Baseball: Marty Karow’s Jersey No. 13 is Retired – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio The baseball jersey No. 13 of Marty Karow, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a 25-year coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes baseball team, was retired Saturday, May 10 by the athletics department…33 years to the date after his last home game as Ohio State coach.
Karow, a 1927 Ohio State graduate, seven-time Buckeye letterman (three each in football and baseball and one in basketball) and 1926 football captain and All-American, returned to Ohio State in 1951 after a successful coaching career at Texas, Navy and Texas A&M.
In his first season at the helm of the Ohio State baseball program, Karow led the Buckeyes to a conference-best record of 10-2 (23-15 overall) and their first appearance at the College World Series. Ohio State would make three more trips to the CWS under Karow, capturing the coveted national title in 1966.
After finishing as the national runners-up in 1965, falling to Arizona State, 2-1, Ohio State convincingly defeated Oklahoma State, 8-2, to bring home the program’s first national title in 1966 with a 27-6-1 record. Steve Arlin, Chuck Brinkman, Russ Nagelson, Bo Rein and Ray Shoup were all chosen as All-College World Series selections. As a team, the 1966 national champion Buckeyes posted the lowest earned run average in Ohio State history with a 2.11 ERA.
The Buckeyes won a total of five conference titles with Karow at the helm, including three consecutive crowns in 1965, 1966 and 1967. In all, the legendary coach led Ohio State to 16 Top 3 finishes in the Big Ten and, at the time of his retirement in 1975, he owned the school record for all-time wins with 479. His 25 years served as head coach are the most of any Ohio State baseball coach in the first 125 years of the program.
Karow retired with a .583 overall winning percentage, a mark that included a win in his last home game as coach: 1-0 over Michigan on May 10, 1975. He passed away in 1986, three months shy of his 82nd birthday.
In the summer of 1967, Karow was selected as one of three USA Baseball Team coaches. Team USA won gold that year in the Pan American games by becoming the first U.S. team to defeat Cuba in international competition. It was one of Karow’s proudest moments as a coach.
Karow was represented at the jersey retirement ceremony by a contingent of his former players including Ray Shoup, Arnold Chonko, Bruce Heine, Dick Ernst, Richard Clouse and Dick Finn, an Ohio State captain and assistant coach under Karow who took over as head coach for 12 seasons following Karow’s retirement.
Karow’s jersey number, and the retired jersey numbers of Fred Taylor (#27) and Steve Arlin (#22), are now permamently displayed at Bill Davis Stadium on the right field wall and also on the “arches” on the stadium concourse.
###OhioStateBuckeyes.com###
