Baseball Coaching Legend Pat Doyle To Receive ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award
Pat Doyle, who coached San Joaquin Delta College's baseball program to 568 victories in 23 seasons from 1977-1999, is the 2026 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award recipient. He will be honored on Jan. 9 at the 82nd ABCA Convention held in Columbus, Ohio.
Named after MLB Hall of Fame pitching great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. Presented by Wilson Sporting Goods, the Gomez Award presentation takes place each year during the convention's Hall of Fame Banquet.
Doyle's remarkable contributions to the game span local, national, and international levels. He served as President of the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association (CCCBCA) from 1989-2006 and a scholarship in his name was established by the association in his honor.
At Delta, Doyle coached the Mustangs to 17 postseason playoff appearances.
Doyle's influence reaches far beyond California. He has coached and managed national teams for Ireland, Great Britain, and Israel, and worked as an envoy and consultant for MLB International, where he helped develop players, coaches, and facilities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
He continues to serve the global baseball community as a member of the Board of Directors for both the International Sports Group and Play Global.
Doyle's profound impact on the game was recognized in 2019 with his induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame, the fifth Hall of Fame nod of his career.
In addition to the ABCA Hall of Fame, he is a member of the CCCBCA Hall of Fame, the Stockton Athletics Hall of Fame, the Lodi Athletic Hall of Fame and the Anchorage Glacier Pilot Hall of Fame. He has also been a recipient of the National Baseball Congress Coach of the Year Award (1991) and the European Baseball Coaches Association Coaching Achievement Award.
The Santa Monica, Calif. native is a graduate of University High in Los Angeles. Doyle's college career began at LA Valley College before transferring to Fresno State University where he was a pitcher. He earned a bachelor's degree from Fresno State in 1967 and later earned a master's from CSU Sacramento.
Doyle pitched briefly in the Boston Red Sox organization in 1966-67.
For two seasons (1990-91), Doyle was manager of the Anchorage (Alaska) Glacier Pilots. Doyle served as an assistant coach for Team USA in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he was named head coach for the 1996 Republic of Ireland National team, managed the British national team in the 2010 European Baseball Championship, and was head coach of Team Israel in the 2011 European Baseball Championship Qualifiers. He later was an assistant coach for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic
A video tribute on Doyle produced by the ABCA is below: