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STANFORD UNIVERSITY

PROJECT: Bob Murphy Interviews

INTERVIEWEE:

Interviewer: [0:03] We're recording now. We've got a new tape. We got new batteries. OK. We are rolling with Mark Marquess. We're ready to go here. We're going to talk a little . Ready to roll now. Five, four, three, two, one. Go. Hello again everybody. Bob Murphy here and our list of great names will continue today as we look through the Stanford year book and pick out the name of Mark Marquess, a young man I've known for, gee I hate to say, forty years. [laughter] . I'm not embarrassing him.

Mark Marquess: [0:45] Make me feel old but it's true. It is true. About forty years.

Interviewer: [0:50] My goodness. Well let's start in Stockton cause I played a little baseball over in Stockton for the old Stockton Ports. In fact I tried to close the franchise but it didn't quiet work. You were just a little boy at that time. You came over here years ago. Gosh it goes back to 1965. John Rosston had been here two or three years. What an experience. I remember when you came over. What do you remember about that?

Marquess: [1:16] I remember it was very special because Coach Rosston was one of the few head Coaches at that time that said I could actually play both Football and Baseball. Most of the other schools that were recruiting me for Football wouldn't let me do that. Coach Rosston said no, you can do that as long as you want to. I was excited about that possibility. And it was Stanford and it was close to home, you know Stockton was an hour and a half. He had a great recruiting class. Gene Washington, George Beiler. We had a great group coming in so it was an exciting time.

Interviewer: [1:50] You went to Stag High School, over in Stockton. I always remember Rosston in that inimitable way, I'm very proud of Mark Marquess because he got better grades at Stanford than he did at Stag High School. Was that true? p.2

Marquess: [2:03] That was true. [laughing] . It was amazing. But again, I think when people find out it was Stanford, the hardest part was getting in. Once you get here you relax and you're not intimidated by all the 4.0 students. Well, they're not all 4.0 students as you know. The nice thing about Stanford is you have a chance to interact with the Professors. I really enjoyed that and then when you got into your majors and your seminars and stuff. It was fun. I surprised a lot of people, especially when I played. I was always in season. I think, as you know, when you're always in season you always got to budget your time and say, hey I got a do my work tonight because I got practice. Or sometimes in the off season, yea I got a lot of time, and you fall behind. I never fell behind so I was able to do pretty good in the classroom.

Interviewer: [2:47] Well, we're way ahead now Mark, of where we were then. Tell the folks a little bit about it because most people have forgotten that Freshmen were not eligible for Varsity competition in those days. Freshman got kind of the hand me down uniforms. I remember when I went through that. I think we got Baseball uniforms that Cody Thomson wore back in 1938 or something like that. It's a come down from High School. I mean, the Freshman sports were not much but they did get you ready for what followed.

Marquess: [3:15] I started with Football. The Freshman Coach that year, if you remember, was Dick Vermeil. I think we played five games. You didn't come in early. When school started, you started practice. We had a Freshman Baseball team, and a JV Baseball team and then the Varsity. It was different. You weren't the big thing. I think about kids today. If they're not starting as a Freshman on the Varsity, they're disappointed. Where as, you weren't even on the Varsity. If you didn't start on the Freshman team, then you could be disappointed. Again, we were very fortunate. As I mentioned with those Football players, we had a great class. Baseball-wise we had Bob Boone, Gallagher. We had Sandy Vance, Rod Poteet, Don Rouge. Guys pitched, all played in the big leagues. And Boom was a legend. So, in fact, our freshman team, I will never forget, we beat the varsity.

Interviewer: [4:04] Yeah, I bet. p.3

Marquess: [4:05] Our freshmen bet the varsity, we had a pretty good team.

Interviewer: [4:07] No surprise.

Marquess: [4:07] No. we had some great players. So, I came to Stanford with some great athletes at a great time, a lot of excitement.

Interviewer: [4:15] I'll tell you what we're going to do. We'll make it simple for the folks. We won't confuse them too much. We're going to talk about football and then we'll switch to baseball.

Marquess: [4:22] Absolutely.

Interviewer: [4:22] A little bit later. Now football, you played '66, '67, and '68. You never played on a losing team. And I remember one year, let's talk about that first year. You were five and five the first two years, and you played a lot of positions. You were all over the place in football. Tell the folks about that.

Marquess: [4:40] Well, my first year, my sophomore year, was the first year, you know, you are on the varsity. Dick Vermeil liked me. I could tell that. And he was...

Interviewer: [4:48] He's a little guy too.

Marquess: [4:49] Little guy too.

Interviewer: [laughs] [4:51]

Marquess: [4:51] He was coaching defensive backs. So he wanted me to play defensive back, and wasn't going to play . I think a guy named Lewis was the quarterback then. Not bad, Dave Lewis. So, I played safety my first year. I was excited. I got to start as a sophomore. As you mentioned we were five and five, or whatever we were, six and four. My junior year, which is a funny story, Dick Vermeil was the quarterback's coach.

Interviewer: [5:19] Still liked ya though. [laughs] p.4

Marquess: [5:20] Yeah, still liked me. And were running an option, so why don't you play quarterback? So I went to quarterback an I'll never forget this; This time of year I go into coach Ralston office and he says, "Mark, " he says, "have you quarterback because we're not sure of this red-shirt guy we have Plunkettt. I say I want you to be quarterback." So two weeks later, Ralston calls me to the office.

Interviewer: [5:42] Ralston figures he can coach him though. [laughs]

Marquess: [5:44] Yeah. He says, "Mark, I think we feel real comfortable with Plunk." I guess so, he didn't throw an incomplete in two weeks of early ball.

Interviewer: [laughs] [5:52]

Marquess: [5:55] Coach, I figured that out myself. So I switched back to defense again. I was great. And that's when we changed. We went from an option to a dropback, and with Plunkettt's arm it was total change. And that was the thing that made the difference.

