One of the oldest traditions at Rutgers University, the Scarlet Knight Baseball program has been successful for over 130 years. There have been 24 All-Americans, 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament and one trip to the College World Series. With all of this illustrious history, you can imagine that there have been several “special” players “On the Banks.” Eleven of those players have been selected to the Rutgers University Olympic Sports Hall of Fame which honors the best of the best in Rutgers’ Sports. The baseball program has been represented in recent years with six selections since 1999 - Eric Young (1999), Darrin Winston (2000), Matt Bolger (2001), Jim Monahan (2002), Pete Zoccolillo (2004) and Darren Fenster (2007).
Jeff Torborg, 1961-63 (Class of 1994)
Jeff Torborg was a 1963 All-American and set the school record for season batting average (.540) that year, which was the national leading average for 100 at bats and under. his .540 average was the highest ever recorded up to that time and since then, only a handful of college players have hit for a better average. His slugging percentage that year (1.032) is also a single-season standard. In 1963, he led the team with 21 RBI and six home runs. A draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he played 10 seasons in the major, seven with the Dodgers and three with the California Angels. He caught three no-hitters, a perfect game with Sandy Koufax and another no-hitter with Bill Singer of the Dodgers and Nolan Ryan of the Angels; and was the backstop in Don Drysdale’s record fifth straight shutout in 1968. He was a successful manager with the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the New York Mets, the Montreal Expos and the Florida Marlins, winning the Baseball Writer’s Association, Associated Press, united Press International and The Sporting News Manager of the Year award. He led the Marlins to the 2003 World Series title. In his three-year career from 1961-63, the Westfield, N.J. native batted .390. his number (#10) was retired in 1992. He still holds the career slugging percentage mark of .684. During his career, the Knights were 15-4-1, 14-4 and 11-5 for a three-year mark of 40-13-1 (.741 winning percentage).
Pete Hall, 1960-62 (Class of 1995)
Hall is one of a select group of Scarlet Knights to twice earn All-American honors (1961 and 1962) in baseball. During his three letter-winning years (1960-62), the Scarlet Knights were 40-14-1. The former third baseman still holds eighth place on the career batting average chart (.384) and fourth place on the career slugging average chart (.612) in the Scarlet Knight record book. Hall was a 1961 draft pick of the New York Yankees. Hall was the Upstream Award winner in 1962. In 1961, he led the team in hitting (.397), runs (21), hits (31), RBI (30) and made just five errors in starting every game.
Ray Van Cleef 1949-51 (Class of 1996)
Van Cleef was a two-time All-American, garnering first-team accolades from the American Association of College Baseball Coaches in 1950 and 1951. In the process, he became the first Eastern player to repeat as an All-American. A veteran of two NCAA Tournaments, he was the starting centerfielder on the 1950 Rutgers team which advanced to the College World Series. He batted .458 (11-24) in the series en route to MVP honors, while leading the Knights to a co-runner-up finish. Van Cleef batted .404 that season, his junior year, and followed it up with a .378 mark in 1951. He currently ranks third in career batting average at Rutgers. He set the Rutgers single season record for triples with seven in 1950 (mark is now second) and stands third in career triples with 13. Van Cleef is fifth in career slugging percentage with a .606 mark. The Knights were 50-21-2 his three varsity years. He also won three letters in basketball and one in soccer.
Glen Gardner, 1986-88 (Class of 1997)
Gardner, one of the most prolific hitters in Rutgers baseball history, was elected after a stellar three-year career (1986-88), which saw him earn two All-America awards as well as collect a host of offensive records. Gardner, one of New Jersey’s top all-time athletes, came to Rutgers from Immaculata High School, where he was a First Team All-State choice in both football and baseball. Following his freshman season, Gardner was named Freshman All-America by Baseball America. He was drafted after his sophomore season by the San Diego Padres in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur draft. He chose to stay at Rutgers for his junior season and that year set nine single-season offensive records and earned All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball. He was a three-time Atlantic 10 choice and a three-time New Jersey College Baseball Association honoree. Following his junior season, Gardner was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and he began a professional career in that organization. He ended his career as the Rutgers all-time leader in six offensive categories and ranked in the top 10 in four others.
Harding Peterson, 1948-50 (Class of 1997)
Peterson, the backstop for the 1950 Rutgers College World Series team, was a second-team All-America selection by the American Baseball Coaches Association and a first-team District II choice that year, as well. Known for his defensive ability, Peterson made just two errors in 27 games in 1950 while hitting .276 (27-98), with 21 runs, 23 RBI (second on team), 4 doubles and 2 triples. His best season as a collegian was in 1948, when he hit for a .312 average (10-32) with 7 RBI and 3 doubles. In his three varsity seasons, Peterson led his teams to a combined 57-16-2 record, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 1950 College World Series. Following his career at Rutgers, Peterson signed as free agent with Pittsburgh Pirates in 1950 but had his career interrupted by Korean War service. Following the war, Peterson played four years with Pirates until a broken arm in a home plate collision hastened his retirement. A well-respected baseball man, Peterson spent over 30 years with the Pirates, including stints as a player (4 years), manager (9 years), farm director and scouting director. He was named VP for player personnel in 1976 and named executive VP in 1979 and is possibly best known for the trade of C Manny Sanguillen to Oakland A’s for manager Chuck Tanner in 1976. His dealings helped bring the Pirates their World Series Championship in 1979 Peterson also spent two years with the Yankees - and was a Co-General Manager in 1990 and two more years with San Diego as a scout.
