OMAHA, Neb. 鈥 There was an hour and a half until first pitch, but Richard Nixon didn鈥檛 care. He spent close to a century trying to get to the College World Series, and he didn鈥檛 want to wait a second longer to finally see Schwab Field.
鈥淏elieve me,鈥 Nixon said, looking out from his seat some 20 rows up, 鈥渋t鈥檚 more than you think.鈥
Nixon 鈥 no, not that Richard Nixon 鈥 waited his whole life for Friday.
The 92-year-old made the trek from San Diego to Omaha to watch Arizona, his alma mater, chase a national championship in a what was full-circle moment for Nixon.
He should鈥檝e already been here. A few times, actually.
Nixon presided over Arizona鈥檚 outfield in the late 1950s. The Wildcats went to the CWS, then at Rosenblatt Stadium, three times in Nixon鈥檚 four seasons. NCAA rules and ulterior circumstances kept Nixon, a fixture on the winningest team in college baseball history, from going.
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At long last, the better part of 70 years later, he made it to Omaha.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e missing something in your life that you knew you belonged to, that never goes away,鈥 Nixon said. 鈥淓veryone knows the history of Omaha and the College World Series. You can understand why this is very exciting for me.鈥
Former Arizona baseball player Richard Nixon, 92, celebrates as the Wildcats take on Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the Men鈥檚 College World Series. Nixon, who played for the Wildcats in the 1950s, made his first trip to the CWS.
Nixon, a Connecticut native, served in the Navy ahead of arriving at the UA. The military started drafting toward the end of the Korean War, so Nixon and his brother volunteered.
Boot camp was in Rhode Island, and that took Nixon to dental tech school in Great Lakes, Michigan, where he got back into baseball before his coach referred him to the Naval training center in San Diego.
There wasn鈥檛 a spot for Nixon, though. He arrived in San Diego in the middle of the season, and they already had a third baseman in eventual Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews.
鈥淚 got beat out,鈥 Nixon said, laughing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no wonder I didn鈥檛 play third, right?鈥
That led him to Arizona, where he started all four years and batted above .300 in every one of them.
As a freshman, Nixon played center and right and hit .371 for the 1956 Wildcats, still considered the winningest college baseball team of all time with a final record of 36-3. Their season ended in the CWS finals with a loss to Minnesota.
(Jerry Kindall, the Gophers鈥 star who later coached the UA to three national titles, was named MVP.)
Nixon wasn鈥檛 there for any of it.
Freshmen were ineligible to play varsity until the NCAA made a series of rule changes around 1970; there were exceptions around the Korean War, which is why Nixon 鈥 鈥淒ick,鈥 everyone calls him 鈥 played in the regular season but, by rule, couldn鈥檛 play in the postseason.
Arizona made it back to the CWS in Nixon鈥檚 junior and senior years, though he didn鈥檛 make it to those, either.
Nixon never saw Rosenblatt. He never will. So he settled for Schwab.
Anything to get to Omaha.
鈥淭his is really a treat for me,鈥 Nixon said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had the pleasure of being at Fenway and Wrigley and all that, but this is Major League. This is a ballpark.鈥
The trip is a Father鈥檚 Day present from his daughter Cindy, but Nixon came with Kevin Hofmockel, half Nixon鈥檚 age. The two met at a San Diego sports bar and have been friends ever since. Nixon said it鈥檚 his way of staying young.
Arizona鈥檚 alumni association hooked them up with the tickets.
All these years later, Nixon keeps in touch with the Wildcats, even if it means traveling halfway across the country.
He was one of the first people to welcome Jay Johnson, now at LSU, also in this year鈥檚 CWS, when UA hired Johnson in 2015. (Nixon hoped to see Johnson before he leaves.) And Arizona coach Chip Hale needed a minute, but he lit up Thursday once it clicked.
鈥淩ichard Nixon?鈥 Hale asked, his eyes squinted and eyebrows raised.
Yes.
鈥淗m. I鈥檓 not sure if I know a Richard Nixon,鈥 Hale said, laughing. 鈥淚 know a Dick Nixon.鈥
Yup. That鈥檚 the one.
鈥淗opefully,鈥 Hale said, 鈥渨e make him proud.鈥
Nixon has done a lot in his 92 years. He coached Jackie Robinson鈥檚 son at a camp. Nixon coached actor Jack Lemmon鈥檚 son in Little League. Nixon pitched Padres batting practice for the first three years the club, founded in 1969, existed.
Making it to Omaha was one of the few things Nixon could鈥檝e added to a life as full as the one he鈥檚 lived.
鈥淚t was always on my mind,鈥 Nixon said. 鈥淣ow that I鈥檝e been here, it always will be.鈥
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