moines (Iowa) AAA team in 1973. He was also an assistant coach on the Boulder Collegians team that captured the 1975 National Semi-Pro championship. The following year, his Boulder team placed third at the national tourney. Prior to his appointment as head coach at Stanford in 1977, Marquess spent five years (1972-76) as an assistant under Ray Young. He now serves as the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball at Stanford. The Nelsons, through a large gift to the baseball program, endowed the position in 1987. His success in the dugout and on the field has led to some other exciting and noteworthy experiences. Marquess made his broadcasting debut for CBS during the network's coverage of the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis. After winning the College World Series and Olympic gold medal in 1988, he was asked to throw out the first pitch before Game 4 of the 1988 World Series on October 19 at the Oakland Coliseum. Later, President Ronald Reagan honored Marquess and the Olympic championship squad at a White House reception. He also served as a color commentator for the baseball venue during NBC's coverage at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. In 2001, Marquess and the Cardinal played in the opening game at the College World Series in which President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch. Marquess earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Stanford in 1969. He completed his Master's degree in Political Science at San Jose State in 1976. He and his wife, Susan, reside in Mountain View. They have three daughters - Bridget Dunnington (31), Anne Lohman (28) and Maureen (24). Bridget and her husband, Gan, have a three-year old daughter Ella. Anne and her husband, Chris, welcomed their first child, Wyatt, in February of 2005. Both families make their home in Los Altos. Maureen lives and works in New York City.
Mark Marquess File
Marquess Year-By-Year
• 2 NCAA Titles Marquess vs. Opponents
Last Updated: February 24, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
