Baseball community mourns the death of legendary coach Mike Gillespie, who led UCI for 11 years

Former UCI Coach Mike Gillespie acknowledges fans and players during a retirement send-off in 2018. (Photo courtesy UCI Athletic Communications)

Legendary college baseball coach Mike Gillespie, who led the UC Irvine baseball team to five post-season appearances and one trip to the College World Series, died Wednesday, July 29 at the age of 80, according to UCI athletic officials.

University officials did not list a cause of death for Gillespie, who was often called “Skip” by fellow coaches and players. He also had a stellar coaching career at USC.

“On behalf of UCI Athletics Department, I want to offer heartfelt condolences to Coach Gillespie’s wife, Barbara, his children, Kelly, Mitch, Matt and Tiffany; his grandchildren and his extended family,” Director of Athletics Paula Smith said in a statement.

“Mike was a leader, mentor, successful coach, and trusted colleague. We have lost a great baseball coach and even better man. He touched so many lives and he will be missed by many.”

Gillespie was the head coach at UCI for 11 seasons, from 2007 to 2018 and led the Anteaters to the College World Series in 2014. Gillespie was selected National Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2014 and was named Big West Coach of the Year in 2009, when he guided the Anteaters to the conference championship.

Under Gillespie the Anteaters made five post season appearances and won regional titles in 2008, 2011 and 2014. 

“Today has been tough,” said current UCI Coach Ben Orloff, who coached with Gillespie before being named head coach.

“There are not enough words to describe Coach Gillespie. He is among the greatest coaches in the history of college baseball. He was a larger than life figure on and off the field. Anyone that had an opportunity to be around him is better because of it. He means so much to me personally. 

“I’ve been so lucky to spend the time I have around him the last seven years. He’s made and continues to make me a better person and coach. I have kept his nameplate in his office that I now occupy as a reminder of what it means to be a coach and to constantly try to make him proud.”

Former UCI player and Irvine High standout Mikey Filia, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2019, said he was saddened to hear about Gillespie’s death.

“I didn’t think it would hit me as hard as it did,” said Filia in a phone interview. “I had a lot of ups and downs with him in the beginning, probably more downs. But when I graduated or when he retired you start to realize he didn’t just impact you on the baseball field but how much he has impacted you in becoming a man and I’ve taken everything he’s done for me and taken that into my every day life and I wouldn’t expect this to hurt as much as it did to hear this news.

“My beginning first two years was a rough one with Skip …. but as the years went on, I started to realize what he did and the coaching style he had, he was always trying to motivate his players to do better because he wanted the best out of every single one of his players. So that was really important in my development in baseball, but not only in baseball, but as a man. He taught me a lot and I am so grateful to be able to call him one of the best coaches I’ve ever had.”

Filia said Gillespie was an “intense” competitor and always got excited about coaching against USC, a team he coached before going to UCI.

“Whenever we were playing SC on a Tuesday, it was a big game for him. But in general, every game to him and the way he prepared was a big game and he treated every game like it was the College World Series,” Filia said.. “Every game was important and we needed to win every game and do whatever we needed to do to win that game.”

Gillespie was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and wrapped up his career as the program’s winningest coach at 393. He had a 1,156-886-2 record overall in in 31 seasons as a Division I head coach. 

Gillespie had his number 19 retired at UCI in 2018. He coached several Major League players, including Keston Hiura, who is currently playing for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Before coming to UCI, Gillespie coached USC for 20 seasons, helping the Trojans to the national title in 1998. He also won a title as a player at USC in 1961 and was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame.

Gillespie also coached at College of the Canyons where he helped start the school’s baseball program. Gillespie had a 420-167 record in 16 seasons there.

Many college and high school coaches reacted on Twitter to Gillespie’s death.

“He was always welcoming when I visited practices prior to our season,” long-time Orange County high school coach Bob Flint told OC Sports Zone. “I spent some time at USC and many hours at UCI talking and learning the game from him.

“Good guy, good coach and I’m really gonna miss him. We talked prior to the start of this season. That was the last time. I certainly didn’t think it would be our last encounter.”

“Skip was a legendary coach who made a huge impact on college baseball, and baseball itself,” JSerra baseball coach Brett Kay told OC Sports Zone. “But he was more legendary in his ability to care about people and instill the game into young men.

“All of baseball will miss a man like Skip Gillespie.”

Courtesy: UCI Athletic Communications; Tim Burt of OC Sports Zone contributed to this story