<^/n^ <^ftw#toffi=^6&^t^ / jr University o/ California Berkeley Berkeley Gazette, March 11, 1975 l/C s legendary Coach Evans dies Clinton W. Evans, a He also coached high baseball coaches in the legendary figure in Univer school baseball at San Diego country, and was instru sity of California athletic High, Twin Falls, Idaho, mental in the rise of history who helped pioneer and Manual Arts High baseball as an intercol baseball as an intercol School in Los Angeles before legiate sport. legiate sport, died yester returning to Cal in the early He was a regular visitor to day in Orinda at the age of 20 s as freshman football Cal baseball games and ath coach. 85. t and baseball letic dinners until he suf Evans, for whom Cal s An innovative coach who fered a stroke about two the Clint Evans Diamond is helped the launch con years ago. A colorful figure, named, was head baseball cept of barnstorming with he gave lively speeches at coach at the Berkeley cam teams, he took Cal teams to Cal athletic banquets even pus from 1930 through 1954. Japan in 1921, 1927 and 1929, in retirement. His teams won conference to Hawaii in 1926 and to Mex Evans was a member of championships nine times. ico in 1932. the College Baseball Hall of After graduating from Cal When the NCAA estab Fame and an honorary in 1912 Evans went im lished a College World member of the College mediately into coaching, Series in 1947, Evans var Football Hall of Fame. He producing four champion sity team at Cal won the in was named NCAA Baseball ship teams including one augural series. Coach of the Year in 1947. state champion in five years Evans was considered one Active in civic affiars as Clinton W. Evans at Pomona High School. of the four or five top college well, he was a past president of Berkeley Rotary Club and member of Claremont Country Club, Grand fathers Club of America, the Oldtimers Baseball Assn. and Berkeley Odd Fel - lows. t A native of Illinois, Evans is survived by his wife, Eulalie Evans of Oakland; a daughter, Mrs. Jane Thomas, Brownsburg, Ind.; two sons, Clinton W. Evans Jr., Piedmont, and John H. Evans, San Luis Obispo, and 8 grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at McNary and Morgan Chapel, 3030 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, with Dr. F. Marion Smith officiating. The family prefers con tributions to a favorite char ity in lieu of flowers. University of California Bancroft Library/Berkeley Regional Oral History Office Clinton W. Evans CALIFORNIA ATHLETE, COACH, ADMINISTRATOR, AMBASSADOR Interview by Arthur M. Arlett Berkeley 1970 Clinton W. Evans All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between the Regents of the University of California and Clinton W. Evans, dated March 31, 196?. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to Clinton W. Evans during his lifetime. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of The University of California. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, ^4-86 Library, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Clinton W. Evans requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. University History Series PREFACE Under a grant from the University of California Alumni Foundation, the Regional Oral History Office has been conducting a series of interviews with persons who have made a significant contribution to the development of the University of California at Berkeley. A list of University History interviews follows, including an earlier group which had been conducted in cooperation with the Centennial History Project, directed by Professor Walton E. Bean. The Alumni Foundation grant made it possible to continue this University-centered series, of which this manuscript is a part. The University History interviews have benefited greatly from the expert advice and assistance of Richard E. Erickson, Executive Manager of the Alumni Association; Arthur M. Arlett, Intercollegiate Athletic Coordinator for Alumni and Public Relations; and Verne A. Stadtman, Centennial Editor. The Regional Oral History Office was established to tape record autobiographical interviews with persons prominent in recent California history. The Office is under the administrative supervision of the Director of the Bancroft Library. Willa Baum Head, Regional Oral History Office 15 July 1968 Regional Oral History Office Room 486 The Bancroft Library University of California Berkeley, California ii Interviews in the University History Series which have been completed by the Regional Oral History Office. SERIES I Birge, Raymond Thayer Raymond Thayer Birge, Physicist. 1960 Paleobotanist , Chaney, Ralph Works Rajph Works Chaney , Ph.D. , Conserva tionist. 1960 Hutchison, Claude B. The College f Agriculture, University f California, 1922-1952. 