Interviewer: [6:07] You know, football was on the move then, and everybody could kinda feel that. John came in. I always kidded John because Jack Curtis thought he'd saved his job. That last year he went five and five and beat Cal twice in a raw. And he didn't. John was going to turn the program. I always kidded John about this. He did, he was three and seven that first year. [laughs] I said you did, you turned it around. [laughs] But, it was the only losing year he ever had. And it was a building year; and it was an incredible base on which to build. Five and five in '66 and in '67, I remember you leaving the [laughs] football team, changing uniforms, and leaving the country. But you came back. Tell the folks about that.

Marquess: [6:50] That was in '68. There was a big world tournament in... Now as you know, , who helped with the football and was a head coach in baseball. They were trying to get baseball to be an Olympic sport. There was a world tournament in Mexico City, which followed the Olympic Games in '68. But it was a week after the Olympics. But they wanted to try and generate some interest in baseball. There was a tournament in Mexico City for about 10 days, and I'd have o miss a football game. [7:18] I said, "Coach, I'd like to go this but I don't want to leave the team." He said, "You should p.5

go." So I played a game at UCLA, down in the Coliseum. Darn it, we lost that game, but then I got on a plane and went down to Mexico City and played 10 days there. We won the gold medal there. A number of years later it was an Olympic sport. But not many football coaches would let you do that. Probably wasn't missing very much at that time from my ability.

Interviewer: [laughs] [7:42]

Marquess: [laughs] [7:43] But I went down. I missed one game. And then I came back and I played the last two. I think we played at ULP which was Stockton my whole time. And we beat Cal over at Brook for the final game.

Interviewer: [7:52] Now how did you get at Stanford? You're jetting to Mexico City. You're gone for 10 days. You had to work around those professors.

Marquess: [8:00] You had to, that was my senior year. I did a lot of seminars and stuff.

Interviewer: [8:06] That's good.

Marquess: [8:06] You give is Stockton guys not enough credit for academic prowess.

Interviewer: [laughs] [8:10] Now, that last year, there was a guy by the name of Plunkett. And the signs were there. You were building for what was going to take place in 1970 and '71 those two Rose bowls back-to-back. I think you guys felt it then and Plunkett was incredible and you were a great contributor on that team?

Marquess: [8:27] Yeah, that was great. Well, as you know, in two we won't do the Rose Bowl we lost so many. We played the really tough here and we lost to them late. My senior year Plunkettt was phenomenal. And I was trying to tackle OJ Simpson which was tough to do. But we had them on the ropes here. And then they came back and beat us.

Interviewer: [8:44] Was that Ron Ayala that?

Marquess: [8:45] Yeah.

Interviewer: [8:47] My Gosh. p.6

Marquess: [8:47] And so, we...

Interviewer: [8:47] Last play of the game...

Marquess: [8:49] We know we could compete with them. They were the class of the conference for so many years. When we knew, even though we lost, and with Plunkett, that was his first year, his sophomore year, he had red-shirted the one year, you could see that this is very doable. And I was excited. I was leaving, but you could see that Stanford was on the right track as far as the football program was concerned.

Interviewer: [9:11] Last year of football but probably time now, what are your reflections on that game? Whenever that tournament was in baseball in Mexico City, you guys won the gold medal and that kinda thing, and you were all tournament team and all of that, what an experience that must have been.

Marquess: [9:26] Yeah, it was it was great. The year before the Pan-American Games in '67 in Winnipeg, Canada; I played for that team, and we won the gold. The first time Cuba has been... They hadn't been beaten many times in world tournaments. We beat them and upset them in Winnipeg, Canada. Then '68 was that Olympic series after the Olympic Games. So I was fortunate to play in two gold medal things for the U. S. A. as a college player. I was an amateur player. That was real exciting. The legend Dutch Fehring was so instrumental in international baseball. He was president of the international U. S. A. Baseball and so he gave me the opportunity. And it was just a tremendous experience. And I would be involved later on in my career with U. S. A. Baseball, but that was so exciting.

Interviewer: [10:09] And talk about that. Cause baseball, for you, was almost the same as football. You played a lot of positions in football. You could play first base. You could play the outfield. You moved around in baseball too?

Marquess: [10:19] I did. Jack of all trades, master of none. I enjoyed it. I was first base but not 5' 11". I remember telling the guys, "Throw it low, 'cause you're not going to get the high throws." I played outfield. It was good. It was fun because, you know, when you p.7

play for a winning team, it's a lot more fun to go to the ball park and your playing fine. We had great talent and great teams. We were always competitive.

Interviewer: [10:45] Before we get into other things, all the guys used to call you Hootie. Where'd they get that Hootie?

Marquess: [10:49] I don't know, you're the only one that knows that. Because I think I'd go to bed so darn early, 'cause I'd get up early. These other guys, the fraternity guys at the Delta House, they were crazy. So I would go to bed early and I think that's where they got it from. You're the only guy that knows that.

Interviewer: [11:03] I run into those guys and they say, "Say hello to Hootie for me," you know. [laughs]

Marquess: [laughs] [11:05]

Interviewer: [11:06] I still hang around some of those guys.

Marquess: [11:07] It could be worse, I guess, on a nickname, right? Could be a lot worse.

Interviewer: [11:09] Could be a lot worse. Let's talk about baseball. We haven't left it yet. 1967, Dutch Fehring was the coach. It was Dutch's last year and it was a magnificent year of Stanford baseball. I was lucky enough to get to Omaha with the first Stanford team ever back in 1953 and it had been some 14 years. But to go back to Omaha, fabulous record, 36-6, you were an all-American. It was a big time deal.

Marquess: [11:37] Big time, I mean, that's the ultimate in college baseball and it was harder to get to Omaha in those days. You don't realize. You had to win the league. Now...

Interviewer: [11:43] The whole deal.

