April 25, 1962: Arizona is ranked No. 1 for the first time in any sport
Cal scheduled a six-game series in Tucson in April 1962, and Golden Bears coach George Wolfman was familiar with the best of college baseball.
His team had played No. 1 USC before arriving in Tucson; the Trojans were the defending NCAA champions.
But when Arizona swept all six games, capped by an 11-0 blowout in which UA freshman Dan Schneider struck out 12, Wolfman was impressed.
“Position for position,” he told the Star, “this is a better ball club than USC.”
Arizona was then 33-3. Schneider, a lefty from Rincon High School, was himself 11-0 with an ERA of 0.95. Those who voted in the national poll had already ranked Arizona No. 2.
To get to No. 1 for the first time in school history, in any sport, Arizona would have to successfully maneuver a five-game trip to Los Angeles the following week. As was typical of college baseball in that period, the UA rarely left Tucson. It had played 33 of its 36 games at home.
People are also reading…
Sancet knew the next poll would be released the day after Arizona played at UCLA. The Wildcats won 7-1 and late that night Sancet got a call telling him his club had climbed to No. 1.
Here’s how the Collegiate Baseball poll of April 25, 1962 looked:
1. Arizona.
2. Florida.
3. Minnesota.
4. USC.
Attracting that much attention was rewarded immediately. The Los Angeles Dodgers invited the Wildcats to be their guest for a Saturday night game at Dodger Stadium against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Don Drysdale pitched a complete game in a 2-1 victory before 40,508 fans.
The Associated Press sent a reporter to Tucson; every newspaper in the country received a 1,000-word story on how the obscure school in the desert had become No.1. Arizona led the nation in attendance that year (1,353 per game).
But after leaving Los Angeles with a 39-3 record on May 2, the No. 1 ranked Wildcats encountered unexpected trouble. They lost two home games against Arizona State, including a 20-7 blowout, and another to Cal State Los Angeles.
Leadoff batter Lee Tosto broke his wrist, and the club’s leading hitting, Joe Skaisgir, was in and out of the lineup with an ankle injury.
Arizona lost the No. 1 ranking but was given home games in the NCAA playoffs against the Texas Longhorns. A berth in the College World Series was at stake.
But Schneider, a first-team All-American who completed the season 13-2, and would sign a six-figure bonus contract with the Minnesota Twins over the summer, lost a thrilling 1-0 game to the Longhorns. Arizona was eliminated, finishing the season 40-8.
Where are they now? Schneider, who still owns the Arizona single-season strikeout record (186), made his MLB debut the following May and pitched 117 games in the big leagues. He retired from baseball in 1970 and now owns an insurance agency in Tucson. He has been chairman of the Arizona Baseball Commission and president of the Southern Arizona Sports Development association.
How they did it: Sancet, who coached Arizona to the College World Series in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1970, did not win a national championship. He was allowed to give four full scholarships in 1962, and 16 more partial scholarships of books and tuition. He retired in 1972 and died in Tucson in 1985.
