# St. John's Red Storm baseball

The St. John's Red Storm baseball team represents St. John's University, in New York City in college baseball. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference. The team is coached by Mike Hampton. The St. John's baseball team has been to the College World Series six times and have sent more than 100 players on to professional baseball careers.

## History

The St. John's baseball team has been to the College World Series six times, recorded 34 NCAA appearances, 8 Big East Championships and have sent 70 players on to professional baseball careers. The team plays at the 3,500-seat Jack Kaiser Stadium, dedicated in 2007 to the Hall of Fame Coach and former St. John's Athletic Director. The stadium is one of the largest college baseball stadiums in the northeast, and is a featured venue on the EA Sports MVP NCAA baseball video game.
The stadium was conceived out of a deal between the university and the Giuliani administration. The administration wanted to find a location for a single-A team that would be affiliated with the New York Mets. Expressing concern about quality of life issues and the spending of public money for a private religious institution, surrounding neighborhood civic groups and local politicians protested the plan. In order to placate their concerns, however, the Mets offered to open it up to the communities for local high school games and youth programs. This stadium was built despite large protests by community residents as well as State Senator Frank Padavan (while also using city financing). The Red Storm played the first-ever game at the Mets' new ballpark, Citi Field on March 29, 2009.
St. John's has won nine Big East Championships in 1987, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2018. It has also won the Big East tournament ten times, in 1985, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2024, the most of any school.
The program has appeared in 37 NCAA Regionals and six College World Series, with its highest place finish being fourth place in 1968 and its most recent appearance in 1980.

## Facilities

The team plays at the 3,500-seat Jack Kaiser Stadium, dedicated in 2007, to the Hall of Fame Coach and former St. John's Athletic Director. The stadium is one of the largest college baseball stadiums in the northeast, and is a featured venue on the EA Sports MVP NCAA Baseball video game. The stadium was conceived out of a deal between the university and the Giuliani administration. The administration wanted to find a location for a single-A team that would be affiliated with the New York Mets. Expressing concern about quality of life issues and the spending of public money for a private religious institution, surrounding neighborhood civic groups and local politicians protested the plan. In order to placate their concerns, however, the Mets offered to open it up to the communities for local high school games and youth programs. This stadium was built despite large protests by community residents as well as State Senator Frank Padavan (while also using city financing) The Red Storm played the first ever game at the Mets' new ballpark, Citi Field on March 29, 2009.

## Coaches

| * | Elected to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame |
Under Ed Blankmeyer, St. John's won six Big East Conference Regular season Championships and five Big East Tournament championships. They appeared in ten NCAA Regionals and one NCAA Super Regional. Blankmeyer has received the Big East Conference's top coaching award eight times—six times as the head coach during the era in which the award was styled as "Coach of the Year" and presented solely to a head coach, and twice more under the award's current incarnation as the "Coaching Staff of the Year" award, presented to an entire staff. He has also received four ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year Awards.
On January 9, 2020, Mike Hampton was promoted to the interim head baseball coach at St. John's following Ed Blankmeyer's resignation to join the Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2024, Hampton led St. John's to a conference record tenth Big East tournament championship, eleventh coach of the Year honors, and thirty-eighth NCAA tournament appearance, their first since 2018.
Only those who coached 3 or more seasons and 30 or more games.
| Coach | Years | Overall | % | Conf | % | BET | % | NCAA Post Season | NCAA Post Season | NCAA Post Season | NCAA Post Season | NCAA Post Season | NCAA Post Season |
| Coach | Years | Overall | % | Conf | % | BET | % | Overall | % | Super Reg | % | CWS | % |
| Buck Freeman | 1928–1936 | 89–71 | .556 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Joe Lapchick | 1937–1943 | 69–36 | .657 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Frank McGuire | 1948–1952 | 67–30 | .691 | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | .333 | — | — | 0–2 | .000 |
| Al DeStefano | 1953–1955 | 39–15–1 | .718 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | .500 | — | — | — | — |
| Jack Kaiser | 1956–1973 | 367–133–2 | .733 | — | — | — | — | 19–16 | .543 | — | — | 5–6 | .455 |
| Joe Russo | 1974–1995 | 612–310–4 | .663 | 128–81 | .612 | — | — | 27–26 | .509 | — | — | 1–4 | .200 |
| Ed Blankmeyer | 1996–2019 | 829–499–4 | .624 | 347–212 | .621 | — | — | 14–21 | .400 | — | — | — | — |
| Mike Hampton | 2020–present | 112–104–2 | .439 | 39–47–1 | .454 | — | — | 1–2 | .333 | — | — | — | — |

## Notable players
### MLB First Round Picks

| Year | Player | Pick | Team |
| 1970 | Allan Matson | 16 | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 1994 | C.J. Nitkowski | 9 | Cincinnati Reds |
| 2005 | Craig Hansen | 26 | Boston Red Sox |
| 2011 | Joe Panik | 29 | San Francisco Giants |

### First Team All-Americans

| Year(s) | Player | Position | Selectors |
| 1981 | Frank Viola | Pitcher | Baseball America |
| 2005 | Craig Hansen | Pitcher | Baseball America |
| 2010 | Jeremy Baltz | Outfielder | Baseball America |

### Individual awards
#### National Awards

* NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year
    Jeremy Baltz (2010)
* NCBWA National Freshman Pitcher of the Year
    Sean Mooney (2017)

#### Big East Awards

* Rookie/Freshman of the Year
    Rich Aurilia (1990)
    Mike Maerten (1991)
    Jeremy Baltz (2010)
    Michael Donadio (2014)
    Josh Shaw (2016)
    Sean Mooney (2017)
* Player of the Year
    John Valente (2018)
* Pitcher of the Year
    Tom Migliozzi (1991)
    C.J. Nitkowski (1994)
    Craig Hansen (2005)
    George Brown (2008)
    Ryan McCormick (2015)
    Thomas Hackimer (2016)
    Sean Mooney (2017)
* Jack Kaiser Award/Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player
    Tom Finke (1986)
    Mike Weinberg (1988)
    Mike Maerten (1993)
    Mike Dzurilla (1997)
    Kyle Hansen (2010)
    Matt Carasiti (2012)
    Alex Caruso (2015)
    Jeff Belge (2018)
    Jimmy Keenan (2024)