I can’t remember when I first met Bobby Winkles.
It probably was during my first run covering Arizona State baseball from 1988-94, perhaps during an alumni game before a season opener. If not then, it was early on after I returned to the beat in 2004. Winkles was in Omaha as a guest during several of ASU’s trips to the College World Series from 2005-10 and has made some appearances at home games.
Winkles is 87 now. He was at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where his ASU teams played their most important games in the 1960s, for a 50-year anniversary reunion of the 1967 College World Series championship team last weekend.