Rutgers Baseball Team to Honor Winston This Season
Feb 18 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers baseball team will honor one of its heroes from years past during the 2009 season. The Scarlet Knights will wear hats with “DW” stitched on the side in honor of the late Darrin Winston, who passed away suddenly last August. One of the most decorated pitchers in Rutgers history, Winston pitched for the Scarlet Knights from 1985-88.
"Darrin was an outstanding baseball player and an even more outstanding person,” said Rutgers head baseball coach Fred Hill, who coached Winston during his time at Rutgers. “We want to honor his legacy here at Rutgers and we thought this would be a good tribute to his great accomplishments. We miss him dearly and want to make sure he remains a part of our program.”
He was inducted into the Rutgers Olympic Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, an honor bestowed upon the top athletes in Rutgers history. Twenty years after graduating from Rutgers, he is the Scarlet Knights' winningest pitcher of all-time with 26 career victories. He is also tied for the most wins in a season with 10 in 1988. Winston ranks third all-time in Rutgers history with 175 career strikeouts and his strikeout total of 73 as a senior in 1988 is tied for the third most in program history. Winston also owns the most complete games in Rutgers history with 22 and his 278.0 career innings pitched are the most all-time. He was a three-time Most Valuable Player for the Scarlet Knights during his career "On the Banks."
As a senior in 1988, the left-handed pitcher led the Scarlet Knights to the Atlantic 10 Championship and the second of two berths in the NCAA tournament in his career. He earned All-Region honors in 1988 after completing the season 10-4 with a 3.74 ERA.
Winston, who grew up in Woodbridge, N.J., was selected in the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft by the Montreal Expos and later pitched in the Major Leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rutgers will debut its new hats when the Scarlet Knights open the season Friday in Miami where they will meet the Hurricanes at 7:00 p.m.
