John Kobs

John H. Kobs (August 21, 1898 – January 26, 1968) was an American athlete and coach. He was the head baseball coach at Michigan State University from 1925 to 1963 where he compiled a career record of 576–377–16. He also coached men's basketball (1924–1926) and ice hockey (1925–1931) at Michigan State. He has been inducted into both the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Early years Kobs was born in Cavalier, North Dakota in 1898. He moved to Lake City, Minnesota while in grade school and attended Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also named to Minnesota's All-State college teams for three years each in football and basketball and two years in baseball.

In May 1924, Kobs was hired as the baseball and basketball coach at Michigan Agricultural College. He had only four losing seasons in 38 campaigns, and his 1954 team won the Big Ten Conference championship and the NCAA District No. 4 playoffs and finished third in the College World Series at Omaha, Nebraska.

Kobs also coached the Michigan State men's basketball team for two years from 1924 to 1926, compiling a record of 11–26. He was also the Spartans' first ice hockey coach, holding the position for six years from 1925 to 1931 with a record of 9–19–1. In his early years at the school, he also coached freshman football and served as an assistant coach on the varsity football team. In December 1966, Kobs announced that he would retire effective July 1, 1967, following 43 years of service to Michigan State.

Death and posthumous honors In January 1968, Kobs died of a heart attack at his home in East Lansing, Michigan, at age 69. He was survived by his wife, Lauretta Kobs, and two sons, Robert Kobs and John Kobs, Jr. In March 1969, Michigan State's Board of Trustees approved naming the university's baseball field "John Kobs Field" in honor of Kobs. The field was dedicated between games of a doubleheader against Wisconsin on May 10, 1969. The field and stadium are now known as Drayton McLane Baseball Stadium at John H. Kobs Field. The field remains named after Kobs, and the stadium facility is named after Houston Astros owner and Michigan State alumni Drayton McLane.

Kobs was also posthumously inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 as part of the second group of inductees. He has also been inducted into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, John Kobs is also a member of the Hamline University Sports Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

Baseball 1925: 9–5 –1 (.633) 1926: 13–7–0 (.650) 1927: 13–8–0 (.619) 1928: 11–7–0 (.611) 1929: 12–11–1 (.521) 1930: 16–6–0 (.727) 1931: 13–9–1 (.587) 1932: 10–12–2 (.458) 1933: 13– 7–0 (.650) 1934: 10–11–1 (.477) 1935: 11–9–1 (.548) 1936: 13–7–0 (.650) 1937: 16–11–0 (.593) 1938: 15–9–0 (.625) 1939: 13–10–0 (.565) 1940: 12–8–2 (.591) 1941: 13–10–0 (.565) 1942: 13–11–1 (.540) 1943: 9–7–0 (.563) 1944: (No varsity team because of WWII) 1945: 12–4–0 (.750) 1946: 21–5–0 (.808) 1947: 16–8–0 (.667) 1948: 10–14–1 (.420) 1949: 19–8–1 (.696) 1950: 19–9–0 (.679) 1951: 17–9–0 (.654) 1952: 18–14–0 (.563) 1953: 11–17–0 (.393) 1954: 25–10–1 (.708) 1955: 21–11–0 (.656) 1956: 16–13–0 (.552) 1957: 18–13–1 (.578) 1958: 22–12–0 (.647) 1959: 21–14–0 (.600) 1960: 17–13–0 (.567) 1961: 21–11–1 (.652) 1962: 17–13–0 (.567) 1963: 18–14–1 (.561)

Ice Hockey