For 52 years, Lou Pavlovich, Jr. published, wrote, and edited Collegiate Baseball newspaper, continuing the tradition started by his father and Abe Chanin in 1958. Along with his wife Diane and mother Rose, Collegiate Baseball was a family affair that had an immeasurable impact to coaches and the sport of baseball.

To celebrate all that Lou Pavlovich, Jr. gave to college and high school baseball, The Baseball Collegian is inaugurating the Lou Pavlovich Person of the Year award. This annual award is for someone who has devoted their lives to college baseball and continue to have a great impact.

The inaugural Lou Pavlovich Person of the Year award goes to Tim Corbin, the baseball coach at Vanderbilt University.

Coach Corbin has been at the top of his profession for many years. His accolades as a coach are many: Two national championships, five trips to Omaha, 1,103 career wins, four SEC regular season titles, four SEC tournament championships, three-time SEC coach of the year, two-time national coach of the year, 30 former players in the major leagues.

However, Coach Corbin is the recipient of this award for what he has given back to the game in immeasurable small ways. His advocacy for players and coaches, numerous committees and speeches to Little League coaches and at the ABCA convention, and his continued role in making college baseball great has inspired many. But even more so are the small good deeds, including these actual examples: a recommendation of a player to another college coach, a welcoming invitation to random high school and college coaches to work his camp, a referral of an agent for a player he doesn’t even know. And many more models of leadership that don’t show up in box scores.

In the Jan. 8, 2021 issue of Collegiate Baseball, Lou Pavlovich wrote an amazing feature story about Coach Corbin about how he turned around the Vanderbilt program. The wide-ranging insightful interview covered everything from how his early days as a young coach, to the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Thus, it is fitting that we are able to celebrate both of these great men. Coach Corbin embodies the same mission that Lou Pavlovich brought to the college baseball world of helping the people around him. For this, The Baseball Collegian is proud to name him as the inaugural
Lou Pavlovich Person of the Year.