I never saw Drew Dickinson pitch at Illinois Field. I started following Illinois baseball during their championship season of 2005 so I never had the pleasure. As I began to learn the history of the team, I certainly learned about Drew. He set the standard for current day pitchers.
Drew Dickinson pitched for Illinois between 1999-2002. After an uneventful freshman year, he made his presence known in 2000 by going 8-3. The next two years, he won 11 games each. If you check the Illinois Baseball Record Book, you’ll see that “Andy” Dickinson’s name litters the pitchers’ section. To date, he still ranks first in career wins with an impressive 30-7 record. Dickinson’s 107 strikeouts in 2002 still ranks 3rd all-time. He holds multiple records for innings pitched (he was a workhorse!).
For his efforts, he was named All-Big Ten First team in 2001 and 2002 as well as multiple All-America honors. He was drafted by the Oakland organization in 2002 and eventually reached Double-A.
That is a lot to accomplish but Drew did so much more for the Illinois baseball program. As the assistant coach, he focused our team on pitching and made excellence the goal. The results were almost instant. The team’s ERA lowered each of the first four years.
I saw Drew as a “player’s coach”. At least that’s the impression I get from the pitchers I have talked to. As someone who was in their shoes only ten or fifteen year ago, he was approachable and had empathy. That’s not to say he didn’t drive them hard either.
The hard work has paid off. Not only has Illinois gone to the NCAA postseason four times but they have produced fifteen pitchers who have been drafted. Two of those (Cody Sedlock and Tyler Jay) were drafted in the first round.
Drew, I wish you good luck at Virginia. Thank you for focusing our efforts on pitching and establishing a plan and seeing it through. By the way, it sounds like you have some big shoes at Virginia to fill.