June 23, 2000
BERKELEY, CA -
The University of California has hired Ron Witmeyer as assistant baseball coach, it was announced today by Golden Bear head baseball coach David Esquer.
Witmeyer, former standout player at Stanford and a member of the Oakland A's, comes to Cal after a four-year stint as head baseball coach at City College of San Francisco from 1997-2000. His best season at CCSF was in 1999 when the Rams went 23-18. While at the San Francisco junior college, he had one player drafted and 21 players go on to play baseball at four-year schools. Prior to CCSF, Witmeyer and Esquer were both members of the Stanford coaching staff in 1996.
A three-year letterman at first base for the Cardinal, Witmeyer played at Stanford from 1986-88, helping the Cardinal to back-to-back College World Series titles in 1987 and 1988. Esquer and Witmeyer were teammates on Stanford's 1987 squad, and then in 1988 Witmeyer was both an All-NCAA Regional and an All-College World Series selection. He went on to play six years in the Oakland A's organization, earning California League All-Star accolades in 1990 and was called up to the major leagues in 1991.
"David (Esquer) and I have a similar background and experience," said Witmeyer. "I am already familiar with what type of coach he is. He knows what it takes in order to be successful and how to go about doing things the right way. It is above and beyond winning and losing, it is also seeing that athletes are doing well in school and in their lives. I am real excited to be here at Cal and to be back at this collegiate level, and certainly excited to be back in the Pac-10 Conference."
"Ron brings with him the experience of having played professionally, and the experience of winning two NCAA Championships," said Esquer. "He also has been a head coach and has run all spectrums of a baseball program."
Witmeyer earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Stanford in 1989 and went on to earn a master's degree in health, physical education and recreation from Saint Mary's in 1999. He and his wife, Marianne, reside in Burlingame with sons Luke (three) and Clay (five months).
