California comeback
OMAHA, Neb. — All Lynn Rankin wanted to do was check out the Stanford University baseball complex.
She became forever attached to baseball as a result.
A 1982 Butler graduate, Rankin met her future husband — then Stanford assistant coach David Esquer — the day she went to look at the field.
“I went out to Palo Alto (Calif.) to serve an internship and didn't know anybody out there,” Rankin Esquer said. “I was into sports and somebody told me I had to go see Stanford's baseball facility, that it was magnificent.
“When I got there, David was just getting ready to leave the field. He volunteered to give me a quick tour of the place. That's how we met.”
The couple has had a wild ride since, culminating with Esquer — head coach at California (Berkeley) for the past 12 seasons — being named National College Baseball Coach of the Year Tuesday at the College World Series.
Esquer has the Golden Bears in the CWS for the first time since 1992. Also on Tuesday, the team, defeated Texas A&M 7-3 for the program's first CWS victory since 1980.
Tonight, California fights for survival in the double-elimination tournament when it takes on top-ranked Virginia.
Then again, the Esquer family and the California baseball program know all about survival.
Married for 14 years, Rankin Esquer has supported her husband's career moves, including leaving Stanford for Pepperdine when he became an assistant coach, then coming back to Northern California when Esquer took the Golden Bears' head coaching post.
The couple has two children — daughter Elle, 9, and son Xavier, 7.
“I have to thank my wife,” Esquer said at the press conference announcing his national award. “College baseball coaches have to sacrifice a lot.
“I'm with the players on this team more than I'm with my own kids. My wife takes on a lot of that.”
Rankin-Esquer has done what's necessary to maintain her own career.
“I was on the faculty at Pepperdine as a psychology professor when David got the California job,” she said. “For two years, I flew back to Pepperdine once a week to teach.
“I'd fly down on Tuesday, come back Thursday ... But that was getting tiresome.”
She also began a private therapeutic practice, working with couples, depression and anxiety issues. For the past 12 years, she's successfully developed that practice.
And her husband continued to develop California University baseball.He's had 57 players sign professional contracts, including first-round draft selections Brandon Morrow (Seattle in 2006), Brett Jackson (Chicago Cubs in 2009), David Cooper (Toronto in 2008) and Conor Jackson (Arizona in 2003).Cal finished 29-25 last year, reaching a No. 15 ranking nationally and having two freshman All-Americans for the first time in school history.Then, come September, Esquer had to tell his team that the university was discontinuing baseball, one of four sports the athletic program was eliminating.“Cal is a state school and like other states, California is feeling a budget crunch right now,” Rankin-Esquer said. “David got the news the same day the team began fall practice.“He told the players to take a couple of days to cope with the news, if needed, but every one of those players was at practice that day.“David had to run a program, save a program and dismantle a program, all at the same time. It was rough, but I'm proud of the leadership he showed through that whole thing,” Rankin-Esquer added.Eventually, alumni and supporters of Cal baseball generated $9.5 million in funding during a six-week period, enabling the university to reinstate the program.“About 40 affluent alumni donated $50,000 or more, two donated $500,000 each, and numerous other checks rolled in for $20, $50, $200, whatever,” Rankin-Esquer said. “It was incredible.“The Stanford alumni contributed money because they didn't want to lose the rivalry. During a Cal-Oregon State game this year, an Oregon State fan came down to the dugout and handed David a check. Contributions came from all over.”The Golden Bears had three players transfer to other schools before the start of the 2011 season, when the program's future was still in doubt.“David was working with players, finding them opportunities elsewhere, while trying to save the team,” his wife said. “He said if it was our son in that situation, that's what he would want to have happen.“He's very passionate about coaching and he's helped numerous kids in his career.”Esquer has won 354 games as a collegiate coach.Rankin Esquer graduated from Bucknell University in 1986 and earned her masters from the University of North Carolina before heading to California.“I was never worried about the financial end of things for our family,” she said. “David and I have five college degrees between us and he's so highly regarded as a coach, something would have opened up for him.“Being a coach's wife, you never know when you may have to move again, but we're happy with our home and our lives. Hopefully, we're here for a very long time.”Rankin Esquer is the daughter of Donna Rankin of Butler and Dr. Kenneth Rankin of Wilmington, N.C.
