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Rasmussen enters Hall of Fame
3/4/2018 7:21:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Two-time NAIA All-American led 1980 national champs
Eric Rasmussen remembers when Dr. Dave Brazell won his 700th game as Grand Canyon's baseball head coach.
Rasmussen remembers when he and his Lopes teammates celebrated the baseball program's first national championship in 1980 by jumping into their Nashville hotel pool while still in their uniforms.
GCU remembered him Saturday. Rasmussen was inducted into the GCU Hall of Fame as this year's athletics representative.
Rasmussen was more than a part of the 1980 NAIA national championship team, which was the first of four national titles that the Lopes claimed in a seven-year span.
The catcher was a two-time first team NAIA All-American who led GCU's 1980 national championship team in hitting at .367. For his Lopes career, he smacked 30 home runs with a .370 batting average.
He handled pitching staffs that posted 3.06 and 3.78 team earned run averages in his two Lopes seasons after transferring from Glendale Community College. The Glendale Apollo High School graduate contributed to teams that went 114-24-2 with him batting clean-up each year. His junior season's team also won NAIA district and area titles but withdrew from the CWS.
"I know I was blessed to have this experience, whether it was baseball or the interaction with the people," said Rasmussen, who recalls carrying the national championship trophy on the return flight to Phoenix. "I miss this place."
Rasmussen's 91 hits in the 1980 season still stands as the seventh-highest single-season total in Lopes baseball history. He played for Team USA in 1980 and then in the California Angels' minor-league system before returning to the Valley to work in education.
Rasmussen spent 30 years with the Peoria Unified School District as an eighth-grade teacher, middle school administrator and high school teacher before retiring.
"What makes me proud is the reaction I get from people, especially employers when I was looking for a job," Rasmussen said. "When I told them I was a graduate of Grand Canyon, they perked up and it was very easy to get jobs. Seeing what they've done with how they've built themselves really makes me proud to be an alumni."
When GCU alumni relations manager Liz Conwell informed him of the Hall of Fame honor, Rasmussen said he had to pause because he was speechlessly stunned.
It has made him think back to a letter he received from Brazell after the national championship season. Brazell was planning to step down after 28 seasons but wrote to his catcher to share his admiration for how he had carried himself for two seasons.
"I think the person who helped shape me was Coach Brazell," said Rasmussen, who was joined by his wife, brother, sister and more family at Saturday's induction ceremony. "Just seeing how he carried himself and how he dealt with people and how positive he was. He sent me a wonderful letter after we won the championship, knowing it would be his last year. It was very touching for me."
Rasmussen remembers when he and his Lopes teammates celebrated the baseball program's first national championship in 1980 by jumping into their Nashville hotel pool while still in their uniforms.
GCU remembered him Saturday. Rasmussen was inducted into the GCU Hall of Fame as this year's athletics representative.
Rasmussen was more than a part of the 1980 NAIA national championship team, which was the first of four national titles that the Lopes claimed in a seven-year span.
The catcher was a two-time first team NAIA All-American who led GCU's 1980 national championship team in hitting at .367. For his Lopes career, he smacked 30 home runs with a .370 batting average.
He handled pitching staffs that posted 3.06 and 3.78 team earned run averages in his two Lopes seasons after transferring from Glendale Community College. The Glendale Apollo High School graduate contributed to teams that went 114-24-2 with him batting clean-up each year. His junior season's team also won NAIA district and area titles but withdrew from the CWS.
"I know I was blessed to have this experience, whether it was baseball or the interaction with the people," said Rasmussen, who recalls carrying the national championship trophy on the return flight to Phoenix. "I miss this place."
Rasmussen's 91 hits in the 1980 season still stands as the seventh-highest single-season total in Lopes baseball history. He played for Team USA in 1980 and then in the California Angels' minor-league system before returning to the Valley to work in education.
Rasmussen spent 30 years with the Peoria Unified School District as an eighth-grade teacher, middle school administrator and high school teacher before retiring.
"What makes me proud is the reaction I get from people, especially employers when I was looking for a job," Rasmussen said. "When I told them I was a graduate of Grand Canyon, they perked up and it was very easy to get jobs. Seeing what they've done with how they've built themselves really makes me proud to be an alumni."
When GCU alumni relations manager Liz Conwell informed him of the Hall of Fame honor, Rasmussen said he had to pause because he was speechlessly stunned.
It has made him think back to a letter he received from Brazell after the national championship season. Brazell was planning to step down after 28 seasons but wrote to his catcher to share his admiration for how he had carried himself for two seasons.
"I think the person who helped shape me was Coach Brazell," said Rasmussen, who was joined by his wife, brother, sister and more family at Saturday's induction ceremony. "Just seeing how he carried himself and how he dealt with people and how positive he was. He sent me a wonderful letter after we won the championship, knowing it would be his last year. It was very touching for me."
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