Marquess Says 2017 Will Be His Last Year

Mark Marquess, Stanford’s baseball coach since 1977, has announced that the 2017 season will be his last.

Marquess led Stanford to the 1987 and ’88 College World Series championships, and has been on campus more or less since he played on The Farm in the late 1960s, graduating in 1969. Marquess is the nation’s second-winningest active head coach with a career record of 1,585-862-7 (.647), and he’s guided the Cardinal to 14 CWS trips, the latest coming in 2008.

“I have been blessed to have such a long and fulfilling association with Stanford University, a university that I deeply love,” said Marquess, who guided the Cardinal to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1987-88. “It’s time for the University to implement a succession plan for our program, and the 2017 season will be my last as head coach. But my time at Stanford has been beyond special and I will leave with incredible memories of our program and what we have accomplished.”

Stanford excelled under Marquess for most of the 1980s, when the program peaked, producing big leaguers such as pitchers Jack McDowell and Mike Mussina, and again in the late 1990s; from 1995-2003, the Cardinal went to Omaha seven times, finishing as national runner-up in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Future big leaguers such as Jody Gerut, Ryan Garko and Jed Lowrie carried the load throughout that era, while current big leaguers such as Jason Castro and Stephen Piscotty also played under Marquess.

But the program has not claimed a Pacific-12 (or Pac-10) title since 2004, going 31-23, 15-15 this season. That was an improvement over the 2015 teams, which posted the second losing record of Marquess’ career.

More than 200 Cardinal players have been chosen in the draft since 1977, including 25 first-round or compensation picks since Jack McDowell in 1987. Most of them wore a uniform that pretty much has stayed the same, with a v-neck pullover jersey, stripes down the pants and no name on the back. Marquess was known for his unchanging style of coaching, his business-like, briefcase-toting demeanor when his teams made it to Omaha, and for not being communicative with pro clubs about his players, which was reiterated with this year’s injured top Cardinal pitcher, Cal Quantrill.

Marquess’ support system around the program also has changed in recent years, from the retirement of longtime assistant and recruiting coordinator Dean Stotz, who stepped down in September 2013, to the death of his trusted administrative assistant, Kathy Wolff, in 2008.

Marquess also had a long history with USA Baseball, culminating with his 1988 season when he skippered Team USA to gold in Seoul, South Korea, when baseball was not yet a medal sport. He served as president of USA Baseball from 1989-98.

Candidates to replace Marquess likely would start with alumni such as California coach Dave Esquer and Gonzaga’s Mark Machtolf.