Hall of Fame
Jim Dimick entered the St. Olaf Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 after a 27-year coaching and teaching career at St. Olaf. Dimick served as the head coach for the St. Olaf baseball team from 1968-94, capturing 14 conference championships, seven second-place finishes, and making 14 NCAA regional tournament appearances. At the time of his induction, he ranked 22nd in NCAA Division III history in total wins and 34th in winning percentage with a career record of 587-320-15 (.645).
Dimick was a four-time Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Coach of the Year (1984, 1985, 1988, 1989) and also earned Midwest Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1984. The MIACÂ Coach of the Year and Minnesota High School Baseball Retired Coach of the Year Awards are both named after him, and St. Olaf retired his number 32 in 1997.
Following his retirement, Dimick was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 1995 and the St. Olaf Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. He was also a member of the inaugural class of the Minnesota Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the St. Cloud State Hall of Fame, the Cumberland (Wis.) High School Hall of Fame, and the Minnesota Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hall of Fame.
Dimick served as the president of the ABCA in 1992 as part of his 53-year membership to the organization and was also a member of the ABCA Board of Directors, the ABCA Hall of Fame Committee and the ABCA Ethics in Coaching Committee.
Born on July 9, 1928 on the family farm in Almena, Wisconsin, Dimick graduated from Barron High School in 1946 and joined the United States Marine Corps afterwards, serving with the 2nd Amphibious Battalion out of Camp LeJenue. After his honorable discharge in 1948, Dimick attended St. Cloud State University, graduating in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science in physical education and biology.
After earning his master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Dimick spent 15 years teaching and coaching at high schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota, developing 10 championship teams, before joining the faculty of St. Olaf College in 1967. While at St. Olaf, he was the coach of the College All-Star Baseball Team that toured Alaska and Korea in 1979 and served on the U.S. National Baseball Team Staff in 19809 on a tour of the United States, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. He conducted baseball clinics all over the world and the United States.