Marquess: [11:44] Yeah. You can finish fourth in the league and make it to Omaha. So, no, you had to get by SC who was winning national championships every year. It was a big deal to get back there. They just took one team. And it was so exciting 'cause it was p.8

coach Fehring's last year. And we were ranked number one the whole year going into Omaha. We eventually lost to a strong Arizona State team. It was the highlight of your college career to go to Omaha. It's not the most glamorous place to be but as you know it's the epitome of College Baseball.

Interviewer: [12:22] Now, you had to be excited about the baseball part of it because you won all the awards. You were the most valuable player, come through award, inspirational, Bruce Cameron award. That means a lot to me and I'll tell you about Bruce. The only one you didn't win was the most improved and you fouled that up cause you were too good to start with.

Marquess: [12:41] Yea, I don't know if I was too good to start with. But that's one of those things. And I went down hill my Junior and Senior years after that. That's one of those things were you have one of those years. The balls you don't hit well fall in.

Interviewer: [12:53] What do I remember, 404 or something like that?

Marquess: [12:55] Yea. And I tell my team. I don't tell 'em I went down after that. It was just one of those special years and everything went well for me. It was ended the right way, at the . We almost won that darn thing but Arizona State had a strong team.

Interviewer: [13:12] Now, Dutch left. Ray Young came on that next year. You won over thirty games, thirty-six and twelve I think that record was. That was a good team too.

Marquess: [13:19] Good team. But it was one of those things. My Junior and Senior year we had good teams but we finished second to SC and then you don't go on. Now a days, with those teams, we could have gone back to the World Series and had a chance to win it because we were second but you just couldn't go on after that. It was much more difficult to get to Omaha. We had good teams but I think SC beat us the one year and UCLA the next. p.9

Interviewer: [13:40] I remember those years and those guys and you mentioned some of them. Booney. Booney, Bob Boone we're talking about folks. Always known as Booney around here. Booney was funny cause he was a great Pitcher. I mean he could throw hard. I loved him because he played Third Base. I came along years before and I played Third Base and Pitched. The only reason I ended up Pitching I think is because I broke my thumb and the only thing I could do was Pitch. I couldn't play Third Base. He ended up being a Catcher.

Marquess: [14:09] It was unbelievable.

Interviewer: [14:10] After being a good looking Pitcher. A real prospect as a Pitcher and an outstanding Third Baseman. Ended up Catching for how many years in the Big Leagues?

Marquess: [14:17] Oh, I don't know. Fifteen or so. But the amazing thing is I think he's caught more games in than any other Catcher in the history of the game. I think one of the reasons he was able to do that is he never Caught. He never Caught until he signed a Pro contract his Senior year.

Interviewer: [14:31] Ever.

Marquess: [14:31] Ever.

Interviewer: [14:32] No. I know.

Marquess: [14:32] He was built. He was perfect. He had a cannon for an arm. He played Third Base. He was a great Athlete. He would Pitch the Friday game and play Third Saturday and Sunday. You're going to appreciate this. You loved to play by Booney because he'd let 'em hit 'em. We'd be out of there in an hour and a half. We went two one, one nothing. The game would take an hour and a half because he'd just throw strikes. It was great. He'd hit and play Third the next couple days. It's funny cause guys at Dubolt would play Third and then Pitch the last game. He preferred to Pitch the first game. Now, he wouldn't take infield or anything. He was unbelievable. I think one of the keys to him p.10 having such a long career as a Catcher in the big leagues with his knees and stuff, he never caught until he signed a Pro contract.

Interviewer: [15:19] Perfect shape. Perfect shape.

Marquess: [15:20] Oh yea. Bob, the only thing with Booney was he thought he had great speed and he was God awful. He would always try to steal and he could never run.

Interviewer: [15:28] I know. If they had a delay of game penalty in baseball, he would've got it.

Marquess: [15:32] It'd be Booney. That's right, and he thought he was fast.

Interviewer: [15:35] You just raised a point that I think is interesting because as we speak now, 2004, the Giants are a big deal. They drop forty thousand every time they play. Boy do I get tired of these three and four hour ball games. My gosh, I can remember in my Pitching days, even in the Coast League and in Professional baseball, Pitching a lot of games under two hours. I don't know, it was like we were always kind of in a hurry to go someplace else. Maybe it's the concessionaires. Sometimes I got blasted and the game took a little longer than that. I wasn't there in the end. The game was played differently then.

Marquess: [16:06] It was, for whatever reason. I think, to be honest with you, and I'm showing my age a little bit, I think Pitchers for example threw more and they threw it over the plate.

Interviewer: [16:18] And threw it nine innings.

Marquess: [16:18] Yea. Nine innings. Another thing is the umpires. You go up there and the guy would set the strike zone and you know you better swing at this because we're not going to be here all day. I think that has a lot to do with it. But you're right. I think that's hurt the game a little bit. When it's three and a half, four hours, that's hard. I mean the concession people like it but that's hard. Two, two and a half hours. That's a nice game. p.11

Interviewer: [16:40] Well, you just raised a point now, you know, a sore point with me too. I think The strike zone looks like a cigar box now. I know when I was playing they lowered it-, never was at the shoulders, but they kind of called at the letters.

Marquess: [16:55] Right.

Interviewer: [16:55] Now you don't see a pitch above the belt being called a strike. I think it does, it lengthens the game. No doubt about it.

Marquess: [17:01] No question...

Interviewer: [17:03] And that's the reason why there are so many more home-runs...

Marquess: [17:04] Sure!...

Interviewer: [17:05] ... I think the ball's a little different too.

Marquess: [17:06] Yeah, they don't tell you that, but the ball is, and the new parks are smaller. But, for hitters, you know, if the strike zone is so small, they just don't swing at the darn thing!

Interviewer: [17:15] Yeah, right.

Marquess: [17:16] And then you sit on a pitch, and that's what their able to do. But I think the strike zone as you mentioned, I don't know what the rules say, but I think the strike zone has shrunk dramatically.

