After four illustrious years playing at the UFCU Disch-Falk Field and numerous accomplishments, former third baseman David Denny will join the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor on Friday along with 10 other former Longhorn athletes.
Denny took part in some of the best baseball teams Texas has ever seen. Texas Athletics referred to him as having “one of the most accomplished hitting careers in program history from 1982-85.”
Denny showed promise in his first year with a season batting average of .404 in 104 at-bats. In the first two years, Denny helped the Longhorns achieve the best winning percentage in program history (.908, 59-6) and the highest number of wins in one season at 66 victories.
In his 1983 season, Denny had an impressive 56 hits, 35 RBI and 45 runs scored and helped lead Texas to its first National Championship since 1975. Following the season, Denny played two more years in which he cemented himself as a Texas baseball legend.
“I had a lot of good players around me,” Denny said to The Daily Texan in November 2015. “I may have individual records, but the majority of it was team-related.”
In 1984, Denny achieved his highest season batting average at .343, in a program record 297 at-bats. The results of the season led Denny to be selected by the Oakland Athletics in the seventh round of the MLB Draft; however, the third baseman decided to come back to the Forty Acres for his senior year.
The return of the senior star led Texas to its fourth consecutive trip to Omaha during his four-year career.
Denny completed his collegiate career at Texas with the most runs batted in (228), most hits (296) and most doubles (78), all program records that stand to this day.
The All-American was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and after one season with their minor league team, he started a career as a high school baseball coach.
Denny led two different high school programs to a Texas state championship and has continued to coach for almost 30 years.
Denny and the other 2023 Hall of Honor inductees will be inducted Friday and honored during the Texas vs. Wyoming Football game Saturday.
