USC Baseball Great Rich Dauer Named to 2021 College Baseball Hall of Fame Class

LOS ANGELES – The College Baseball Hall of Fame announced its 2021 class this week and USC baseball great Rich Dauer was among those to be inducted.
 
Dauer, who starred for the Trojans from 1973-74 before going on to a distinguished MLB career, is one of 14 members of the 2021 Hall of Fame Class and is the sixth player in Trojan history named to the Hall since its inception in 2006. He joins Rod Dedeaux (2006), Fred Lynn (2007), Roy Smalley (2013), Bill Bordley (2014) and Wally Hood (2019).
 
Dauer came to USC after two years at San Bernardino Valley College, where he earned Junior College Player of the Year honors in 1972. He would lead the Trojans to National Titles in both '73 and '74 with two stellar seasons as the team's starting third baseman.
 
In 1974, Dauer led the nation in hits (108), total bases (181) and RBI (92) (all totals that set single-season NCAA records at the time), garnering All-America first team recognition that season. He was an All-Conference honoree each of his two years at USC and the led the Trojans in batting average (.361/.387), home runs (11/15), hits (73/108) and RBI (43/92) during both of the championship seasons.
 
Dauer was selected 24th overall in the first round of the 1974 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He would make his MLB debut with the team in 1976 and played 10 seasons in the league, winning a World Series title with the Orioles in 1983.
 
Dauer had an extensive coaching career in professional baseball, spanning from 1990-2017 and including five different MLB organizations (Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros).
 
He has already been inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012 and was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.