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Cal Poly Pomona Athletics Hall of Fame

John Scolinos HOF

John Scolinos

  • Class
  • Induction
    2003
  • Sport(s)
    Baseball
John Scolinos
When you think of Cal Poly Pomona athletics, one of the first names that comes to mind is coaching great John Scolinos.

Scolinos led the Broncos to three national championships and 822 wins during his 30 years as the head coach. At the time, he was the winningest coach in NCAA Division II history. Before coming to Cal Poly Pomona, Scolinos guided Pepperdine to a 376-213 record over 14 seasons. So, in 44 seasons as a head coach at Pepperdine and Cal Poly Pomona, Scolinos was 1,198-949. He was 822-736 at Cal Poly Pomona.

The list of his accomplishments as a coach are many:

?1,198 victories are the second most of any NCAA Division II coach in history
?Guided the Broncos to their three NCAA titles in 1976, 1980 and 1983
?Named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year three times
?Named “Coach of the Decade” for the 1970s by the College Baseball newspaper
?Selected by former USC coach Rod Dedeaux to be the pitching coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Baseball team
?Coached CPP to six CCAA crowns in 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1988
?Diamond Baseball District 8 Coach of the Year in 1985
?CCAA’s Coach of the Year five times
?Inducted into the American Association of Collegiate Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1974
?Honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association with the Lefty Gomez Award, for his “outstanding contributions and distinguished service to college baseball.” 

Perhaps his biggest achievement, though, is the naming of Cal Poly Pomona’s baseball field, called, appropriately enough, “Scolinos Field.”

Scolinos graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles in 1937. He was a member of the Army Air Force from 1942-45, serving time as an Air Craft Recognition Instruction and a B-29 radio operator in the Pacific Theater. In 1947, he saw action as a merchant seaman.

After the war, he completed his education at Pepperdine, where he earned his bachelor’s and master's degrees.

In addition to his college coaching, Scolinos also had many experiences internationally. Prior to the 1986 season and for the first six games of the 1987 season, Scolinos traveled to Holland and Italy to conduct coaching clinics arranged by the Sports Exchange USA.

He also took the Pacific Coast College All-Stars to Japan in 1952. That was the first U.S. team to travel to Japan to play baseball after World War II. Later, Scolinos led the USA All-Star team against Japan in 1975 and he also coached the USA All-Star team in the World Cup Games in 1980.


 

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