Jackson State’s legendary baseball coach Robert “Bob” Braddy, who will be inducted into the 2016 class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, paid a visit to one of his pupils, Texas College head baseball coach Stanley Stubbs. Coach Braddy spoke to the Steer baseball team about baseball and life’s challenges.
Braddy showed up on an invitation from Coach Stubbs who expressed “how great it is to just see my former mentor come out and see the team. That’s something pretty special having coach Braddy around. Coach has meant so much to me and Jackson State baseball and this was really good for our team”, Stubbs said.
The players had a chance to visit with him at practice and were excited. He gave a little, good critique on hitting, fielding, pitching and life in general. The players were very grateful for the opportunity to have renowned coach Braddy stop by and shared his knowledge of the game and to prosper outside of baseball as a citizen.
Braddy’s passion for giving back goes beyond the collegiate level of athletic competition. Well known in Jackson, Mississippi and throughout the entire state for his countless civic duties and hard working effort to give back to our youth of tomorrow and prepare them for society.
A 1964 graduate of Jackson State, Braddy was an all-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) pitcher and shortstop for the Tigers from 1960-64. After his playing days, he chose the path of coaching and compiled an 824-546 record in 28 years at Jackson State. His teams played in three NCAA tournaments and he was named NAIA District Coach of the Year twice and SWAC Coach of the Year eight times.
Braddy has many coaching accolades including induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame and the SWAC Hall of Fame. Many of his former ballplayers had stellar major league baseball careers, most notably Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, Dave Clark, Wes Chamblain, Curt Ford, Marvin Freeman, and besides Stubbs, current Tougaloo College head baseball coach, Earl Sanders.
Braddy will be inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, College Baseball Night of Champions gala event this coming July 2, 2016.