One of the best college coaches in the United States, Ron Fraser, died last weekend at his home in Weston, Florida due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79 years old. From 1963 to 1992 he was the head coach of the baseball program at the University of Miami, winning the College World Series in 1982 and 1985. He finished his career with a record of 1,271 wins, 438 losses and 9 ties.
In some ways European Baseball served as spring board for Fraser’s college coaching career. Stationed in Europe, when he was in the Army, he coached the German national team during the 1958 European Championship and the Netherlands from 1960 to 1963. With the Dutch team he won the European Championship in 1960 and 1962. With his college team he later participated in the Haarlem Baseball Week in 1980 and won the tournament. In 1992 he capped his coaching career by leading Team USA at the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.