The No. 18 jersey was retired Saturday afternoon at Bill Davis Stadium, before the Ohio State baseball team’s last game of the season.
The number has been worn by coach Bob Todd during his 23-year tenure at OSU. Todd announced his retirement earlier this season and was honored in a pregame ceremony before the Buckeyes’ final game.
“It’s always something special,” Todd said of having his number join three others along the right field wall. “There’s an awful lot of quality coaches that don’t get to experience that because they never get to wear a uniform with a number on the back. Baseball is unique in that regard.”
“I’m very appreciative to Gene Smith and the athletic department for honoring me that way,” he said.
The right field wall was not the only place the No. 18 was prominently displayed. A majority of the more than 2,000 fans in attendance donned Bob Todd T-shirts with his number on the back. The shirts were proudly worn by Todd’s children and grandchildren, who were all in attendance to see the longtime coach in his final game at the helm for OSU.
Despite the overwhelming emotions of the moment, Todd was able to remain stoic through the game Saturday.
“I tried to block [my emotions] out. I’m still trying to block them out now,” Todd said in a post-game press conference. “There is certainly going to be some emotions tonight when my family comes over.”
The team showed Todd’s emotions for him as they played and defeated Big Ten regular-season champion Minnesota by a score of 9-6 in the second game of a doubleheader. And as all the players acknowledged they wanted to send their coach off on a high note, he was preaching another message.
“I told our team last week, and I told them today, that my retirement isn’t bigger than this team or this program,” Todd said.
But Bob Todd and the OSU baseball program go hand in hand.
Todd helped build the baseball program from the ground up. He was the driving force in the construction of Bill Davis Stadium and finishes his career as the all-time winningest coach in OSU baseball history with 901 victories.
