Devils baseball’s streak of 30-win seasons on the line

I can’t remember when I first met Bobby Winkles.

It probably was during my first run covering Arizona State baseball from 1988-94, perhaps during an alumni game before a season opener. If not then, it was early on after I returned to the beat in 2004. Winkles was in Omaha as a guest during several of ASU’s trips to the College World Series from 2005-10 and has made some appearances at home games.

Winkles is 87 now. He was at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where his ASU teams played their most important games in the 1960s, for a 50-year anniversary reunion of the 1967 College World Series championship team last weekend. I spoke to him before the game Saturday, knowing in advance that he might have difficulty remembering our past meetings.

“You’ve written about me before,” said Winkles, whose story now is told in a memoir “From the Cotton Fields to the Major Leagues” written with Dan Poppers. “Thank you for that.”

Despite his fragility, Winkles trotted onto the field when introduced like he did so many times during his coaching career, rising to the occasion.

Seeing Winkles reinforced why it matters if ASU’s 54-year streak of 30-win seasons ends as it’s almost destined to at this point. The Sun Devils are 18-20 with 17 games remaining. To expect a 12-5 finish is not realistic and even winning 10 to end above .500 (28-27) will be a stretch.

Winkles’ fourth ASU team in 1962 won 27 games. Since then through 2016, the Sun Devils have always made it to at least 30 wins even in 1985, a NCAA probation season when they were 31-35 (more games were allowed then and that was coach Jim Brock’s only losing season).

The 30-win streak, longest in the country at 54 years, is living history. It links every ASU varsity coach – Winkles, Brock, Pat Murphy, Tim Esmay, Tracy Smith – covers all five national championship teams and bridges the eras from Phoenix Muni to Packard Stadium and back to Muni.

Its beginning coincided with the outbreak of Beatlemania in 1963 and seemingly will end with the 50th anniversary of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in June ’67. That’s a long run near the top of the charts.

For perspective if not importance, ASU’s 30-year win streak is 10 years longer than Miami baseball’s for most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

In football, the record for most consecutive bowl games is 35 (Florida State/ Nebraska). In men’s basketball, Kansas is the leader in consecutive NCAA appearances with 28.

ASU softball

It’s taken some time for Arizona softball to get back to where it once was nationally. The Wildcats last played in the Women’s College World Series in 2010, a six-year absence that seems like an eternity for a program with 22 WCWS appearances (in the NCAA era) and eight national championships.

But UA has not won it all since 2007, before Mike Candrea’s second season away as U.S. Olympic coach, while Arizona State ascended to become WCWS champion in 2008 and ‘11 and also make it to Oklahoma City for nationals in 2009, ‘12 and ‘13. Now the pendulum has swung south again.

Candrea, in his 30th season (not counting the Olympic years), has a monstrous hitting team that is 45-4, 15-3 Pac-12 and ranked No. 3 behind Florida and Florida State. ASU, in its first season under coach Trisha Ford, is 27-14, 6-9 and ranked No. 23.

The rivals meet Friday-Sunday in Tucson with coverage for all three games on Pac-12 Network (6 p.m. games 1-2, 5 p.m. game 3).