Ed Assaf (1985) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Ed Assaf

Induction:
1985

Only a few strictly baseball players have gained membership in the Southern Miss Sports Hall of Fame, and big right-handed pitcher (Easy) Ed Assaf is one who made it the hard working way.
   In his three seasons as a varsity letterman he was the pitcher of record in one third of the games, in all three seasons. They didn't play as many games back then as they play now, in fact the teams that Assaf was with played only 62 games.
   Assaf was a hometown guy, having played at Hattiesburg (Mississippi) High School were he attracted all sorts of attention from professional scouts and college scouts. But the 6-3, 215-pounder elected to stay home and pitch for the Golden Eagles.
   After seeing spot action during the 1965 season, Assaf was ready to move into the starting rotation in 1966. He started seven of the teams 20 games that season and recorded a 4-3 mark. His wins that year came over Nicholls State, twice against Mississippi College and Delta State. He worked 44.2 innings that season and was one of the leaders on the team in strikeouts, including a nine strikeout game against Southeastern Louisiana and an eight strikeout game against Mississippi College. The 1966 Southern Miss team finished with a 9-11 record.
   In 1967 Assaf was the pitcher that Coach Pete Taylor turned to when the team faced its most difficult competition. Of his nine starting assignments that year two were against Ole Miss, two against Alabama and one against South Alabama. His 2-6 record that year does not reflect how well Assaf pitched that season. He had developed great command of his pitches and was an imposing presence on the mound. He continued to be among the leaders in strikeouts and fanned a career high 13 that season against Spring Hill. The 1967 Southern Miss team finished 9-13.
   By the time he was a senior Assaf had once again attracted the attention of the professional scouts and again he drew the toughest assignments that the Golden Eagles faced that year. He would post a 3-5 record that season with starts against Auburn, Alabama (2), Mississippi State, Delta State and South Alabama. He had developed into one of the best strikeout pitchers in the South and showed it that season striking out 10 against South Alabama, 11 against Mississippi State and a career high 16 against Spring Hill. That team would finish the year at 8-12.
   Coach Pete Taylor always use to say about Assaf that "he was at his best against the best teams. He liked to pitch against the toughest competition. That's when he came up with his biggest strikeout totals."
   Taylor also use to say that, "let one batter hit a little cheap double off of Assaf and that next guy knew he was in for it. He knew Ed was gonna' knock him down on the very first pitch."
   Four professional teams drafted him, the Atlanta Braves, Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. He spent six years in the Royals organization.