University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Athletics

Richard Schroeder is the ultimate example of commitment to the game of baseball.

Schroeder was an infielder for the UW-Oshkosh baseball team from 1968-70 and helped the Titans to a 63-24 record and a WIAC championship each year.

Schroeder and his teammates won 34 of 38 games against their WIAC opponents while capturing three consecutive NAIA District 14 titles.

Schroeder compiled a .288 batting average during his three seasons at UW-Oshkosh with nine doubles, six triples, four home runs, 54 runs scored and 28 runs batted in. The Waterloo High School graduate received All-WIAC First Team and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention recognition in both 1968 and 1969.

After helping UW-Oshkosh to a 26-8 record in 1970, Schroeder was selected in the 23rd round of the MLB's Amateur Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Schroeder, the second Titan to ever be drafted by a professional baseball team, played 62 games that summer in the Giants' minor league system before retiring.

Schroeder then went into coaching and was a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona when the Wildcats won the 1976 NCAA Division I World Series. The University of Arizona captured the World Series crown with a 7-1 victory over Eastern Michigan University in the championship game.

Following his one celebrated season at the University of Arizona, Schroeder moved to California to serve the 1977 campaign as the assistant baseball coach at De Anza College. Schroeder was named the head baseball coach at Caruthers High School in 1978 and guided the Blue Raiders through the 1982 season.

Schroeder has spent the past 40 years as a professional baseball scout for a variety of major league baseball teams, including the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers. Schroeder is currently in his third stint as a scout for the Rangers.

In 2016, Schroeder was named MLB's West Scout of the Year and was inducted into the Scouting Wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Schroeder was also inducted into the National Baseball Congress and Old Time Ballplayers Association of Wisconsin halls of fame in 2019.

Schroeder, a 1972 UW-Oshkosh graduate, lives in Phoenix, Ariz.