Inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007

The National College Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Lubbock, Texas, is a museum operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States.

College Baseball Foundation Article • July 4, 2007

2007 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

LUBBOCK, Texas

The College Baseball Foundation announced today the names of eleven collegiate baseball legends, including former USC outfielder Fred Lynn, which join four veteran candidates that will comprise the 2007 Induction Class into the new College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas.

Lynn (Alhambra, Calif/El Monte HS) becomes the second Trojan to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after legendary head coach Rod Dedeaux made the first class last year. He appeared on three consecutive USC national championship squads (1971, 1972 and 1973) and had a career .320 average with 28 home runs and 111 RBI. He also earned 1971 All-College World Series honors for the Trojans.

From College Star to MLB Legend

During his major league career which started with the Boston Red Sox, Lynn became the first player in major league history to win American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors after batting .331 with 21 home runs and 105 RBI.

He later earned MVP honors at the 1982 AL Championship Series with the California Angels (.611 with a home run and five RBI) and the 1983 All-Star Game, where he hit the first grand slam in All-Star history in Chicago’s Comiskey Park.

1975

AL MVP & ROY

First Player Ever

1983

All-Star MVP

First Grand Slam

FRED LYNN USC CAREER STATISTICS

Complete collegiate statistics from his time at USC

FRED LYNN

USC (’71, ’72, ’73 CWS)

DOB

2/3/1952

HEIGHT/WEIGHT

6-1/190

BATS/THROWS

LEFT/LEFT

GAMES

158

Year G AB AVG H HR RBI
1971 42 113 .344 39 7 30
1972 58 187 .326 61 14 46
1973 60 197 .299 59 7 35
TOTALS 158 497 .320 159 28 111

Key Achievements

  • Played in 158 career games at USC

  • Batted .320 in his career (159-for-497)

  • Member of three USC national championship squads in three seasons

  • 1972 all-region and all-conference selection

Honors & Awards

  • First team All-American in 1972

  • Earned All-College World Series honors in 1971

  • Named to the 1970s All-Decade Team for the CWS

  • College Baseball Hall of Fame (2007)

Fred Lynn’s Induction Speech

College Baseball Hall of Fame • July 4, 2007

“I wonder why I am here,” Lynn said with a smile, “especially after it took us 17 hours to get here because of the weather. I am proud to be here, and I am grateful to many people for a fair amount of success. My parents were very supportive, and I probably got a lot of the ability from my mom. My dad did toughen me up a little by bouncing a hardball off my head when I was little. They convinced me that there would be no sports without A’s or B’s in class, and I was grateful for USC football helping me come there on an athletics scholarship. Playing for (Hall of Fame) coach Rod Dedeaux was scary at times, but you learned to play intelligently and avoid making the mental mistakes.”

— Fred Lynn