| Organization: | University of Arizona |
| Year: | 1964 |
Fritz McKale, the recipient of the 1964 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award, served as Director of Athletics at the University of Arizona from 1914 until 1957. During that time he served as a baseball, football, basketball and track coach.
As head baseball coach, a positition he held from 1915 to 1919 and again from 1922 to 1949, McKale amassed a record of 304–118–7. He served as head football coach for 17 years, head basketball coach for six years and head track coach for seven years.
McKale served as president of the ABCA in 1950, and was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1966. He is also a member of the Arizona Sportsmen Hall of Fame (1959) and the Helms Foundation Baseball Hall of Fame (1953), and was the recipient of the Tucson Conquistadores Award (1956). McKale was a charter member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 1976.
The McKale Center, the University of Arizona's home basketball venue, was opened in 1973 and named in McKale's honor.
Named after the great Lefty Gomez, this annual award is presented to an individual who has distinguished himself among his peers and has contributed significantly to the game of baseball locally, nationally and internationally. The Lefty Gomez Award is sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods.