Road to the Hall of Fame: Bob Pfeffer

GLASSBORO, NJ - Rowan/Glassboro State Baseball, one of the most storied and successful athletic programs in the university’s history, has produced dozens of talented athletes throughout its history. The legacy that the program holds would not be where it is today had it not been for the previous generations of batters, pitchers, and coaches who graced the field as Profs. 

This year, the Shirley O’Day-Joy Solomen Rowan Glassboro State Athletic Hall of Fame welcomes one of the program’s all-time pitchers, Bob Pfeffer, to the Hall with the Class of 2021.

Pfeffer’s on-field contributions date back to the late 1970’s, playing as a four-year starter from 1975 to 1978, while he was the team’s ace for both the 1977 and 1978 seasons. In each of those seasons, Glassboro State made a run at the College World Series, winning the title in 1978 under legendary coach Dr. Mike Briglia. 

Pfeffer was instrumental in the team’s success over that two-year period. In 1978 alone, he started 17 games and pitched 121 full innings, which still stand today as the school’s all-time single-season records in each of those categories. 

When it mattered the most in the 1978 NCAA Regionals, with the Profs desperately in need of two wins over Lynchburg to advance, Pfeffer’s durability and skill kept him on the mound for 18 full innings. Twelve of those innings came in one complete game, which was Glassboro State’s first win over Lynchburg during the Regional, and that game still remains one of the most memorable games in his career. 

“It was such an up and down game where we had the lead, then didn’t have it and had to come back,” said Pfeffer when asked about the game that saved their season in 1978. “There was a lot of drama in that game – it was about 90 degrees, very humid – It was just an intense game.”

After defeating Lynchburg once, Glassboro State went on to do it again in game two of that series. Pfeffer started and pitched 6 2/3 innings in that game as well, which helped the Profs ultimately win in 15 long innings. The victory put them in the College World Series, which the Profs won behind the Pfeffer’s outstanding pitching. To him, the win was redemption from the team’s third-place finish from the previous year. 

“We went there our junior year and came in third, and we were heartsick because we knew we were good enough to win it. I think at the beginning of the year [1978], that was the number one mission: win the College World Series. We had been there [in 1977] and had it right on the fingertips and we let it slip away. Everything we did [in 1978] was to win the College World Series.” 

Pfeffer was unarguably an essential part of the team’s championship. For his contributions on the mound in the playoffs, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of both the Regional and the College World Series. 

Looking back on his career and style of pitching, the former righthanded pitcher notes that his unique arsenal of pitches helped him become successful. “I think the way I threw – kind of sidearm – was always a benefit. I didn’t throw 75 percent fastballs. I threw a lot of breaking balls and sinkers. I think that’s easier on your arm. We didn’t look at pitch counts back then.”

Today, the former pitcher still recalls memorable moments from his college career. “We’d hop on a bus and travel through the south and play all of the good teams. It’s what every athlete misses when their playing days are over in any sport. They miss that camaraderie and team atmosphere.”

While Pfeffer’s playing days as a Prof may have ended in 1978, it would be little more while until he would hang up the cleats. In the 1978 MLB Draft, Pfeffer was selected in the21st round by the Cleveland Indians. He would play for their Triple A affiliate for a few years before ultimately retiring from the sport due to injury. Once baseball was finished, Pfeffer went on to a career with Marriott International, and has been there for the last 30-plus years. 

Even though his baseball career may have ended shortly after college, the accolades Pfeffer achieved for Glassboro State baseball still live on over 40 years after he graduated. Today, many of his former teammates still have fresh memories of what he did on the field, but also speak highly of the man he was off the field.

 “People loved to be around [Pfeffer]. He had a great personality and a great sense of humor - all of that aside, he was also a team leader,” said Frank Albano, a teammate of Pfeffer’s from 1976 to 1978. “He was very loose, relaxed, and jovial when we were off the field, but when we got on the field, Bobby would make a 180-degree turnaround and get very serious.”

Albano believes that Pfeffer’s Hall of Fame induction is a culmination of everything he has accomplished in his baseball career. And on October 24, that culmination will become official, as Rowan University will ceremoniously welcome Pfeffer and six other individuals into its Athletic Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2021. 

The 2021 Rowan/Glassboro State Athletic Hall of Fame Class also includes John Bunting – Football Coach (1988-92), Mary Marino – Field Hockey and Lacrosse Coach (1987-97, 1988-97 and 1999-07), Moriah Holmstrom  – Field Hockey (1997-2000), Tiffany Miller – Softball (1994-98), Mike Rucci – Baseball (2002-05) and Rob Scott – Basketball (1994-98).