1962 Less ing, Ferdinand D. Early Years. 1963 Lenzen, Victor F. Physics and Philosophy. 1965 Merritt, Ralph P. After Me Cometh a Builder, the Recollections of_ Ralph Palmer Merritt. 1962 Meyer, Karl F. Medical Research and Public Health. In process. Mitchell, Lucy Sprague Pioneering jLn Education. 1962 McLean Oakland , Berkeley, and the University California, Olney, Mary " of_ 1880-1895. 1963 Neuhaus , Eugen Reminiscences : Bay Area Art and the University of California Art Department. 1961 Neylan, John Francis Politics, Law, and the University of_ California. 1962 Pepper, C. Art and Philosophy the University f California, Stephen ajt " 1919 to 1962. 1963 Porter, Robert Langley Robert Langley Porter, Physician, Teacher, and Guardian f the Public Health. 1960 Leon J. Richardson, Berkeley Culture, University f_ California Highlights, and University Extension, 1892-1960. 1962 Shields, Peter J. Reminiscences . 1954 Sproul, Ida Wittschen Duty, Devotion and Delight in the President s House, University f California. 1961 / C. in the Stevens, Frank Forty Years Office of the President , University f California, 1905-1945. 1959 Treadway, Walter Correspondence and Papers on Langley Porter Clinic . (Bound into Langley Porter interview.) iii on Extension. 1960 Waring, Henry C. Henry C_._ Waring University Extension. 1957 Woods, Baldwin M. University f_ California Wurster, William Wilson College f Environmental Design, University of California, Campus Planning, and Architectural Practice. 1964 I SERIES II Interviews fully or partially funded by the University of California Alumni Foundation. Blaisdell, Allen C. Foreign Students and the Berkeley International House , 1928-1961. 1968 Corley, James V. Serving the University jLn Sacramento. 1969 Cross, Ira Brown Portrait f an Economics Professor. 1967 Cruess, William V. A Half Century in Food and Wine Technology. 1967 Blossom The Dean Women and the Students . 1967 Davidson, Mary f_ Importance of_ Dennes, William R. Philosophy and the University Since 1915. 1970 Donnelly, Ruth The University s Role in Housing Services. 1970 Carroll and Ebright, "Ky" California Varsity Olympics Crew Coach. 1968 Evans , Clinton W. California Athlete , Coach, Administrator, Ambassador. 1968 Hamilton, Brutus Student Athletics and the Voluntary Discipline. 1967 Hays, William Charles Order, Taste, and Grace in Architecture. 1968 Johnston, Marguerite Kulp and Student Housing, Welfare, and the ASUC. 1970 Mixer, Joseph R. Lehman, Benjamin H. Recollections and Reminiscences of Life in the Bay Area from 1920 Onward . 1969 Towle, Katherine A. A Life Service; The Marine and the " Corps of_ " University. 1970 Underhill, Robert M. University of California Lands , Finances , and Investment. 1968 Wessels, Glenn A. Education f an Artist. 1967 Witter, Jean C. The University, the Community, and the Lifeblood of Business. 1968 iv INTRODUCTI ON Interviewing Clint Evans is an experience which every reader of this volume would find it a privilege to share. It is unfortunate that the conversation must be set down in cold, black type on a plain white page, because no matter how generously he has shared his wealth of memories or how vividly he has revealed his philosophy and convictions, there is no way that a mechanical tape recorder or a human scribbler of notes can put Clint Evans, the man, into print. There will be, in the years to come, generations of Californians to whom he will be only a name, respected for his accomplishments but not remembered personally in the way that he has been known by countless thousands of friends during a lifetime of devotion to the University. As a student, an athlete, a coach, an administrator, an ambassador of international goodwill and a very wise and understanding counselor of young men, he has left the imprint of his personality and extraordinary vitality on other people to an extent that defies chronicling. In the high, shrill pitch of his voice and in the translation of his thoughts into staccato bursts of colorful phraseology there was never any way of mistaking Clint Evans for someone else. Every athlete who ever played under his coaching became "one of my boys" and he could recall personal anecdotes about each and every one of them. The fierce ness of his loyalty was always matched by his deep-rooted fear that he might speak ill of someone. Wherever he went, whatever he said or did, it was always in what he felt was the best interests of the University that he loved beyond the capacity of most men. It is not the purpose of these few words of introduction to dupli- cate any part of the interview. Clint Evans 1 answers to questions and the tremendous amount of information which he volunteered combine to make this account of what he said a remarkable historical document.