Interviewer: [17:26] Let's talk about some of those guys you played with. You mentioned Bob Gallagher, one of my all time favorite guys, really good guy. [17:33] Sandy Vance, oh, what talent he had! Rod Poteet, those pitchers you guys had! Frank Duff! Frank Duff was not a pitcher, but just a great player. Played in the big leagues for a long time. Mike Schumacher, I think about...

Marquess: [17:46] Don Rose...

Interviewer: [17:46] How 'bout Clinger, Keller and Harvey Shank? p.12

Marquess: [17:48] Oh boy.

Interviewer: [17:49] How about those guys? Those guys are real serious pitchers!

Marquess: [17:51] Oh yeah, like I said, I think off our freshman team, we had 10 or 11 guys drafted. Off our freshman team alone! On the varsity with Duffy and all those guys. Duffy was just a great short-stop. Now Duffy's in the Tuscon area in real estate. The same as when we played the University of Arizona.

Interviewer: [18:08] Good Guy.

Marquess: [18:10] What a great, great athlete. As you know, it's that pitching, and we had great pitching. It goes a long way before me, all the great ones that we've had, and yourself! I mean, we've had, Stanford, and we continue that tradition, but we've always been known for having great pitching.

Interviewer: [18:25] When you left Stanford, you went out and got paid to play. In all kinds of different places. You should have had a geography field trip.

Marquess: [18:32] Right. That's minor league baseball; Appleton, Wisconsin, Mobile, Alabama, Ashville, North Carolina, Des Moines... It was quite an experience.

Interviewer: [18:42] Did you enjoy it?

Marquess: [18:43] I enjoyed it. You know it was good, because I thought I wanted to go into coaching. It was a good...learning situation. It's a different game professional baseball, but it's baseball and I enjoyed that. Then a 5'11 first basemen, or left-fielder: [18:51] I knew I wasn't going to make it. Then Ray Young invited me back and asked me to be the assistant baseball coach.

[19:05] What the heck? I had just gotten married, I can't live on this minor league salary. Chuck Taylor didn't pay me very much either, but it was more than minor league salary so I decided to come back and it was the best move I ever made.

Interviewer: [19:17] Tell the folks a little bit about that, because you and I went through the same thing. I played three years. Had a winning record in professional baseball and p.13

felt good about it. But it wasn't taking-, when I was playing, there were only sixteen major league teams, there were only four hundred guys in the majors. There were thousands of guys playing in many, many more minor league teams than there are today. [19:37] Way more as a matter of fact. And it was a lot tougher to get there in those days. So I decided, gosh, the odds aren't that good, I think I better get on with my life. You kind of did the same thing.

Marquess: [19:45] Yeah, I did. But as you know, it's tough. It's no different 30 years ago than it is now, because it's hard to give up the game because it's your dream. You've been thinking about it since you're eight years old, and once you give it up, you know it's over. That's what people don't understand about athletes: [20:00] It's hard to give up that dream. It's hard to get back to the regular world.

[20:06] And I think, the thing you can do sometimes too, is you can stay too long. You can spend 10, 12 years in the minor leagues, then up for a cup of coffee in the big leagues. Then you enter the job market, and you're behind. You're behind.

So I think, what I've learned about athletes is: [20:18] I don't care how successful you are, you can spend 20 years in the big leagues. Once you quit it's a big adjustment for any player, when he knows he can no longer fulfill his dream. I'm not going to be a major league player. You get on with your life, but there's an adjustment there.

Interviewer: [20:39] Now coming back to Stanford was kind of like a homecoming for you. You played one year for Dutch, a couple years for Ray, and coming back with Ray. We all loved Ray, and I always felt bad because the freshmen rule you couldn't play then, so Ray and I were only separated by that year. [20:54] Of course, the year ahead of me was Roger Rosenbaum and the year before that was Joe Chez. Chez, Hosenbaugh and I never got together on the same year. We all had great years, three years in a row, but we couldn't put them together. Then Ray Young came along right behind me and we just kind of missed. Cause I think we could've had teams that went to Omaha maybe two, three, or four years in a row.

Marquess: [21:19] I didn't realize that, absolutely yeah, those were great pictures. p.14

Interviewer: [21:21] We couldn't quite get it together. But gosh what fun that was. Ray Young, always a good guy; we played a lot of golf, we talked a lot of baseball, told a lot of lies and what, he was selling toilet seats or something.

Marquess: [21:35] I don't know. He's in New Zealand now, with his daughter Sandy and they just moved over there with their daughter and their grandchildren. But Ray was a great athlete. Oh boy, he could do tennis, golf.

Interviewer: [21:45] He could've been a Short Stop.

Marquess: [21:46] Oh yeah and he liked to play behind Ray. Your game would be over in an hour and a half with Ray pitching too.

Interviewer: [21:51] Oh boy, he'd throw strikes.

Marquess: [21:53] Oh he'd throw a lot of strikes. I remember he'd play in that alumni and coachin'. He'd frustrate our hitters, I mean he could pitch. He was a very gifted athlete.

Interviewer: [22:04] So what were those three or four years with Ray?

Marquess: [22:06] Actually five, and I was fortunate because Ray went into Administration and I was 28 years old and got the Head Coaching job at Stanford at 28! You know and that's very unusual. I was very fortunate that Ray decided to go into Administration and I was here.

Interviewer: [22:24] Well let's talk about the next 28 years. The only guy that's been here longer than you is Gould and he's an Executive now.

Marquess: [22:32] Yeah whatever he is, an Administrator. [laughter]

Interviewer: [22:36] Maybe they'll throw a party for you like they threw for Gould. We did everything we could to insult him and it didn't work! He thought we were honoring him! [laughs] p.15

Marquess: [22:45] Thank God. I just saw him in the hall before we came here today. [laughter] Thank God cause when he leaves and you leave, it's time for me to get out I'll tell ya that.

Interviewer: [laughter] [22:55] I told John Whitlinger, I said, "Whit, following Gould is like following the elephants in a parade, this is not going to be a lot of fun." [laughter]

Marquess: [23:03] Who wants that job, right? Who wants that job. [laughter]

Interviewer: [23:06] Twenty-eight years was a long way to go, 'bout 1300 wins, you won about 70 percent, seven out of ten; you've made Omaha almost a part of the regular season. Absolutely incredible record.

