The University of Mississippi Athletics
1960 Rebel Baseball Team Topic Of Panel Friday On Campus
4/19/2010 | Baseball
The program will begin two hours before the Rebels host LSU at the start of a critical three-game series at nearby Swayze Field and will end well before the first pitch.
Four star players from the 1960 team will be on hand to talk about the season, the frustration at being denied a chance to compete in the College World Series, and the progress of the Ole Miss baseball program over the years. Members of the panel are:
- Jake Gibbs, an All-American infielder who went on to play several years as a catcher for the New York Yankees and later served as baseball coach at Ole Miss.
- Robert Khayat, an all-SEC catcher who played professional football and most recently served as chancellor of the University of Mississippi for 14 years.
- Larry Williams, an all-SEC pitcher who also coached at Ole Miss.
- Don Porter, another of the starting pitchers on the championship team.
- Smith, an alumnus of Ole Miss and a Fox News anchor who travels from his home in New York regularly to attend Ole Miss sporting events, will lead the discussion.
The 1960 team had a record of 22-3 and established a 17-game winning streak that still stands as a record at Ole Miss. After capturing the SEC's West Division championship that year the Rebels went on to defeat Florida for the overall title. But the team was unable to advance any further in NCAA competition because of racial restrictions imposed in the Deep South at the time.
The team played its games on a lot behind the football stadium. The field had stark bleacher seats for no more than a few hundred fans, no restrooms and limited concessions.
The 1960 Rebels were coached by the late Tom Swayze, and today's glittering Ole Miss ballpark bears his name.
"There are a lot of inside-baseball tales and fascinating Mississippi history tied up in this story, and I'm delighted we're going to have a chance to explore it," said Overby Fellow Curtis Wilkie, who was a student at Ole Miss in 1960.
