Former A&M baseball coach Tom Chandler died Oct. 18 at his home in Bryan at the age of 75 from supranuclear palsy, a rare form of Parkinson’s disease.
“One of his most endearing traits is that he could turn everything from a negative to a positive, and he was a friend to everybody,” said Kyle Hawthorne, a former Texas A&M baseball player.
Chandler came to A&M in 1958 as an assistant coach to Beau Bell. He took over the program in 1959 and took the Aggies to the Southwestern Conference championship his first year, and then for 25 out of 26 seasons while he was head coach. Under Chandler’s coaching, the Aggies went to the playoffs seven times and reached the College World Series in 1964.
Coaching one shy of 1,000 games, Chandler was among the top 15 winningest coaches in the country and had 54 players sign professional baseball contracts.
Hawthorne, who is a Bryan attorney, went on to play minor league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles.
“It’s hard to put in a capsule what was unique about him because there were so many things,” Hawthorne said. “You can’t really put your finger on it.”
Chandler worked to bring A&M’s baseball program national attention and worked closely with former Aggie baseball player C.E. “Pat” Olsen to upgrade the facilities.
Wally Groff, A&M athletic director, said the project received a generous donation from Olsen, but the field was Chandler’s dream. Groff said Chandler worked to persuade the Board of Regents and others of the need for an improved facility.
“Without Chandler, this field wouldn’t be here,” Groff said. “He felt that we needed this facility if we were to be competitive with the University of Texas and on the national level.”
Groff said Chandler not only acted as a coach to the players, but was a father figure.
“I always thought he was a great leader and turned our athletes into fine young men,” Groff said.
Mark Johnson, an Aggie baseball coach, worked as an assistant to Chandler in 1983, Chandler’s final season. The school set a record with 41 wins that year and advanced to the NCAA regionals.
“The baseball community, from the major leagues to amateur baseball, lost a fine gentleman,” Johnson said in a press release. “He had a passion for the game of baseball and for coaching.”
While teaching his players to be successful on the baseball diamond, he taught them to excel off the field as well. He had great warmth and a heart for people. He could strike up a conversation with a stranger and that person would become a lifelong friend. All who were fortunate to meet him came away blessed and a better person for having known him.”