LAMAR BASEBALL Texas pulled out a 6-3 win over the Cardinals and went on to participate in the College World Series. Gilligan has coached 82 first-team, all-conference players and sent over 150 players into professional baseball. Gilligan’s trademark is getting the most out of his players, especially the pitching staff, having been a pitcher himself. He took an overachieving club in 1995 which placed fourth in the Sun Belt’s regular season race to Jacksonville, Fla., for the conference tournament. Four days later, the Cardinals came back to Beaumont (after beating the host Dolphins in back-to-back games) to celebrate their SBC Tournament championship and prepare for a berth in the NCAA Regionals. Lamar played in the Midwest I Regional in Wichita, Kan., where they beat host Wichita State twice and lost to eventual College World Series participant Stanford twice. At least part of the appeal of the Cardinal program stems from Gilligan’s days as a player at Lamar to add to his 37 seasons of coaching in Beaumont (two as an assistant to Bill Vincent). Lamar has played for the conference championship on the last day of the season in 18 of those seasons. A former southpaw pitching star for the Cardinals, Gilligan led Lamar’s 1967 staff in victories (five), earned run average (2.54), and strikeouts (60). He worked as a graduate assistant coach for the Cardinals in 1970 and 1971 after pitching a year in the Detroit Tigers’ organization. In 1972, Gilligan had his only collegiate head coaching stint besides Lamar, going 10-10 at Western New Mexico before returning to the same position at his alma mater in 1973. Before becoming Salt Lake’s manager in 1987, Gilligan served as the Trappers’ pitching coach in 1986. That season, Salt Lake had the best pitching staff in the league, and the Trappers won the Pioneer League championship.
GILLIGAN YEAR-BY-YEAR Western New Mexico 1972 10-10 .500 Lamar Year W-L Pct. Conf. Pct. 1973 11-15 .423 6-12 .333 1974 23-21 .523 9-6 .600 1975 27-26 .509 10-5 .667 1976 35-15 .700 10-5 .667 1977 37-14-2 .725 13-2 .867 1978 40-15 .727 14-6 .700 1979 44-16-1 .733 15-5 .750 1980 46-22-2 .676 15-5 .750 1981 54-26 .675 12-4 .750 1982 36-28 .563 13-3 .813 1983 38-32 .543 9-8 .529 1984 45-22 .672 16-2 .889 1985 35-24 .593 15-2 .882 1986 33-23 .589 9-6 .600 1992 31-22 .585 10-9 .526 1993 44-18 .710 13-5 .722 1994 36-23 .610 16-8 .667 1995 38-24 .613 16-11 .593 1996 26-29 .473 11-16 .407 1997 32-19-1 .627 13-11 .542 1998 26-27 .491 15-9 .625 1999 34-21 .618 12-14 .462 2000 27-27 .500 11-16 .407 2001 37-24 .607 13-14 .481 2002 36-24 .600 16-11 .593 2003 40-18 .690 20-6 .769 2004 41-16 .719 18-8 .692 2005 38-23 .623 16-11 .593 2006 35-23 .603 19-11 .633 2007 34-25 .576 20-10 .667 2008 35-23 .603 20-10 .667 2009 38-22 .633 20-13 .606 2010 35-26 .574 16-17 .485 2011 29-27 .518 15-18 .455 2012 22-30 .423 14-19 .424 TOTAL 1,218-790-6 .606 460-305 .601 Career 1228-800-6 .605
The primary goal Gilligan has yet to reach is a berth in the College World Series. It’s an objective he plans to fulfill as part of his commitment to the Cardinals’ program. Gilligan and his wife LaVerne reside in Beaumont. LaVerne has been instrumental in the success of the annual Lamar Baseball Banquet and also assists in securing outfield billboard sponsors.
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