Dick Cooke

Dick Cooke in a former American college baseball coach, who served primarily as the head coach of the Davidson Wildcats baseball program. He was named to that position prior to the 1991 season, and is the winningest and longest-serving baseball coach in school history.[1]

Dick Cooke
Biographical details
Born (1956-10-28) October 28, 1956
Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Playing career
1975–1978Richmond
Position(s)P
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984–1988Richmond (Asst.)
1989–1990Belmont Abbey
1991–2018Davidson
Head coaching record
Overall595–837–1

Playing career

Cooke played at Richmond, earning three varsity letters as a left-handed pitcher. After graduating with a degree in journalism in 1978, he spent three years in the Boston Red Sox organization at class-A, appearing in 85 games with a 2.95 ERA.[1]

Coaching career

A few years after ending his playing career, Cooke accepted a position as assistant coach at Richmond, where he remained for five seasons. He departed to become assistant athletic director and head baseball coach at Belmont Abbey in 1989, where he re-instituted the baseball program that had been discontinued at the varsity level 17 years earlier. After two years with the Crusaders, he accepted the head coaching position at Davidson. In his time with the Wildcats, ten players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Cooke has also worked with USA Baseball, serving as an auxiliary coach at the 2000 Olympic Games and 2008 Olympic Games.[1] In the summer of 2012, Cooke was named chairman of the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee.[2] Just a month later, the car Cooke was driving was struck by another vehicle, leaving him with serious head injuries. After the 2013 season, Cooke was honored with the CollegeBaseballInsider.com's Tom Walter Inspiration Award.[3][4][5] Cooke resigned following the 2018 season.[6]

Head coaching record

The table below lists Cooke's record as a head coach at the Division I level.[7]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Davidson (Big South Conference) (1991–1992)
1991 Davidson 23–2910–83rd
1992 Davidson 28–2510–62nd
Davidson (Big South): 51–5420–14
Davidson (Southern Conference) (1993–2014)
1993 Davidson 20–2811–95thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 1]
1994 Davidson 20–3112–28thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 2]
1995 Davidson 19–3210–144thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 3]
1996 Davidson 16–336–188thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 4]
1997 Davidson 18–348–156thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 5]
1998 Davidson 13–388–167thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 6]
1999 Davidson 11–37–19–2110th
2000 Davidson 26–2814–157thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 7]
2001 Davidson 19–3210–2010th
2002 Davidson 21–2913–16T-8thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 8]
2003 Davidson 18–2712–178thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 9]
2004 Davidson 20–3313–177thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 10]
2005 Davidson 26–2413–179th
2006 Davidson 18–336–219thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 11]
2007 Davidson 19–349–1810thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 12]
2008 Davidson 12–384–2310thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 13]
2009 Davidson 18–3111–167thSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 14]
2010 Davidson 19–325–2511th
2011 Davidson 18–308–2110th
2012 Davidson 22–328–2211th
2013 Davidson 18–3112–189th
2014 Davidson 29–1917–82ndSoCon Tournament[lower-alpha 15]
SoCon: 420–686–1219–369
Davidson (Atlantic-10 Conference) (2015–2018)
2015 Davidson 28–2214–10T-4thA-10 Tournament
2016 Davidson 28–2611–127thA-10 Tournament
2017 Davidson 35–2613–116thNCAA Super Regional
2018 Davidson 33–2114–105thA-10 Tournament
A-10: 124–7452–43
Total:595–837–1

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

  1. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 1993.
  2. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 1994.
  3. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 1995.
  4. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 1996.
  5. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's nine teams qualified for the tournament in 1997.
  6. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's ten teams qualified for the tournament in 1998.
  7. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's eleven teams qualified for the tournament in 2000.
  8. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's ten teams qualified for the tournament in 2002.
  9. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's ten teams qualified for the tournament in 2003.
  10. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's ten teams qualified for the tournament in 2004.
  11. All ten of the SoCon's teams qualified for the tournament in 2006.
  12. All ten of the SoCon's teams qualified for the tournament in 2007.
  13. All ten of the SoCon's teams qualified for the tournament in 2008.
  14. The top eight finishers of the SoCon's eleven teams qualified for the tournament in 2009.
  15. All ten of the SoCon's teams qualified for the tournament in 2014.

See also

References
  1. "2012 Baseball Coaching Staff". Davidson Wildcats. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  2. "Davidson College's Cooke named rules committee chairman". Huntersville Herald. Huntersville, NC. August 6, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  3. "Wildcats coach wins award". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, NC. July 26, 2013. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  4. Brian Foley (September 19, 2012). "Davidson Baseball Coach Dick Cooke Critically Injured". College Baseball Daily. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  5. Justin Parker (February 13, 2013). "Cooke ready to get started". Lake Norman Citizen. Charlotte, NC. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  6. Scott Fowler (February 12, 2018). "Davidson baseball coach Dick Cooke decides it is time for a change". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved June 6, 2018 – via www.charlotteobserver.com.
  7. 2011 Baseball Media Guide (PDF). Davidson Wildcats. p. 19. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
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