Florida A&M Legendary Baseball Coach Will Be Inducted Into The American Baseball Coaches Association Hall Of Fame

Coach Kittles produced 19 professional baseball players at Florida A&M.

Costa "Pop" Kittles / Credit: FAMU Athletics

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame announced that Costa "Pop" Kittles will be inducted into its 2025 Class. Kittles was a legendary Florida A&M football and baseball star for the Rattlers in the late 1940s. He was known as an outstanding catcher for the Ratters baseball team.

In 1952, the Jacksonville native returned to the school as an assistant football coach for Jake Gaither and as a physical education instructor. Over the next four decades, Coach Kittles dedicated his coaching career to Florida A&M Athletics, where he worked alongside legendary championship coaches Jake Gaither and Rudy Hubbard.

Kittles succeeded Dr. Moore as the Rattlers' head baseball coach in 1960. He led the program to its first of seven straight Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and eight overall. One of FAMU baseball's most memorable wins all-time came under Kittles in 1981 when the Rattlers topped Miami 2-1 on a solo home run by catcher Albert Goode in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Kittles went 401-128 (.758 ) and coached baseball for 24 years before retiring in 1983. The Rattlers appeared in six NAIA district playoffs, advancing to the NAIA World Series in 1962.

The MLB and other professional baseball leagues signed or drafted nineteen of Coach Kittles' players.

Coached Notable FAMU Professional Baseball Players & Executives:

• Hal McRae,
• Andre Dawson, and
• Vince Coleman
• William "Bill" Lucas (The first black executive in Major League Baseball history when he worked for the Atlanta Braves.)

Following his retirement from coaching, he served as an assistant professor of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Florida A&M until 1995 and, with his wife, Emma Kittles, established the Costa Kittles Endowed Scholarship. FAMU named the baseball field after Coach Kittles.

Costa and Emma Kittles / Credit; Ron Moody

In 1982, Kittles was honored with induction into the Florida A&M Sports Hall of Fame and his contributions to the baseball program were again recognized in 1999 when the baseball field at Florida A&M was renamed Moore-Kittles Field in honor of Kittles and his college coach, Dr. Oscar Moore.

Kittles, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 75, and his wife Emma established the Costa Kittles Endowed Athletic and Physical Education Scholarship at Florida A&M. The scholarship aims to offer financial support to students pursuing studies in physical education and participating in athletics at Florida A&M. Additionally, the pair set up the Emma and Costa Kittles Scholarship in Human Sciences endowment at Florida State University.

MORE ON COACH KITTLES

Costa "Pop" Kittles / Credit: FAMU National Alumni Association

About the American Baseball Coaches Association

Founded in 1945, the American Baseball Coaches Association is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 15,000 members represent all 50 states and 41 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include nine divisions: NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth, and Travel.