Hall of Fame
Bob Yocum served as an assistant baseball coach at Shippensburg for 21 years from 1974-1994. He is a native of Shippensburg Township and is a 1970 Shippensburg University graduate. Yocum was an integral leader who was extremely loyal to Shippensburg and its baseball program. He worked with Hall of Fame coach Art Fairchild assisting with all aspects of the program.
Yocum’s record as an assistant was 581-300-6, for a winning percentage of .658. The team won six PSAC Championships and appeared in the conference tournament 14 times. The Raiders also competed in the NCAA Tournament 12 times in Yocum’s 21 seasons – including two NCAA Division II “College World Series” berths.
During his third year as an assistant coach in 1977, the Raiders won the PSAC Championship, the Middle Atlantic Regional championship, and made an appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship Series in Springfield, Illinois. Conference championships began to appear with regularity through the years and a return trip to the World Series was made in 1991.
Applying the teaching skills he used in the classroom to the baseball diamond, Yocum was a defensive expert and third base coach on offense. He handled all defensive aspects of the game. He was on his own as third base coach and made his own judgement in offensive situations.
Numerous Raiders have spoken to Yocum’s incredible value as a recruiter and instructor in all aspects of the game, citing his role as an invaluable and irreplaceable member of the coaching staff because of his numerous responsibilities for SU Baseball during his tenure with head coach Art Fairchild.
Overall, as one of SU’s longest-tenured coaches in any sport, Yocum instructed 19 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Americans, 15 ABCA honorable mention All-Americans. Yocum and Fairchild also coached nine players selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft and at least five others who signed in the MLB as free agents.
Yocum retired in 2007 after teaching for 37 years in the Shippensburg Area School District. He was the Social Studies Chairperson at Shippensburg Middle School and the director of the district’s Newspaper In Education (NIE) program. In 2006, Yocum was recognized by the Shippensburg University School Study Council as one of the region’s outstanding educators for teaching excellence and innovative curriculum development.
The Yocum family also belongs to the SU family. Bob and his wife Joyce have two sons, both SU graduates. Greg, a 1990 alumnus who majored in communications, was a co-captain and an all-conference player on the men’s tennis team. Ryan, a 1994 alumnus who majored in computer science, also played men’s tennis at SU and was a member of the concert band. Joyce worked 30 years for Shippensburg University before retiring in 2007, finishing her career in the academic support center of the John L. Grove College of Business.
