California community college coaching legend and ABCA Hall of Fame member Jerry Weinstein was honored with the 2021 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award at the 2022 ABCA Convention in front of his family, friends and coaching peers in Chicago on Friday, January 7.
Due to health issues, 2022 Lefty Gomez Award recipient Ron Maestri was unable to attend and will be presented his award at the 2023 ABCA Convention in Nashville.
Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. Presented by Wilson Sporting Goods, the Lefty Gomez Award presentation takes place each year during the Hall of Fame Banquet at the ABCA Convention.
Weinstein, who may be best known for building one of the most dominant junior college programs in history at Sacramento City College in California, has coached at nearly every level. Weinstein’s 50-plus years of experience ranges from coaching high school baseball in his home state of California to coaching some of the top players in the college and professional ranks, both in the U.S. and internationally.
In 23 seasons as head coach at Sacramento City College, Weinstein led his teams to a 830-209-12 (.790) record, 17 league championships and California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) state titles in 1988 and 1998. In total, his Panthers appeared in nine CCCAA state championship games. His 830 CCCAA coaching wins were a record at the time, only surpassed by 2021 ABCA Hall of Fame inductee Don Sneddon.
Under Weinstein, Sac City produced 28 Major League players and had 213 players drafted. For the team’s success, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper named Sacramento City College its “Community College Program of the Decade”.
Following the 1998 season, Weinstein left Sacramento City College to pursue opportunities within professional baseball, most notably with the Colorado Rockies. Since 2007, Weinstein has held various managerial and coordinator positions within the organization. He has also been on staff for the Brewers, Expos, Cubs and Dodgers.
Weinstein has been active in international baseball as both a clinician and coach. He managed Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier, leading them to a perfect 3-0 record, qualifying Israel for their first World Baseball Classic appearance. He returned as the head coach in the main tournament, managing Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in South Korea and Japan in March 2017, where the team went 4-2 in the tournament.
In addition, Weinstein served as head coach of the USA representative in the 1970 University Games and led the USA Baseball Team to a gold medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games. As an assistant, he helped guide the U.S. team to a silver medal at the 1987 Pan Am Games and a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics. He was also on the U.S. team staff at the 1992 Olympics.
Weinstein is an accomplished clinician, having spoken at the ABCA Convention numerous times as well as other clinics throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has also managed in the Cape Cod Baseball League, most recently with the Wareham Gatemen.
Weinstein has been inducted to multiple Halls of Fame and, in 2018, Baseball America honored him with its Tony Gwynn Lifetime Achievement Award.
Weinstein earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UCLA, where he played for ABCA Hall of Fame coach Art Reichle. He also spent two years coaching UCLA’s freshman team.
Founded in 1945, the American Baseball Coaches Association is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 15,000 members represent all 50 states and 41 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association members have broadened to include nine divisions: NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth and Travel.