The name Rod Dedeaux and college baseball are synonymous. In his 45 years as baseball coach at the University of Southern California from 1942 to 1986, Rod led the Trojans to an extraordinary number of accolades: 11 national titles, 28 conference championships and a record of more than 1,330 winning games, to name a few.

As a shortstop in two games for the 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers, a debilitating back injury saw to it that Rod’s time in the major league was a brief one.

In 1936 he ventured away from baseball, and using his signing bonus, invested with his father Henri in founding the national logistics firm Dart Transportation & Warehouse, and Dedeaux Properties. He spent 70 years, and the majority of his working hours, building these businesses into thriving establishments – by 2006 he had more than 1,100 employees under his helm throughout the country he so dearly loved.

In 1942 Rod began, at the time a temporary arrangement, as coach for his own alma mater. USC’s coach Sam Barry recommended Rod to take his place while he served in the United States Navy during World War II. When Barry returned in 1946, the two continued on as dynamic co-coaches who lead USC to victory in the 1948 College World Series.

Rod continued his flourishing career with USC until retiring in 1986. During his tenure his teams won an unprecedented 10 more College World Series titles, including five consecutive from 1970 to 1974. Throughout his coaching career Rod also developed an impressive number of players, more than 50, which went onto the major leagues. Personally, he was honored as Coach of the Year six times by College Baseball Coaches Associates, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1999 Collegiate Baseball’s Baseball America named him Coach of the Century.

Rod’s commitment to the game also led him to another pivotal achievement, serving as worldwide “Ambassador to Baseball” as a founder of the Japan/USA baseball series. He played an instrumental role in establishing baseball as an Olympic Game, which garnered full medal status in 1984. In the interim he served as the coach for team U.S.A. in both the 1964 Los Angeles and 1984 Tokyo Summer Olympics, when baseball was still a demonstration sport. Rod also served as the baseball coach for another popular medium, the big screen, when he prepped the actors and ballplayers for one of the all-time favorite baseball films, Field of Dreams.

Rod loved the amateur game with all his heart, so much so that he turned down many offers to coach for the major leagues, including an offer from Tommy Lasorda himself inviting Rod to join his staff. Add to that the salary of only one dollar per year he would accept as USC coach — since he still held his day job as Chairman — and Rod’s devotion to the college game is unparalleled. Rod passed away at the age of 91 in 2006. In the end his contributions and devotion to the game he loved so dearly earned him the coveted status as the winningest coach in the history of college baseball.