Marquess: [23:19] Yeah and as you know, you never take it for granted. We went five consecutive years, which is just unheard of. We didn't make it last year under a guy named Weaver whose pretty darn good, and we couldn't get there. But it has kind of surprised me because I always felt with the Stanford job, is that maybe every three or four years we could get enough talent to be competitive and make it to the post-season world series. [23:42] But I've been surprised a little bit, a lot, that we've been able to be as competitive as we have been. I think it's because of our pitching. We've always had the good pitching and that kind of is a great equalizer but it's been a great run and hopefully it'll continue for a few more years.

Interviewer: [23:59] Now tell the folks a little bit. I've been sitting in front of that microphone for a lot of years and we've talked about great Stanford comebacks and the great plays and Rod Garcia with the field goal against Michigan, Mike Langford with the fifty yard field goal at Cal, and Casey Jacobson bouncing it off the glass to beat Duke, and all these magnificent things. There's a guy by the name of . Tell the folks about Paul Carey. Some might not know. I hope they all do.

Marquess: [24:31] Well the first in '87 we won the National Championship, we got a freshman named Paul Carey and we're playing LSU and Ben McDonald's pitching the big leagues and we're down by I think three runs in the ninth inning and we get a hit and walk, and hit batsman and this freshman Paul Carey from Boston, Massechusetts area hits p.16

a grand slam to win it, and even though that wasn't the championship game you kind of knew, "Hey maybe this is meant to be for us." And then we went on and beat Texas. Then we beat Oklahoma State in the finals. Of the Stanford baseball program, in my era, that was the biggest event that put us on the map and gave us that national championship.

Interviewer: [25:16] Can't ever forget that.

Marquess: [25:17] No.

Interviewer: [25:17] Just absolutely incredible. Television had come along then, big time.

Marquess: [25:21] ESPN.

Interviewer: [25:22] So you've got national television. And he hit it the other way.

Marquess: [25:25] Yeah, to left field. To his left hand hitter, and he hit it way out to left field. It's not like it is now. It's shorter, they moved the fences. That was a poke. And he was a big strong left handed hitter. He hit baby on. We just won that thing in the bottom of the ninth.

Interviewer: [25:40] How about winning that thing twice in a row, '87-'88, and then being in contention? Being right on that edge so many other times?

Marquess: [25:48] Yeah. Obviously you thought it was easy, winning back-to-back. In '88 we didn't have anywhere near as strong of a team. We just started playing well at the right... That was Mecina's first year. Then we've been in the finals three other times, LSU, Miami and Rice, and have lost that game. Disappointing, but in the long haul, just to be there and to be able to compete for it. Not many programs got to compete for the national championship five times. We won two and lost three. You wanna get there. It's been fabulous. We've had so many great athletes. And you don't do it without athletes. We have such a rich baseball tradition, as you know. Your group, Ray, and all those guys, it's a special place but a great baseball tradition. p.17

Interviewer: [26:38] 13 times in 23 years. That sound pretty good?

Marquess: [26:40] Yes.

Interviewer: [26:41] When you recruit a kid, you're talking to a young guy and say, "How do you feel about Omaha?" If the guy hasn't taken geography courses, United States of America, he still knows about Omaha, doesn't he?

Marquess: [26:50] It's funny. The other thing that really amazes, I didn't realize this. cause I'm doing my recruiting propaganda now to get ready to send out to recruits this time of year. The amazing thing is 20 of the last 22 years, we finished first or second in the PAC-10, which is not a bad conference.

Interviewer: [27:04] Boy tell me.

Marquess: [27:05] That is unbelievable. We're very proud of it. There's an element of luck, but you've gotta be prepared and ready to take advantage of the breaks you get. It gets down to athletes, we've had great athletes.

Interviewer: [27:19] Well, and you've had great assistant coaches too.

Marquess: [27:21] Yes.

Interviewer: [27:21] Tom Dutton for so many years. And Stan Stotts is still hanging around. You're taking a lot away from his golf game.

Marquess: [laughs] [27:28]

Interviewer: [27:29] With all this attention to baseball. [laughs] And, you know, that is a frustration.

Marquess: [27:32] He tells me that all the time. His golf game would be a lot better. Thank God, he's not on that golf course more. He's been with me for 28 years and Gretna Shuka and Tom Dutton have been here forever too, with Ray before. I've been blessed with great coaches. p.18

Interviewer: [27:47] Now let's talk a little bit about other things. Here at Stanford, of course, but do I remember something about a gold medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988? What an experience that was?

Marquess: [27:58] Unbelievable. Any time you have a chance to play for your country or coach, in Seoul, Korea, it was a demonstration sport. The players got medals. I had an unbelievable staff. I had Skip Burtman, was my pitching coach. He's fabulous and one of the legends of college baseball. from Mississippi State. Had Milano on the staff. who was Emporia State and coached at Kansas. We beat Japan in the gold medal game. Tino Martinez hit two home runs. We had an unbelievable team. But what an experience.

Interviewer: [28:32] Let's talk now about two sport guys because you were a two sport guy. You split your time between football and baseball; one time, as we said, in the same season. When I look back, guys I played with, Jim Castignole was a great football player here, center, and a linemen; played in the East/West game. And he was a first basemen and a really good baseball player. Chuck Asegon hit balls, before you built the inside fence, he hit 'em over the outer fence, and a lot of them. My great, great friend. And a great guy. [29:07] And of course, I can remember when he hit a couple of home runs in the world series against the White Sox, as I remember. In the Colosseum when they were first playing. And he hit them when they were playing in the Colosseum, and of course.

Marquess: [29:17] Short left field.

Interviewer: [29:18] Left field was about 190 feet. What wasn't written, he hit it up into row 88. [laughs]

Marquess: [29:24] Couldn't believe it.

