IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa assistant baseball coach Tom Petroff passed away on August 22, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was 95.
Petroff was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. At the end of World War II, Petroff served in the US Army Occupation Forces as an ammunition bearer in Berlin. He would go on to play minor league baseball before starting his coaching career at Michigan State as the freshman baseball coach.
Petroff led both Rider University and the University of Northern Colorado to the NCAA Division I World Series. He was named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) National Coach of the Year in 1971.
Petroff joined the Hawkeyes in 1985 as an assistant to Duane Banks. As the hitting coach for Iowa his teams hit over .300 in four of his five seasons. Petroff was part of the 1990 Hawkeye team that won the Big Ten regular season championship (38-19, 22-6) and made it to NCAA Regionals.
While at Northern Colorado, Petroff developed an educational program entitled “See and Feel” for the hearing impaired. Petroff continued the program at Iowa, where he served as co-director of the Deaf Baseball Development Program.
Petroff also spent time as the Director of Field Operations for the Detroit Tigers and as a professional scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. He was the president of the ABCA in 1984 and served on the board of directors until his death.
A celebration of Petroff’s life will take place in Greeley, Colorado and will be livestreamed to a location in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The celebration will also be made available to remote attendees. Updated time, date and details will be posted at TomPetroff.com.
