Inductees

It’s almost as if Hollywood produced a movie classic: An Ozarks teen quarterbacks a high school team to a state championship, QBs a Southeastern Conference football power to big wins, then goes on to play pro baseball and later coaches a team to the World Series.

However, it was all true, and Alan Cockrell still remembers where it all began – on the sandlots in and around Joplin. Yes, right down to the old hill in right field at Joe Becker Stadium that swallowed many outfielders. That, and the light poles on the warning track of Carthage’s cavernous ballpark, a Depression-era WPA project.

“Dad would put together a baseball team every summer and we went all over southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and southeast Kansas,” Cockrell said. “I loved to play year-round.”

He certainly was one of the Show-Me State’s best all-around talents, and his collective success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Cockrell with the Class of 2019.

In short, he quarterbacked Joplin Parkwood High School to a 1980 state championship, was a three-year starting quarterback and All-American baseball player for the SEC’s University of Tennessee Volunteers, and later became a big-leaguer with the Colorado Rockies.

And, since 1999, he has served as a coach in some capacity in Major League Baseball, including as hitting coach on the Colorado Rockies’ 2007 World Series team.

As Joplin Parkwood football coach Dewey Combs (MSHOF 2010) once said, “He reminds you of that song, ‘America the Beautiful.’ Alan is everything you’d ever want in an athlete.’”

“After my sophomore year (at Parkwood), things started to really look like I was going to have a chance to play college football,” Cockrell said. “But I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to work out. I wanted to play both (football & baseball) and that was part of my recruiting.”

Which was understandable. Cockrell was a three-sport athlete and, ultimately, he turned down interest from a trio of iconic college football coaches in Alabama’s Bear Bryant, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne and Ohio State’s Woody Hayes. Tennessee allowed him to play both.

Cockrell certainly did much to deserve attention.

At Parkwood career-wise, he rushed for 1,541 yards, threw for 4,499 yards and scored 80 touchdowns. He also was a three-year starter on the basketball team and center fielder in baseball.

In Knoxville, Cockrell was the first freshman ever to start at quarterback, doing so in the third game of the 1981 season. Days before, he spotted his name atop the depth chart.

“I called my dad, who was old school. He said, ‘Well, I guess Coach (Johnny) Majors would rather lose with a freshman than two seniors,’” Cockrell said laughing. “But he meant that it was your time and you’ve got to take your lumps.”

Unfortunately, Cockrell suffered a major knee injury a week later and underwent season-ending surgery. However, he steered the Volunteers to bowl games the next two seasons, including a Citrus Bowl victory against Maryland and future Super Bowl QB Boomer Esiason.

In 1982 and 1983, he led UT to 35-28 and 41-34 victories against Alabama, then ranked No. 2 and No. 11. The first win ended an 11-game losing streak in the series.

However, knee worries led Cockrell to focus on baseball. He was the MVP of the 1984 SEC Tournament his junior year and soon signed with the San Francisco Giants after being the ninth overall selection of the MLB draft.

Cockrell underwent three knee surgeries in his first four pro seasons but made his big-league debut in 1996, with his first hit off Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.

He’s given back to the game. He was on the New York Yankees big-league staff (2015-2017), including two years as hitting coach. He previously was the roving hitting coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2011-2013), hitting coach for the Rockies (2002, 2007-2008) and the Seattle Mariners (2009-2010).

“I can’t say enough about Coach Combs,” Cockrell said. “He would shape my coaching style by being meticulous about doing all the little things on a daily basis.”

In 2007, when the Rockies won the NL pennant, Cockrell oversaw Matt Holliday’s 50-homer, 137-RBI season (both NL bests) that netted NL MVP runner-up honors. In 2009, Cockrell was named to Tennessee Baseball’s All-Century team.

Overall, he hopes teens play multiple sports.

“Playing multiple sports allows you to go out and compete and helps your inner drive so that, when your favorite season starts, you’ve been competing,” he said. “I think that’s huge.”