Robert Refsnyder’s release marks end of MLB run for Arizona’s 2012 champs

For Tucson baseball fans, Robert Refsnyder’s release by the Seattle Mariners closes the major league chapter for Arizona’s 2012 College World Series championship team. Refsnyder was the final member of that Wildcats roster still playing in the majors. His departure means the team that brought Arizona its fourth NCAA baseball title no longer has an active big league player, ending a run that lasted more than a decade and connected one of the most memorable recent seasons in Hi Corbett Field history to professional baseball.

Refsnyder, 35, was released last week while batting .141 for Seattle. Even with that difficult finish, his major league career extended across 11 years and seven teams. The Mariners will pay him the full $6.25 million salary he is owed this year. His release does not erase the significance of his professional career, particularly for Arizona fans who watched him emerge as the leading figure on the 2012 championship team. His path from Tucson to the majors began with a season in which he was the Wildcats’ most important player and their World Series Most Valuable Player.

Arizona’s 2012 team completed an undefeated 10-0 run through the NCAA playoffs. In the championship series, the Wildcats defeated South Carolina, with Refsnyder hitting .476 in the World Series. Earlier in the postseason, he delivered one of the defining moments at Hi Corbett Field. In the first game of the super regional against St. John’s, Refsnyder tied the score at 6-6 with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Arizona went on to win 7-6, an extra-inning victory that helped carry the Wildcats into the College World Series.

The title team produced six major leaguers in all, with Refsnyder’s career lasting the longest. Brandon Dixon spent five years in the majors, while Joey Rickard also played five seasons. Johnny Field, Alex Mejia and Seth Mejias-Brean each reached the majors for one year. Their collective progress gave the 2012 championship a lasting connection to the professional game, even as the players followed separate paths after leaving Arizona. Refsnyder’s release now marks the point at which that entire group has moved out of the major league ranks.

The 2012 team ranks second among Arizona’s four NCAA championship baseball teams in the number of players who reached the majors. The 1980 champions hold the top spot, sending Terry Francona, Greg Bargar, Craig Lefferts, Ed Vosberg, Casey Candaele, Johnny Moses and Dwight Taylor to the big leagues. Francona later became widely known as a major league manager, but the 1980 team’s connection to professional baseball was established by the number of players it produced. Arizona’s 1986 champions sent five players to the majors: Chip Hale, Gil Heredia, Tommy Hinzo, Dave Rohde and Kevin Long.

The first Arizona team to win the College World Series, in 1976, produced two major leaguers, Ron Hassey and Dave Stegman. That comparison places the 2012 group in a notable position within Wildcats baseball history. It did not produce as many major leaguers as the 1980 team, but it exceeded the totals from the 1986 and 1976 championship clubs. For fans who remember Arizona’s recent title run, the numbers offer another way to measure the team’s reach beyond the college game.

Refsnyder’s own story remains especially familiar in Tucson because of his role in that championship season. Before becoming a professional outfielder, he had been a standout high school quarterback from Laguna Hills, California. At Arizona, he became the player associated most closely with the 2012 title, combining postseason production with the reputation of being a strong teammate. His performance against South Carolina, along with the dramatic super regional home run at Hi Corbett Field, established the moments that Wildcats supporters are likely to remember most from his college career.

His release also leaves open the possibility of another chapter in baseball. Refsnyder’s long career and reputation as a good teammate have prompted the view that he could eventually become a major league manager. That is not a formal next step announced by Seattle, and no new role has been identified. For now, the confirmed change is that the final major league representative of Arizona’s 2012 champions has been released. In Tucson, the end of Refsnyder’s playing career with Seattle serves as a reminder that the Wildcats’ championship legacy lives both in the title itself and in the six players who carried that team’s story into professional baseball.