Chuck Brayton obit

Bobo Brayton, longtime WSU baseball coach, dies

 He was not on the list.

PULLMAN — Frederick Charles “Bobo” Brayton, the Washington State University baseball coach with 1,162-career victories, passed away Saturday morning in Pullman. He was 89. “On behalf of Washington State University, I offer our condolences to Eileen and the entire Brayton family,” Washington State Director of Athletics Bill Moos said. “In my opinion, there has never been a greater Cougar icon than Bobo. Like so many, my life was touched and inspired by this wonderful teacher, mentor and friend. He will be dearly missed. I will take it upon myself to see that his legacy lives on for generations and that scores of future Cougars are made aware of this great man.” After playing one season of basketball and baseball at WSU, Brayton enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served 18 months during World War II. When Brayton returned to Pullman, he played three seasons on the diamond (1946-48) as a shortstop and three on the gridiron (1947-49) as a two-way player, ending his collegiate career with eight letters. Under the tutelage of Arthur “Buck” Bailey, Brayton was a three-time All-Northern Division performer in baseball. As team captain in 1947-48, he led the Cougars to back-to-back league titles and appearances in the NCAA District 8 playoffs. Brayton batted .323 with a team-best three home runs in conference play during the 1947 campaign and was a First Team All-American. After graduating from Washington State in 1950, Brayton entered coaching, accepting the head position at Yakima Valley Community College. During his 11 seasons there (1951-61), his teams won 251 games, 10 division titles, and nine state championships. In 1961, when Bailey announced his retirement after 32 years in the Cougar dugout, Brayton took over. Brayton skippered Washington State for 33 seasons (1962-94) and won nearly 70 percent of his games. His Cougar squads captured 21 conference titles, made 10 NCAA postseason appearances and a pair of trips to the College World Series (1965, 1976). Together, Bailey and Brayton combined to win two-thirds of their games in 65 seasons. The current Cougar facility is named Bailey-Brayton Field in their honor. In 1975, the NCAA adopted a 32-team regional format, currently 64 teams, known as the “Brayton Plan,” so named because it came during Brayton’s tenure as the chair of the College World Series Committee. At the time of his retirement, Brayton’s victories ranked fourth on the NCAA all-time list. Among his numerous awards and honors are inclusion as a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, Inland Empire Sports Hall of Fame, WSU Athletic Hall of Fame and Yakima Valley Community College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Brayton was a three-sport varsity athlete at Washington State and played shortstop in 1944 for interim coach Jack Friel and from 1946 to 1948 for Buck Bailey; he was named the school's first baseball All-American in 1947. As an incoming freshman in September 1943, Brayton hitchhiked across the state to Pullman from Skagit County in northwestern Washington. After his freshman year, he served 18 months in the Army Air Forces. His #14 jersey was retired by the school in 2003, and he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Bailey–Brayton Field, the Cougars' home stadium since 1980, is named for Brayton and his predecessor, Buck Bailey (1896–1964). When the old field was displaced by the new Mooberry track, Brayton constructed the new stadium on a budget, using items salvaged from Sick's Stadium in Seattle, as well as donated materials and volunteer labor. Formerly Buck Bailey Field, Brayton's name joined his mentor's in January 2000. He led the Washington State Cougars for 33 seasons, from 1962 to 1994.

Big leaguers coached by Brayton include Olerud, Ron Cey, Aaron Sele, Scott Hatteberg, Tom Niedenfuer and Danny Frisella. Brayton took a chance on a skinny kid from Bellevue, and Olerud rewarded him by earning national college player of the year honors in 1988. That’s one of countless reasons why Brayton was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame and the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

“Bobo made you grow up fast, but in a very caring environment,” Sele once explained. “He demanded a lot of you on the field, and he demanded a lot of you as a student-athlete. Bobo really helped me grow up."