| Organization: | Georgia Southern College |
| Year: | 1979 |
ABCA Hall of Famer Jack Stallings was the 1979 winner of the prestigious ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.
Stallings was the longtime head baseball coach at Georgia Southern, leading the program from 1976-99. Prior to Georgia Southern, he spent nine seasons at Wake Forest (1960-68) and six seasons at Florida State (1969-74), where he led the Seminoles to a second place finish in the 1970 College World Series. In 39 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he finished with an overall record of 1,257-799-10 (.608).
Stallings, who served as President of the ABCA in 1980 and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1989-92, also served on the ABCA's Board of Directors.
In 24 seasons at Georgia Southern, Stallings owned a record of 858-581-5 (.594). He guided the Eagles to a College World Series appearance in 1990, five NCAA postseason appearances (1979, '80, '87, '90, '96), four Trans America Athletic Conference championships (1980, '85, '86, '87) and three Southern Conference titles (1993, '96, '97).
A four-time Trans America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honoree, Stallings coached 22 All-Americans at Georgia Southern. His No. 1 jersey was the first baseball number to be retired by the school.
Stallings was an active international ambassador for the game of baseball, serving as a United States National Team coach in 1970 and '73 as well as a U.S. Olympic Team administrator in 1984 and '88. He was also a member of the 1951 U.S. Pan-American Games team.
Stallings also held a faculty position as Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Georgia Southern.
A native of Durham, N.C. and Wake Forest graduate, Stallings authored two books, "Teaching Baseball" and "Psychology of Coaching and Playing Sports."
Stallings was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
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.
