Roy Helser - Baseball

Roy Helser made a name for himself as a long-time pitcher for the Portland Beavers, then as a coach at Linfield College, where he led the Wildcats to a national championship.

 Helser graduated from Portland’s Benson High, but didn’t play baseball at the school, and didn’t begin attending Linfield until age 21. After a three-sport career in which he won 11 letters at Linfield, he moved into the pro baseball ranks with Peoria, Ill., and Waterloo, Iowa in the summer of 1937. He didn’t, though, latch on fully with the game until age 28 with the Salem Senators in 1940. He retired in 1952 at age 40.

Helser found his way to the Beavers in 1942 and played at the Vaughn Street ballpark for 11 seasons, including 1945 when the team won the Pacific Coast League title. Helser won 122 games in those 11 years, earning 20 wins in 1944, ’45 and ’46. His age played a factor in keeping him out of the Major Leagues. He finished his minor league career with 159 wins, 125 losses and a 3.53 ERA. During Helser’s career with the Beavers, the team regularly played 180 games or more during a season.

Helser played and coached in semi-pro leagues, which led him to become Linfield’s baseball coach in 1950. The Wildcats went 10-8 in his first season and won the Northwest Conference title. Helser used the off days between starts to coach the team and also coached the Linfield basketball team in winter. After retiring from the Beavers in ’52, he devoted his time to the college on a full-time basis.

In his 21 years as baseball coach, Helser led the Wildcats to 14 league titles. In 1966, Linfield went 26-9 and won the NAIA national championship, outscoring its four opponents in the national tournament 50-12.

In 12 years as basketball coach, including the first three as a co-coach with football coach Paul Durham, his teams won conference titles five times and played in the NAIA tournament twice.

After stepping down as baseball coach following the 1970 season, Helser served as athletic director for five years. The Wildcats won the NAIA baseball title in 1971 under first-year coach At Rutschman.

Helser died in 1994 at age 83. The baseball field at Linfield is named after him. He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.