GEORGE
HORTON Head Coach
6th Season
222-94-1 (.702)
Cal State Fullerton (1978)
The Titan baseball tradition is alive and thriving, thanks
to sixth-year Head Coach George Horton.
Since Horton, 48, took over for Augie Garrido on Sept. 4, 1996, after
six years as Garrido’s associate head coach, the Titans have posted
a 222-94-1 record, celebrated a Big West Conference title every year (by
way of tournament or regular season crown) and made a pair of trips to
Omaha. They have almost always been ranked in the national Top 25 polls
and briefly ascended to the top spot in the Collegiate Baseball poll in
both 1999 and 2001.
Horton's .702 winning percentage is the sixth-highest among active Division
I coaches (minimum five years). Of the 21 teams – many of which are
nationally prominent – that Horton has faced five or more times,
only three (USC, Stanford and Pepperdine) have managed winning records
against Fullerton. The two-time conference Coach of the Year has been
at his best in series play. Heading into 2002, Fullerton owns a 56-15
overall record in three-game regular season series and the Titans have
won 38 of 46 (83 percent) Big West Conference series. Fullerton has been
swept just once (at No. 1 Stanford to open the 2000 season) while the
Titans have recorded 32 series sweeps. Perhaps an even bigger credit to
Coach Horton has been his success on the road: the Titans have won 21
of Horton's 23 conference series away from Goodwin Field.
Horton, who is one of nine men to have appeared in Omaha as a player and
a head coach, has seen 32 Titans selected in the Major League Baseball
First-Year Player Draft during his tenure, including nine last June. Aaron
Rowand was a "sandwich" pick in 1998 and Adam Johnson was the
second overall selection in 2000 (both made their Major League debuts
last year).
Horton's Titans have been to the College World Series twice in the last
three seasons, including last year, when they secured a berth at home
for the first time and carried the national No. 1 seed to Rosenblatt Stadium.
After holding off local favorite Nebraska in the opener, the Titans lost
a pair to Stanford with a win over Tulane sandwiched in between. The Titans
finished No. 3 in all three national polls. Under Horton's eye, the 2001
squad posted several memorable moments during the regular season as well.
They won 24 of 25 over one stretch and became the first team ever to sweep
a three-game series against eventual national champion Miami at Mark Light
Stadium.
The 2000 Titans, the unanimous preseason pick to win the conference and
the consensus No. 2 team in the country, had a two-game lead on Nevada
with three games to go in the Big West race. But the Wolf Pack swept Pacific
in the final series and Fullerton lost two of three to Long Beach State,
so the Titans had to settle for a co-championship. However, the Titans
did host a regional for the first time, which was won by USC.
In 1999, the Titans again went 25-5 to win the BWC by four games. They
swept three games at the Notre Dame Regional and then overcame an assortment
of disadvantages to triumph in three games in the Super Regional at Ohio
State to qualify for the school’s tenth College World Series, where
they went 1-2.
In 1998, the Titans used a remarkably balanced squad to start strong and
then dominate the Big West Conference regular season with a 25-5 record.
But they stumbled at home in the Big West Tournament and then ran into
a powerful buzz saw in Baton Rouge in the NCAA regionals, placing second
at 3-2 with a pair of losses to the host LSU Tigers.
In Horton’s debut season in 1997, the Titans struggled to a 23-19-1
start, but then rattled off 15 victories in their final 18 regular season
games. They lost the opener of the Big West Conference post-season tournament
at home to Pacific ace Dan Reichert, but then came back to win four games
in a row at Blair Field. They swept a doubleheader on the final day against
host Long Beach State to capture the league championship and the automatic
NCAA tournament bid. At Stanford, the Titans went 1-2 to place third,
losing to Santa Clara and Fresno State.
Horton fulfilled a lifelong dream of being a Division I head coach when
he was promoted to replace Garrido, who left to take over the program
at the University of Texas. A 1978 CSF graduate, Horton had returned to
the campus in 1991 when Garrido came back after a three-year stint at
Illinois. In the next six years the Titans posted a 264-99 record and
made three trips to the CWS, winning the 1995 crown with a phenomenal
57-9 season. Horton had input on virtually every aspect of the Fullerton
program with his primary concern being the development of the pitching
staff. His organizational skills, patience as a teacher and his attention
to detail provided the backbone of the Titan coaching staff.
During the years Horton was responsible for the pitching staff, nine pitchers
received All-America honors and James Popoff (1992), Matt Wagner (1994)
and Ted Silva (1995) won Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year honors.
Dan Naulty became the first Titan pitcher under Horton’s guidance
to reach the major leagues when he made the 1996 opening-day roster for
the Minnesota Twins. He later earned a World Series ring in 1999 with
the Yankees. Another Horton product, Brent Billingsley, made two appearances
for the Florida Marlins early in the 1999 season. Seven more of Horton's
former pupils – both pitchers and position players – have ascended
to the Major League ranks over the last couple years.
Horton also worked with Phil Nevin (San Diego Padres), who in 1992 was
the Golden Spikes Award winner, Baseball America player of the year, baseball’s
No. 1 draft pick (by Houston) and the College World Series MVP. Nevin
has gone on to a successful pro career as have former Horton pupils Mark
Kotsay (San Diego Padres) and Jeremy Giambi (Oakland A’s).
Kotsay and Nevin along with Brian Loyd and Jason Moler – all tutored
in part by Horton – were Olympians and Kotsay was chosen the college
player of the decade by Baseball America.
Horton began his head coaching career at Cerritos College in Norwalk,
where he guided the Falcons to three junior college state championships
in six years. He compiled a 226-53 record and won the California titles
in 1985, 1987 and 1989. Each of those years he was selected National Junior
College Coach of the Year. His best season was 1987 when the Falcons went
46-5. He had a South Coast Conference record of 102-28 (.785) and was
a four-time South Coast Conference Coach of the Year (1985, 1987, 1989
and 1990).
He had many players graduate to the major leagues including Brian Hunter,
who played for the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series. Other names
include Mike Benjamin, Craig Worthington, Ever Magallanes, Al Osuna, Joel
Adamson, Dan Patterson, Luis Medina, Jeff Hearron, Naulty and Olympian
and major leaguer Bret Barberie
Horton was a player on the Cerritos College teams in 1972 and 1973. As
the Falcons’ team captain in 1973, he won the Dallas Moon Award and
was a member of the state championship team. Horton played two seasons
for Garrido at Cal State Fullerton in 1975 and 1976 and won All-PCAA honors
as both a junior and a senior. He was on the first Fullerton team to go
to the College World Series in 1975. He batted .308 as a junior and .290
as a senior while playing first base. He graduated in 1978 and went on
to earn a master’s degree in 1980 at Cal Lutheran.
Horton’s coaching career began as an assistant at Cerritos in 1976-77
and he went to Los Angeles Valley College the following three seasons
where he coached with former Long Beach State Coach Dave Snow. In 1980,
he moved back to Cerritos as an assistant to Gordie Douglas before taking
the head job in 1985. In addition, he coached during the summer for the
Fairbanks Goldpanners (1981 and 1983) in Alaska and the Hutchinson Broncs
(1982) in Kansas. A few famous names played for him on those summer teams
such as Shane Mack, Oddibe McDowell, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac, Phil Stevenson
and Roger Clemens.
In 1994, Horton was inducted into the California Community College Baseball
Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Horton was born on Oct. 5, 1953. The Yorba Linda resident and his wife,
Francie, have four daughters: Michele (22), Heather (18), Loyal (13) and
Rebecca (11), and two granddaughters: Angelica (2) and Alyssa (born in
May, 2001).
