Bob Bennett is used to earning accolades. The former California State University, Fresno (CSUF), skipper was elected to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be inducted July 1 in Lubbock, Texas.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1951, Bennett, the father of Fresno Christian Principal Todd Bennett, coached at Kingsburg and Bullard High Schools before taking over at CSUF, where he would compile a 1302-759-4 record. He is seventh on the NCAA Division I all-time victory list.

“It’s a great honor, especially because it comes from my peers,” Bennett said. “It is very special considering all that have been inducted so far that’s good company to be with.”

During his career, Bennett’s teams completed 26 consecutive winning seasons. He also led teams to the College World Series in both 1988 and 1991, and was ranked No. 1 in 1988 and was named NCAA Coach of the year.

“The things that I learned that were the most important from my dad were work ethic, honesty, punctuality and representing myself well,” son Todd said. “I learned that first impressions do count and what people see helps them form an opinion about you.”

At Fresno State, Bennett coached 32 All-Americans, 9 first-round MLB draft picks, and 65 players who earned first-team all-conference honors. He was awarded 14 conference Coach of the Year Awards, 3 WAC Coach of the Year awards, one NCAA Coach of the year award and the prestigious Lefty Gomez Award.

Bennett says one of his highlights in 34 years of coaching was the Bulldogs’ home opener at Beiden Field against Brigham Young University in 1966. However, he says the ultimate inspiration is seeing each player improve.

“The main thing I got out of coaching was relationships with the players,” Bennett said. “Getting to see each guy grow, mature and become stronger is special for me.”

According to Bennett, coaching sons Todd and Brad was one of his best experiences as a coach, and also made him better at his job.

“Coaching my sons made me a better coach,” Bennett said. “I came to the realization that the other players are sons too. It was fun to have my kids on the field for two-and-a-half hours per day. I would advise any dad to coach his own son if he gets the opportunity.”

Even though his dad was the head coach at a Division I baseball program, Todd says he was never pressured to play baseball as a kid.

“It was fun since my brother and I both liked to play baseball,” Todd said. “The thing that might surprise most people is he didn’t push either one of us to play. We had to beg him to take us out and hit with us; he didn’t want us to feel like we were doing it just for him. But when he did take us out, it wasn’t just batting practice; he would also hit us fly balls and just run us ragged.”

According to Todd, his dad modeled values for him while often going against the popular way of thinking. He says the lessons he learned on the baseball diamond continue to help him in his day-to-day job as principal.

“He always kept his rules and his values,” Todd said. “He had a haircut rule, a strict dress code and a no facial hair rule. He was unpopular sometimes, and that was the toughest thing to hear people saying disparaging things about my dad just because he was in the public eye.”

Bennett says that throughout his career, he has learned more from baseball than just athletics.

“One day at practice I chewed out my older son Brad in order to show the other players what punishment was like if they didn’t follow the rules,” Bennett said. “That night I realized that what I had done wasn’t fair to him. So the next morning I woke him up and apologized.”

Bennett’s granddaughter and current FC student, freshman Katherine Bennett, says her grandpa has many other skills besides coaching baseball.

“He has many talents besides baseball,” Katherine said. “He writes poems and also has a wood shop that he works in. The other day he made salt and pepper shakers. Even though most of his life is baseball, he’s always focused on his family – that’s what comes first.”

Bennett writes for over two hours per day and has written five books since his retirement in 2002. He is currently writing a book about the experiences of different baseball coaches. Topics discussed in the book include playing at a championship level and winning and losing with class.

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