Baseball veteran Mike Kirby returned to Cal State Fullerton forthe 2012 season as Rick Vanderhook's first assistant coach andrecruiting coordinator after a three-year stint in Eugene, Ore.,where he helped George Horton rekindle the Ducks' baseball programafter a 28-year hiatus.
In his first year as the Titans' recruiting coordinator, CSF's2012 class was ranked 23rd in the country by Baseball America,producing National Freshman Pitcher of the Year Thomas Eshelman,Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year Justin Garza and 2013everyday second baseman Jake Jefferies.
Kirby, responsible for coaching first base, also tutors theteam’s infielders, and during the last two years has coachedone Big West Conference Player of the Year (Carlos Lopez, 2013),one Big West Defensive Player of the Year (Richy Pedroza, 2013),one Big West Freshman Player of the Year (Matt Chapman, 2012) andfour Major League Baseball draftees.
Before returning to Fullerton, Kirby, 47, was instrumental inhelping Horton promote the Oregon program to the national scene,playing a large role in four consecutive top-25 recruiting classes,including three ranked in the top-10 and a program-best No. 5ranking in 2010.
Kirby was also responsible for coaching first base and workingwith the team's outfielders.
In his three seasons with the Ducks, the program produced sevenposition player All-Pac 10 honorees and four major league drafteesincluding catcher Eddie Rodriguez in 2010.
Kirby took Rodriguez under his wing and helped the seniorcatcher to a breakout season that saw him lead the team with sevenhome runs and 45 RBI while hitting .329 before being selected bythe Florida Marlins in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
That same year, the Ducks made a remarkable jump after finishing14-42 in 2009. They got rolling and finished with a 40-24 mark,having advanced to the postseason for just the third time in schoolhistory and the first since 1964. It was the second biggestturn-around by a college baseball team since the NCAA began keepingthe stat in 1998. The Ducks finished the season on four nationalpolls after reaching the elimination game at the NorwichRegional.
Kirby got back into the college game after nine years of workingin sales for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1999-2008) byjoining Buddy Goldsmith's UNLV coaching staff for the 2008 season.While in Las Vegas he served as the Rebels' third base coach andhelped develop the catchers.
While in Las Vegas, Kirby was instrumental in helping XavierScruggs regain his power stroke that helped him win the MountainWest Conference's triple crown with a .379 average, 20 home runsand 65 RBI.
Kirby saw his first action in Fullerton in 1991 and spent eightof the next nine seasons as either a student assistant (one year),facilities manager (three years) or assistant coach (four years).He left the Titans briefly to assist at Los Angeles City College in1996.
From 1991-1999, Kirby helped the Titans to six Big WestConference titles, four College World Series appearances (1992,1994, 1995, 1999) and a national championship in 1995. He helpedgroom nine (Frank Charles, Steve Sisco, Phil Nevin, Dante Powell,Jeremy Giambi, Mark Kotsay, Mike Lamb, Aaron Rowand and ReedJohnson) former Titan position players for the major leagues andtutored four of the five Titan Olympians (Brian Loyd, Kotsay, JasonMoler and Nevin).
He learned his craft from working with Titan coaching staffsthat included current Div. I head coaches Augie Garrido, GeorgeHorton, Dave Serrano and Vanderhook, and also played his lastseason of college ball under then-Long Beach State Head Coach andformer Titan assistant Dave Snow.
Kirby played two seasons of junior college ball at CerritosCollege under Horton in 1988 and 1989, when the Falcons won twostate championships. He finished up his collegiate career with the49ers in 1990. He prepped at Ocean View High School in HuntingtonBeach, Calif.
Kirby earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal StateFullerton in 1994. He currently lives in San Clementewith his family.