Interviewer: [29:26] Row 88. But I think Ernie Nevers, my gosh. If you go way back into the '20's. Ernie Nevers, a little known fact. Maybe you don't even know it.

Marquess: [29:33] I don't know it. p.19

Interviewer: [29:34] You know almost everything. But Ernie Nevers, one of the greatest football players of all time, and the whole thing. Ernie Nevers pitched in the big leagues for the St. Louis Browns.

Marquess: [29:42] I did not know that.

Interviewer: [29:43] And it was in 1927 when Babe Ruth hit his 60 home runs, Ernie Nevers served up two of them. Now did any of you folks out there know that?

Marquess: [29:51] Did not know that.

Interviewer: [29:52] Ernie Nevers did.

Marquess: [29:53] I did not know that. He played in the big leagues.

Interviewer: [29:55] Oh, yeah. Big time. That's right.

Marquess: [29:57] I did learn something.

Interviewer: [29:58] Talk about all-time heroes. But I think about... Gosh, your guys. I think Troy Cook, John Lynch, and how many others? A bunch of them.

Marquess: [30:08] You got , who's a quarterback and played for the Giants.

Interviewer: [30:12] .

Marquess: [30:13] Yeah.

Interviewer: [30:14] He's a pro both ways.

Marquess: [30:15] Borchard.

Interviewer: [30:16] Yeah, how about him?

Marquess: [30:20] The guy that's amazing, Chad Hutchinson, one of the most amazing. Signs for millions of dollars, baseball.

Interviewer: [30:24] One way, does a U-turn. p.20

Marquess: [laughs] [30:27] And hits them again!

Interviewer: [30:28] I'll never forget Chad. Gosh, after that last game of his. He has the trophy and we're at the airport together. And boy, he was riding high. And he was going to baseball, then comes back to football. Yeah, what a good guy.

Marquess: [30:40] Rich tradition of that. We've had guys that have gone pro in one or the other. Whether they become major league baseball players or play in the NFL, like Troy Cook. Then you got Elway, who signs for, that time $150,000 was standard. Plays four weeks, comebacks, and goes NFL. So a win. An unbelievable tradition.

Interviewer: [31:01] Yeah. And how about John just going into the hall of fame and Canton, too?

Marquess: [31:04] Oh, you know you feel old, when his daughter is going to be on our basketball team.

Interviewer: [31:10] How about that?

Marquess: [31:11] Now that is unbelievable.

Interviewer: [31:12] Isn't that something? Oh my gosh. How about guy's players? Jack McDowell, Messina. You mentioned those guys a little bit. I mean, there's so many guys we're missing. We can't cover them all. But those two guys are really special. McDowell and those guys have stayed close to this program, too.You've got a nice ballpark out there called the Sunken Diamond. Talk about that all day?

Marquess: [31:34] Yeah, it was built in 1931 or whatever it was, the Sunken Diamond. But a lot of people have contributed so much. We got lots because Jack McDowell and Steve Bushell said, "Let's get lights."And gave us money for the lights. And then we renovated the stadium three or four years ago. And Mike Messina came up a lot of money to give back. [31:57] One of the things, and you know we've done this. Ray was big on this, and Dutch was too. But Ray especially. We take care of the field. We do a lot of it ourselves. And everybody pitches in. Infielders do the infield, pitchers do the mounds and stuff. That's something that I'm very proud of, they take pride in the field. p.21

[32:13] That's why it's one of the most beautiful facilities in the country. There's not a better setting if you want to sit over there on the third base stands and look back at Hoover Tower and the fields. It's just a beautiful setting and we've hosted regionals.

[32:26] But we're very proud of that.There's not a finer college baseball facility in the country. There's everybody that has played baseball has helped contribute to that. But we're very proud of that.

Interviewer: [32:38] Kind of interesting you mentioned the Sunken Diamond. The reason it's there, and lot of people don't realize this, I think you probably do. But Stanford Stadium was built initially and it was 60,000 seats. And they dug a big hole in the ground and they piled some dirt up around the edges. And they had 60,000 seats. [32:54] Then because the big game, especially the big game and the SC game were just absolute sell outs in those days. No television in those days. A lot of railroad traffic between San Francisco and Paolo Alto. There used to be a stadium station for Stanford Stadium. So, with Al Masters at the helm. They decided to enlarge the stadium to what ended up being 90, 000 seats. But they needed more dirt. They needed dirt to build up around the edges to build those seats up above the elevation that they presently had, so they went over and dug a big hole. That big hole ended up being the Sunken Diamond. How about that, huh?

Marquess: [33:34] The amazing thing here is back in '85 or '86, whenever they had the Super Bowl here, George Toma who does the grounds he would go to every Super Bowl site. He walked over to Sunken Diamond and he says whoever built this field...because he figured it would be a water problem.

Interviewer: [33:50] Perfect drainage.

Marquess: [33:51] Yeah, perfect. He said I don't know who did this, but it's perfect. The elevations and the drainage. That really meant a lot to us. He said I've never seen a finer in major league baseball stadiums. It's perfect.

Interviewer: [34:05] You know what I remember, and I want you to talk about this a little bit because I think the folks can really appreciate it, when you went out there and p.22

were coaching and the budgets were a little skinny for a number of years you had your own guys working on the field. Can you tell the folks about that?

Marquess: [34:19] Oh yeah. Well, we continue that today. We didn't have groundskeepers or anything.

Interviewer: [34:24] You drag the infield.

Marquess: [34:24] We drag the infield and aerate at certain times. We became groundskeepers ourselves because we didn't' have enough help in the courtyard. They would cut the grass and stuff, but we would do the extra stuff. One of the things we've always did and we continue today. You'll come in and we've had guys that turn out one million, two million dollars out of high school an dafter practice, after the game, they're out there raking around the bases taking 10 or 15 minutes. But I'll tell you they take pride. You have the shortstop raking around in front of shortstop he makes sure there's no bad hops. So we've always done that. We do that today. [35:01] I think that's good. A lot of athletes, they are, they're spoiled. Everything's given to them and this and that. But our guys, you'll come to our games and you'll see, after game or practice everybody will work 10 or 15 minutes and have an area that they do. I believe in that. Ray really started that with me. Ray Young. When I worked for Ray and played he was a big advocate for that and I think it really means a lot. It's something we continued. It's really a tradition.

