Toby Greene
Quick Facts
AriesBiography
Theodore Elwood "Toby" Greene (March 29, 1899 – October 2, 1967) was an American college baseball coach, most notable for leading the Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team to its only national championship in the 1959 College World Series.
Early life
Toby Greene was born in 1899 at Humphrey, in Sullivan County, Missouri but moved with his parents to Thomas, Oklahoma in 1902. He enrolled at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma in 1918, where he enlisted in the Student Army Training Corps, a World War I program. Greene later became a multi-sport athlete, excelling in baseball and football for the Haymakers. He graduated from Phillips in 1924 after playing alongside future New York Giants coach Steve Owen.
Coaching career
Greene began his coaching career in 1924 as a baseball coach at Sayre High School in Sayre, Oklahoma. He remained there for two years before moving to Bartlesville High School in Bartlesville, Oklahoma for one year. He then became all-sports coach at Phillips.
He later coached at Oklahoma City University before becoming a football assistant at Oklahoma A&M in 1939. In 1942, he added head baseball coach to his duties. Greene coached the team for 22 seasons, only one of which saw a record below .500. Greene earned seven district championships and 8 conference titles to go with his national championship in 1959.
Head coaching record
The following table depicts Greene's record as a head coach.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma A&M Cowboys (Missouri Valley Conference) (1942–1956) | |||||||||
| 1942 | Oklahoma A&M | 6–5 | |||||||
| 1943 | Oklahoma A&M | 4–3 | |||||||
| 1946 | Oklahoma A&M | 15–2 | |||||||
| 1947 | Oklahoma A&M | 11–5 | 11–5 | 1st | District Playoffs | ||||
| 1948 | Oklahoma A&M | 20–6 | 20–6 | 1st | Western Playoff | ||||
| 1949 | Oklahoma A&M | 22–6 | 5–0 | 1st | Region C Playoff | ||||
| 1950 | Oklahoma A&M | 15–7 | 6–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1951 | Oklahoma A&M | 9–8 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1952 | Oklahoma A&M | 15–5 | 5–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1953 | Oklahoma A&M | 13–4 | 4–2 | T-2nd | |||||
| 1954 | Oklahoma A&M | 18–11 | 8–1 | 1st | CWS | ||||
| 1955 | Oklahoma A&M | 27–3 | 8–0 | 1st | CWS | ||||
| 1956 | Oklahoma A&M | 11–10 | 7–2 | 2nd | |||||
| Oklahoma A&M (MVC): | 186–75 | 76–25 | |||||||
| Oklahoma A&M/State Cowboys (Big Eight Conference) (1957–1964) | |||||||||
| 1957 | Oklahoma A&M | 12–3 | 7–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1958 | Oklahoma State | 17–6 | 13–5 | 2nd | |||||
| 1959 | Oklahoma State | 27–5 | 17–3 | 1st | CWS Champions | ||||
| 1960 | Oklahoma State | 17–7 | 12–4 | 1st | CWS | ||||
| 1961 | Oklahoma State | 27–3 | 18–1 | 1st | CWS | ||||
| 1962 | Oklahoma State | 11–9 | 10–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 1963 | Oklahoma State | 15–10 | 12–9 | 5th | |||||
| 1964 | Oklahoma State | 6–14 | 4–12 | 7th | |||||
| Oklahoma State (Big 8): | 132–57 | 93–42 | |||||||
| Total: | 312–132 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||