CLEVELAND, Miss. — Mike Kinnison can once again add “Hall of Famer” to his long list of baseball accomplishments.

Kinnison, the longtime Delta State baseball coach, has been selected as one of six new members of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Earlier this year, Kinnison retired as Delta State’s coach to become the school’s athletic director.
Kinnison will be joined in the ABCA Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 by John Casey of Tufts University (Mass.); Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin; Wayne King, Jr. of Joliet Junior College (Ill.); Mike Metheny of Southeastern Oklahoma State University; and Dennis Rogers of Riverside City College (Calif.).

In 23 seasons as Delta State’s coach, Kinnison compiled a career record of 981-313-2. The Statesmen won 40 or more games 15 times in his tenure, reached the NCAA Division II World Series six times, won 11 Gulf South Conference championships, and captured the 2004 Division II national championship.

The Benton native was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He is also the third Delta State coach to be elected to the ABCA Hall of Fame, after Boo Ferriss and Bill Marchant.
Induction to the ABCA Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. The ABCA was founded in 1945 and the Hall of Fame began in 1966.

The 2020 ABCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held during the organization’s annual convention on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, in Nashville.