Eric Young, 1987-89 (Class of 1999)
Eric Young was a two-sport standout (football, baseball) at Rutgers, earning three letters in baseball (1987-89). Young batted over .300 in each of his three seasons, including a career-high .337 as a senior in 1989. During his career on the diamond, Young was a two-time Atlantic-10 All-Conference selection and led Rutgers to an Atlantic-10 Championship and NCAA berth in 1988. Young graduated from Rutgers as the career runs, triples and stolen base leader, setting a then single-season mark with 28 thefts in 1989. At the conclusion of his Rutgers career, Young was the recipient of the Coursen Award in 1989 and was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1989 amateur draft. Young made his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies in 1993 and was selected to the 1995 All-Star game. A nine-year major league veteran with a .283 career average, Young played his last season with the San Diego Padres and the Texas Rangers in 2006. Since retiring as a player, Young has remained a part of the game as a lead analyst for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, beginning with the 2007 season.
Darrin Winston, 1985-88 (Class of 2000)
Darrin Winston received his nod in 2000. Winston was a four-year letterwinner at Rutgers from 1985-88, and concluded his career as one of Rutgers’ all-time winningest pitchers. A left-hander, Winston was a three-time team MVP, and led the Scarlet Knights to two berths in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the 1988 Atlantic 10 Championship. He was an all-region selection in 1988 after posting a 10-4 record with a 3.74 ERA, and was the MVP of the A-10 Tournament that year. At the time of his induction, Winston was the Rutgers leader in several statistical categories, including career wins (26), career innings pitched (278), career strikeouts (176), career complete-games (8), and single-season wins (10). Originally from Woodbridge, N.J., Winston was drafted by the Montreal Expos and later pitched in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies. Winston passed away unexpectedly on August 15, 2008.
Matt Bolger, Head Coach, 1961-83 (Class of 2001)
Matt Bolger spent 22 years as the head coach at Rutgers, compiling a record of 288-245-7 during his career. A 2001 Olympic Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, Bolger led Rutgers to three NCAA Tournaments in a five-year span from 1966-1970, and posted his best season in 1961, when the Scarlet Knights finished with a 15-4-1 record. A two-time Coach of the Year honoree by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association, Bolger mentored several major league draft picks, including former first-round pick Jeff Torborg. A past President of the American Association of College Baseball Coaches, Bolger is a member of the AACBC Hall of Fame, as well as the Newark Hall of Fame and the St. Benedict’s Prep Hall of Fame. Bolger, who coached at Rutgers from 1961 through 1983, was the school’s all-time winningest coach in any sport at the time of his retirement.
Jim Monahan, 1950-52 (Class of 2002)
Jim Monahan was a key member of the 1950 Rutgers baseball team which advanced to the College World Series for the first and only time in school history. Monahan was among the offensive leaders in five categories in 1950, while his best season came in 1952. That year, Monahan earned First Team All-East and First Team All-America honors after hitting .400 with a team-high 17 stolen bases and 18 RBI, second-best on the team. Rutgers enjoyed a 41-19-1 record during his four seasons, including a 17-4-1 mark during that memorable 1950 campaign.
Pete Zoccolillo, 1996-99 (Class of 2004)
In 2004, Pete Zoccolillo was enshrined in the Olympic Sports Hall of Fame. Zoccolillo held 10 career and single-season records when he left Rutgers, including career hits, RBI, home runs and total bases. A four-year starter, he earned All-BIG EAST honors each year and was a two-time All-American, leading Rutgers to the 1998 BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berths in 1998 and 1999. As a senior in 1999, he set the school and BIG EAST single-season record with 72 RBI, while hitting .418. Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1999, he made his Major League debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003 and was a AAA All-Star in 2004 as a member of the Oklahoma City Red Hawks. He later signed free agent contracts with the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies. He played for the Cardinals’ AAA affiliate Memphis Redbirds in 2005, hitting .261 with nine home runs and 34 RBI in 79 games. In 2006, he played for the Italian National team in the World Baseball Classic before retiring from professional baseball.
Darren Fenster, 1997-00 (Class of 2007)
A two-time All-American shortstop at Rutgers from (1997-2000), Fenster played six years professionally in the Kansas City Royals’ organization. The program leader in several offensive categories including career hits (315), single-season hits (101) and career doubles (65), Fenster was a four-year starter at shortstop. He is a part of three BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament championships, winning the 1998 and 2000 titles as a player and achieving the feat again in 2007 as a member of the staff. Fenster is also a part of four appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including three as a player. As a senior in 2000, Fenster was a consensus First-Team All-American, hitting .433 while playing near-flawless defense. That season, Rutgers posted its first-ever 40-win season, was ranked as high as No. 12 nationally and served as the top seed and host of the NCAA Regional at Upper Montclair, N.J. The 2000 BIG EAST Player of the Year, NCBWA District II Player of the Year, and captain and MVP of a team that would feature three future Major Leaguers, he was also one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy, presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate player. He was also a three-time All-BIG EAST selection. Drafted in the 12th round by the Kansas City Royals following his All-American season in 2000, Fenster advanced to the AA level in the Royals system and was a Carolina League All-Star in both 2002 and 2004, as a member of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Following a breakout season in 2004 where he hit a career-best .302 between A-Wilmington and AA-Wichita, Fenster was a non-roster invitee to the Royals spring training camp in 2005, where he suffered a career-ending ACL injury while playing third base in a spring training game while with the Major League Club. He re-joined the Rutgers program in April of 2006, serving as the Director of Baseball Operations for three seasons before being elevated to an assistant coach prior to the 2009 season.