Interviewer: [35:25] When I left the staff here a number of years ago, they had a big party for me that overwhelmed me. I thought it was really to insult me and to get even, because I had offended so many people when I was around here. But Gary Cavali and a lot of my old buddies really pulled this thing together, and they threw a bunch of money together and I was so happy to be able to direct those funds to a family scholarship that has been held by great young men like Jason Young and, in more recent years, , and now Michael Taylor coming in, a young freshman from Florida who's an outstanding prospect. Tell the folks a little bit about Sam Fuld. If I could buy stock in a human being I would buy every share I possibly could on Sam Fuld. p.23

Marquess: [36:09] Sam's very special. He's from the east coast, private school. Dad's a profess of psychology at University of New Hampshire. Only five foot, he'll say eleven, but he's about five foot nine. Center fielder. Diabetic since he was about nine years old. Injects himself every day. I had to learn. I was embarrassed because I'd be at practice and when I first started Sam I didn't know anything about how diabetics were. I saw him one day and he was just going about half speed and I said Sam what's wrong with you? He says coach, I'm out of balance. So I had to learn with him. Never missed a game. Never missed a game. [36:46] He'd have a little snack bag in there, make sure the other guys wouldn't steal his snacks during the game. You know me, I'm real regiment, you can't have this or that. He had his little snacks in there and the guys would give him a hard time. Unbelievable player. I've never seen a better player. I've had centerfielders that run faster, but get jumps on balls, play. Just unbelievable, what a great young man. I remember when we go to the one of the things we do as a team we go to the Children's Hospital over at Stanford once a month. That's one kind of our project we do as a team.

[37:19] I never forget I was over there and Sam was with us and there was a young couple I would say they were late 20's early 30's with a daughter who was like three or four years old. Just found out she was diabetic and they were learning how to give her shots and stuff. Sam Fuld singled out those people, talked to the parents.

Marquess: [37:38] Taught them how to do it.

Interviewer: [37:39] Look and they said, " This as an alit athlete and he had this sort of" It was a real special moment. But he is as great of player as he was and he is just a outstanding young man.

Marquess: [37:51] I'm really proud, proud of that young man and that's so much fun to watch these kids. Watch them come in and grow, go different directions and I don't know any, I can't think of any great players that haven't remained a part of your program no matter how far away they go.

Interviewer: [38:07] No, they have and I think it's a Stanford family as you know and your such a big part of that. The other thing we have done real good is you match up p.24

players like with your you know the scholarship and you follow them. You know and really the players come to appreciate, "why do these people, why are these old people still involved, we have never left ever so much." [38:29] They learn from it and that's we done a good as you know a lot better job the last 15-20 years of keeping that Stanford family. Having them back whether it's alumni game or whether its your on the road and you see the alumni. What I love about it is you always mention on the radio you know and that's a big part of that Stanford family. There is nothing really like it and you talk to the schools we got a very good family atmosphere here.

Marquess: [38:54] Goodie, [laughing] you talk about the Stanford family and you mention radio and I'm reminded of David Fleming and Dave one of my all time favorite guys and his brother Will. I mean two marvelous young men and David went off as an announcer in the minor leagues. Guess who he is with as we speak in 2004? The San Francisco Giants and he's just one enormous talent in broadcasting baseball. As I tell you before the season starts we should be able to get tickets no, "yeah no problem." But he's great, he is he paid his dues and when you get out of minor leagues you got to you know he's fantastic it's great.

Interviewer: [39:35] I want to talk about a little bit it started out as the Sears Cup and I think when Stanford won it seven or eight times in a row Sears lost interest. They thought there advertising would reach outbound the limits of the west coast. [39:48] So now it's the directors cup, all the athletic directors in the country have bound themselves together with the sponsorship of this award. It's absolutely we try to be humble around this place but it's off the charts. Stanford has won that award as the best overall athletic program in the United States 10 years in a row.

[40:12] If you doubt that you walk into the Hall of Fame down below where were sitting right now and you see all that Waterford crystal. I've visited those guys at Waterford a guy by the name of Michael Menifee is the guy who does the engraving on those at Waterford. I visited with the guy and he says, "I don't have any trouble spelling Stanford anymore, I know how to do that." he says. But 10 times in a row, the best athletic program in the country. Talk about that a little bit. p.25

Marquess: [40:40] Well the amazing thing about it is that there's a lot schools they made a concerted effort the last seven, eight years to beat Stanford. I mean this there getting tired of this. I talked to Ted Leo and he's done a fantastic job during this run here. [40:57] It's almost hard to believe you can do that, of all the outstanding athletic programs across the country and there trying to win this award. This is just not a after thought, and they are trying to beat Stanford and we continue to do it. I Just honest it's just unbelievable, I don't know how we do it and we know, everyone knows, we know the limitations that we have with the academics.

[41:20] That's why we recruit nationally, but to accomplish that, to win that Director's Cup 10 straight years is just, that's the most amazing feat I ever seen.

Interviewer: [41:30] Mark, I want you to talk a little bit before we close. With your record of course just absolutely incredible, and I think of Dick Gould. I think of Frank Brennan, and I think of so many coaches in so many sports who are just so successful. Tara VanDerveer and so many others. It is incredible. [41:48] Talk about Stanford a little bit. Now I've known a lot of coaches at this place over the years. I know some that have been enormously successful, a lot of them like you. I've known some other coaches that just had trouble here because they just didn't quite buy in to Stanford, into the whole product--what it is, what it stands for, the parts of it that will not change.

