Goodbye, 14: Gophers to retire baseball coach John Anderson’s number on Saturday
John Anderson’s remarkable and prolific career as Gophers head baseball coach will be coming to an end very soon.
And the University of Minnesota is getting out in front of his final game with another big day for Anderson on Saturday at the U’s Siebert Field, when Anderson’s No. 14 jersey will be retired in a pregame ceremony before the Gophers take on Michigan State at 2 p.m. Gates will open at 12:30 p.m. to give fans time to settle in and enjoy Anderson’s number retirement.
This will be the Gophers’ final home series with Anderson as head coach. The Spartans and Gophers play single games at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Anderson, who last December announced his intentions to retire at the end of the 2024 season, is the longest-tenured coach in the history of Gophers athletics. This season is his 43rd leading the Gophers and his 49th overall at Minnesota including his time spent as a player, student assistant coach, graduate assistant and assistant coach.
On Saturday, a mural of Anderson will be unveiled on the left-field wall at Siebert Field during the pregame ceremony.
Anderson, affectionately known as “14” in the baseball community, is the winningest baseball coach in the history of the Big Ten. During his tenure, the Gophers have won 11 Big Ten regular-season championships, 10 Big Ten Tournament titles and made 18 NCAA tournament appearances. The first postseason trip was during Anderson’s inaugural season in 1982 and the most recent was in 2018.
This season, Anderson’s Gophers are 21-21 overall and 7-11 in the Big Ten, with one final regular-season series at Northwestern next weekend, then the Big Ten tournament May 21-26 in Omaha, Neb.
Anderson has been named Big Ten coach of the year eight times, most recently in 2018 after leading Minnesota to a Big Ten championship and the Super Regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
Under his watch, 115 Gophers players have been drafted to the MLB. With two selections in the 2023 draft, the Gophers extended their draft streak to 36 consecutive years. The streak is the longest in the Big Ten, with Ohio State (12 years) and Michigan (10 years) as the next closest Big Ten teams.
Anderson has coached 28 All-America selections, nine Big Ten Players of the Year, three Big Ten Pitchers of the Year and four Big Ten Freshman of the Year during his tenure.
He has had a winning record in 36 seasons.
Anderson has been inducted into four different halls of fame — the American Baseball Coaches Association, the University of Minnesota “M” Club, the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association and Hibbing Community College.
Anderson’s mural will be the seventh added to the wall in left field. He will join former Gophers Paul Giel (No. 34), Dick Siebert (No. 24), Dave Winfield (No. 31), Paul Molitor (No. 11), David Chelesnik (No. 26) and Herb “Ike” Isakson (No. 5) in having his number retired.
