CSUDH Baseball Head Coach Wing Announces Retirement
2006 CCAA Baseball Coach of Year steps aside after 18 seasons; Su’a named interim head coach
August 28, 2006

Carson, CA -- After earning his second CCAA Coach of the Year award and leading the Toros to the No. 1 seed heading into last season’s CCAA tournament, Toros skipper George Wing announced his retirement after donning the Cardinal and Gold for the past 18 seasons.

George Wing, CSUDH’s all-time winningest coach, has announced his retirement as the Toros' baseball coach. He will remain at the University as director of the intramurals program. File photo

Wing's tenure as head coach included two CCAA Coach of the Year honors and a CCAA title in addition to coaching 96 All-CCAA players, 22 All-West Region players, five All-Americans, three CCAA Players of the Year, two CCAA Pitchers of the Year and one CCAA Freshman of the Year. He will be replaced by CSUDH assistant coach Murphy Su’a, who takes on the role of interim head coach immediately.

“I have mixed feelings with the change of direction in our baseball program,” begins CSUDH Athletics Director Patrick Guillen. “I am going to really miss ‘Skip,’ a great man of character who has not only left a lasting legacy on our program as CSUDH’s all-time winningest coach, but who is also someone who genuinely cares for his players and students. But I am confident coach Su’a, who is well-connected and highly respected in the baseball world, will serve as a wonderful role model and mentor to our student-athletes and that the program will continue its momentum and success from 2006.”

Wing’s contributions have gone beyond the win/loss column. In 2002, he was honored at the Coaches of Influence (COIN) Banquet at the Crystal Cathedral for being a positive role model for the kids he coaches. Then just two years later, Wing faced the biggest challenge he has seen either on or off the baseball field after being diagnosed with cancer just a handful of games into the 2004 campaign, having to give up the reigns after 14 games. However, showing the determination and willingness to fight that has embodied Toros baseball since he took the helm in 1989, Wing successfully beat cancer and made his return to the dugout in 2005, and enjoyed one of the best seasons in Toros history just last year.

“With the year that we had and the group of kids and parents, this was the right time to relinquish the helm and take on a different challenge, and a perfect time to pass the head coaching duties along to a loyal assistant, and a dear friend,” said Wing of his decision. “It has been 31 years since I started coaching, and I have been able to impact the lives of young men at the high school, junior college, and college level, and it has been a good career. I have been blessed with what I have been able to do, and am thankful that the University, through Patrick Guillen, Mike Ernst, and Mitch Maki, has formulated this new position (Intramurals Director) that seems like a potentially a perfect fit to allow me remain on campus.

“Su’a is one of the reasons that I felt comfortable at this stage to step aside,” Wing begins about his successor. “The first time he got a shot (in 2004) was not the best of situations, and not a fair representation of what kind of a quality coach he is. Allowing him the opportunity to take over the program as the interim head coach will give him a chance to show what he is capable of doing.”

The 49-year-old Su’a, who will be only the 4th coach in the history of the Toros’ storied baseball program, brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience to the Toros. He played two seasons at LA Valley College (1976-77) before transferring to Brigham Young University where he was an NCAA Division I 1st-team All-America selection in 1979. Also a 1st-team All-Rocky Mountain Region and All-WAC selection, Su’a broke six Cougar single-season records for home runs, RBI, runs scored, doubles, total bases and at-bats. He was among the national leaders in home runs and RBI en route to leading BYU to the WAC Championship.

Invited to try out for the USA National Team, Su’a instead elected to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1979. He played for the Class-A Lodi Dodgers in 1980 and was recognized as the Dodgers’ minor league system “Player of the Week” in July 1980. Su’a left the Dodgers to sign with the Milwaukee Brewers, and played for the Triple-A team in Burlington, IA. In August of 1981, Su’a was named the Brewers’ minor league “Player of the Month” and was selected to play on the Midwest League All-Star Team.

Su’a began his coaching career with the Brewers as a player/coach for Paintsville in 1983 and was a player/manager for the Brewers’ affiliate in Stockton, CA. Coach Su’a then served as the pitching coach at East Los Angeles College for two years before taking over the head junior varsity coaching position at West Torrance HS, where he guided the Warriors to six Bay League Championships. He has been as assistant coach with the Toros since 2001.

“My dream job is to coach and teach baseball and life-lessons anywhere and at any level, and to be able to do it as a head coach at an institution such as Cal State Dominguez Hills, in one of the toughest Division II conferences in the nation is an absolute honor and thrill,” Su’a says of his appointment. “There is a new standard by which our baseball program will be measured, which was set last year by coach Wing and the 2006 nationally ranked Toros. My goal and the goal of our new staff is to simply stay on course.”