Mark Standiford
Born September 20, 1965

Wichita Broncos 1985
Anchorage (AK) Glacier Pilots 1986-1987
WSU Alumni 1991
WSU Sluggers 1995-1997
Wichita Braves 2000-2006
Wichita Sluggers 2003, 2008, 2010
Hap Dumont Sluggers 2009
Kansas Alumni 2011

Inducted 2026

When the NBC was in its most recent heyday in the mid-1980s, the city was also swept up in the national success of the Wichita State University (WSU) baseball program. One man was part of it all: Mark Standiford. The NBC was entering its second decade of using aluminum bats, and the stands were frequently filled nightly at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium to watch the offensive explosions that fans were becoming accustomed to across town at brand new Eck Stadium, where the Shockers had made it to the College World Series (CWS) final in 1982.

Standiford got his first taste of baseball and being in the spotlight back in the early 1970s when he was a bat boy for his brother Mike’s team during the NBC Kansas state tournament. In those days, the state tournament had almost the same amount of prestige as the NBC World Series. Even Harry Caray flew into Wichita to do play-by-play of the 1975 state championship game. Although Mike’s Kountry Tyme Cubs never advanced to the World Series, Mark remembers the time fondly. “When I was growing up, it was the place to be in the summer with the great teams and scouts that were there. It was a great atmosphere.”

Those early experiences stayed with Standiford through his high school years, where he excelled as a multi-sport athlete. He was first team all-city in baseball at catcher all four years in high school. A versatile player, Standiford was also first team all-city in football his junior and senior years at running back and quarterback, respectively. At 5’7″ and 160 pounds during his high school years, his size attracted more scholarship offers for baseball, and his goal ultimately became playing for the Shockers.

The dream came true when WSU offered him a full scholarship upon his agreement to move from catcher to second base, which would be the position he would remain at for the rest of his career. He then anchored the Shocker lineup from 1985-1988, ultimately leading them to their second CWS berth his senior season. During the offseason at WSU, Standiford annually honed his skills with two highly successful NBC teams and leagues.

In 1985, after hitting .355 with 16 home runs and earning second team Freshman All-American honors at WSU, Standiford joined the Wichita Broncos for the summer. In his very first NBC World Series game as a player, he went 2-3 with a double, driving in two runs while also scoring twice and stealing a base. For the tournament he matched his season average at WSU, but the Broncos exited early with a 2-2 record.

Anchorage Glacier Pilots manager Steve McFarland approached Standiford after the Broncos’ last defeat and offered him an opportunity to play in Alaska the following year. The Alaska Baseball League was considered by many to be the best summer league in the nation at the time, and Standiford jumped at the chance to play for the Pilots. His addition instantly paid dividends for Anchorage in 1986, as Mark hit 12 home runs in the regular season and finished second in MVP voting while the team won the Alaska League title. They matched that success in Wichita. After an early loss in the tournament, they came through the losers’ bracket to take home the National Championship with Standiford scoring two runs in the final against the Grand Rapids (MI) Sullivans.

“We won the Alaska League which was a big deal, and then we came down to the NBC and lost early, but then came through the losers bracket,” Standiford said. “It was a great summer to be able to win it all, and as a local kid to do so in front of my home fans and friends was special. The Alaska League was the top league at the time so it meant a lot to win them both.”

He returned to the Pilots in 1987, being named to the All-Alaska team for the second straight year. They were loaded with even more talent, as Standiford noted: “The ’86 team was full of some great players, but the ’87 team actually had more big leaguers on it including Ben McDonald and Russ Springer.” Despite the Pilots’ depth, they could not duplicate the success of the prior year in Wichita, finishing 2-2. Standiford enjoyed playing for both teams, but said of the difference between the two, “The team chemistry matters more than the talent. The ’86 team was one of the most fun teams I’ve played on.”

The pinnacle of Standiford’s playing career came a year later, when he capped off an incredible college career with a trip to the College World Series. Wichita State came up short, losing in the semifinals, but Standiford hit .500 in the Series and homered in his final at-bat as a collegian. That home run was the 28th of his season and 69th of his career, both of which remain school records, cementing his legacy as the “most prolific power hitter in Shocker history.” Standiford said of his time in Omaha, “It’s hard to beat the experience of going to the College World Series.”

He would spend a few years in the San Francisco Giants minor league organization, having been drafted by the club on the eve of the CWS, but eventually recognized that it was time to move on. “It was tough,” said Standiford. “I was older. You kind of see the writing on the wall and have to make tough decisions. I had a good first year but not a good second. I made the All-Star team for the High-A team my second year and then I got shipped to the Midwest League, which didn’t seem like the right move, that I would be going backward, so I finished out the year and that was it. I enjoyed the experience and I’m glad I did it, but it didn’t quite work out.”

After his professional baseball career ended, Standiford returned to Wichita and opened his own baseball academy. He began coaching while continuing to play on WSU alumni teams when the NBC rolled around each year. Outside of the Pilots championship team, Standiford said his time with the 1996 WSU Sluggers also stood out to him. “I got to play with a lot of former teammates. We were all just out of pro ball or college and we didn’t practice much, we just showed up to play, and to have that much success was a great memory. We were good friends with each other, having grown up together.” Standiford hit over .300, and the Sluggers made it all the way to the semifinals, losing to the eventual champion El Dorado (KS) Broncos.

Standiford managed numerous NBC teams as the new century dawned, including the Wichita Braves. On their fourth NBC appearance in 2003, the Braves advanced all the way to the semifinals. Standiford recalled, “The Braves were special. I was a young coach, and the core of the team had been together for a long time. I had them from high school on into college.” Their semifinal loss was to the Santa Barbara Foresters, with whom they were tied in the ninth inning. Little did anyone know that the Foresters’ title that followed would be the first of a record 10 NBC Championships, so there is nothing to regret about that run for the Braves.

That wasn’t the only story that Standiford was a part of that year. In what was the first, and still is the only time in NBC history, Standiford managed a second team in the 2003 tournament. In addition to the Braves, he was at the helm of his academy team, the 18U Wichita Sluggers. “It was a goal of the academy [Sluggers] teams to get them to the NBC each year,” said Standiford. All the stars aligned, and both teams he was coaching that summer made it to the World Series. The Sluggers didn’t fare as well as the Braves, going 0-2, and therefore the situation never arose where the two teams played each other. Managing two teams simultaneously was challenging, but Standiford was fortunate to have strong assistant coaches to help shoulder the load during that demanding summer.

Standiford continued to appear as a manager in the NBC almost annually through 2011, with his last team fittingly being a Kansas collegiate alumni team. He has since concentrated all his efforts on what is still his current job as the head coach for the Tabor University baseball team. In his 17 seasons at Tabor, he has guided them to two NAIA World Series appearances, five KCAC regular season titles, and eight postseason appearances with a current overall record of 642-287-1 (.691).

Even though Standiford never made it to the major leagues, he said of his career, “I was able to still turn it into a baseball life.” Along the way, his dedication to all aspects of the sport has impacted countless lives of players, coaches, and fans, particularly throughout Kansas and the surrounding region. A member of the WSU Sports Hall of Fame and Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame, it is only fitting to honor him for his contributions in 18 NBC World Series, with induction into the National Baseball Congress Hall of Fame.

Mark Standiford’s career NBC World Series totals:
Player – 8 tournaments – .265 (30-113), 3 HR, 8 2B, 3B, 27R, 20 RBI
Manager – 10 tournaments (11 teams) – 23-22, 2 top 5 finishes