"Never Make the Same Mistake Once: Remembering USC Baseball Coach Rod Dedeaux`

By Bob Leach

Actor Jack Lemmon toes the rubber, looks in for the sign, and takes a deep puff from a sizeable Cuban cigar. He throws a fastball down the heart of the plate, and I whistle a line drive inches from his famous visage for a single. This was no dream or fantasy—just one of the Hollywood Celebrity Games that Coach Dedeaux arranged between the icons of the film and television industries and alumni of the University of Southern California (USC) baseball program. When I played outfield for Dedeaux in 1974–1976, . . .

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Endless Seasons
Baseball in Southern California; 2011 SABR convention publication
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