[42:11] I think of coaches who have come here, many times assistant coaches, who complain about admissions. And they complain about this and complain about that, which becomes an excuse to lose. You've got to accept this place for what it is and how it is. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Marquess: [42:27] I think that's critical to it. You have to understand what Stanford's all about, and for me it's very simple having gone here. It's all about excellence. Now does Stanford do everything the right way? No, we're not perfect by any means. But I think the goal is perfect in that we're trying to be the very best. Whether it's art, music, athletics, we're trying to be the very best at what we do. [42:49] But the one thing that's special about Stanford is--from an athletic point of view--coaches don't control the admissions p.26 process. And I've tried it. This guy's the best in the country. They'll let him in because he's a... They won't!

Interviewer: [laughs] [43:05]

Marquess: [43:06] You can't use that as an excuse. It's not an excuse because that's our greatest strength. Why comes from Montoursville, Pennsylvania all the way out to California is because there's nowhere else where he can get that combination of academics and athletics. [43:21] In our case it happened to be baseball, but it can be football or basketball. It's not for everybody, and I think coaches have to realize admissions are not kidding about this. We're not going to change. And I don't care who the dean of admissions is whether it's Fred Hargadon or whoever it may be, they're going to set the standard and they make the decisions.

[43:43] You live with that. Sometimes it works out great. Sometimes it doesn't. But it's really about being the very best, and they've done a great job. They don't make mistakes. You'll know kids that maybe you thought should belong at Stanford, and you find out in two or three years they're struggling in another university. Well, admissions knew that.

[43:59] But I think the biggest fault that coaches make, the mistake they make if they come to Stanford, is they don't accept that fact.

Interviewer: [44:06] You have to.

Marquess: [44:07] You have to. You win some. You lose. But over the long haul, we've done it. We've proved it. The Director's Cup is a good example. I don't know how we've done it, but we have. But you need to learn that, that Stanford is going to do it Stanford's way. You don't always agree with it, but you don't agree with anything you don't like.

Interviewer: [44:27] You can't fight it, though. You just can't fight it.

Marquess: [44:28] No, you cannot fight it. You don't win that. If you try to go and complain about it or go public with it, you're done. p.27

Interviewer: [44:35] You reminded me of one more thing when you talked about the player coming clear across the country. It reminded me of one more thing, and we're going to go backwards a little bit. That is Sam Fuld because he came all the way out here from New Hampshire. That is the kind of kid you're talking about. [44:49] The one thing we didn't add--we can talk about it now, but we didn't talk about it during the season--he played his whole last year with an injury. And the last year did not measure up to his previous years because of that injury, but he never breathed a word of that to anybody.

[45:04] He never complained for one moment. He gutted it out the entire season. Can you tell the folks a little bit about that? That's just an amazing story.

Marquess: [45:11] Yeah, last summer in the Cape Cod League, which is the elite summer baseball league for college baseball players in the Cape. And he was the top positioned player in that Cape and ou of the best players in the country. And Peter Gammons said he'd be the highest draft out of the college guys. [45:25] Well, when we find out in January his hand was bothering him, his left hand, he had a stress fracture in his hand. The doctor says, "You can't hurt yourself anymore, but you're just going to be limited." Bob, he didn't take batting practice the whole year. Couldn't. Couldn't. He'd maybe have ten swings a day. He wouldn't take batting practice. I said, "do you just wanna sit?" He said, "Coach it's not going to get any better. I'll play as long as I can."

[45:54] So he played the year. A bad year for Sam is he's hitting 280 and lead our team in runs scored. Bad year. But for him it was. He never complained. No one ever knew. No one knew till the end of the year. I mean, we told the pro scouts. The last year, actually the last series he dove for a ball in the regional first game and had a slightly separated shoulder and played after that, three more games after that. That speaks volume of what type of young man he was. He really was an athlete.

Interviewer: [46:22] Never a complaint.

Marquess: [46:23] Never.

Interviewer: [46:24] Now you think run scores. That's an important stat in baseball. p.28

Marquess: [46:26] You better believe it is.

Interviewer: [46:27] You only did it three times in a row. Three times. Did you want me to bring that up?

Marquess: [46:32] I did know that.

Interviewer: [laughter] [46:33] Three times in a row. '66, '67, '68 or one of those years. '66, '67 and '68 that's football. '67, '68, '69 you lead the team in runs scored. That's how you beat people isn't it?

Marquess: [46:47] That's how you get 'em and get on it. I think you're suppose to score runs I think in that game.

Interviewer: [46:50] What have we not covered coach?

Marquess: [46:52] I don't know. Again, we've been here so long. I think the key thing is the family atmosphere and really what it's all about. You know the people that come back and they come back twenty or thirty years after they play. They wanna be involved. They give a lot of money. Very generous. The reason they do that is their experience. People don't appreciate the value of the inter collegiate athletics as an educational tool on the college campus. [47:21] At Standford. You and I both know some real successful businessmen, Doctors, Lawyers, whatever it is, heads of corporations. They'll come back and say the greatest educational experience I had was playing in collegiate athletics and the friendships. That, you know it and I know it, that's what it's about. And the longer you can coach. I've learned that. That's the reward that you have in this business. People come back and say, that's the best years of my life.

Interviewer: [47:49] I'm looking forward to the Samatale County Sports Association is going to honor our old High School baseball team that won the PA way back when. I'm all excited about that. The whole team, they're going to honor. Now, I just wonder, has Stag High School ever done anything for you? Have they had a parade over in Stockton?

Marquess: [48:08] No. No parade. No parade. I tell my players, they don't believe all these stories. They think I'm lying. They did retire my jersey but they'll probably put it p.29

back in there. But no. I'm big in Stockton. I say that but they don't know I do anything anymore.

Interviewer: [48:23] Have we covered it all?

Marquess: [48:24] We covered it all.

Interviewer: [48:25] All right Coach. Thanks. That's Mark Marquess, one of our all time favorite guys and I hope you've enjoyed this as much as we have. [audio ends]

[48:31]

Transcription by CastingWords