An active retirement...

Brian Foster Arizona Summer Wildcat B.A. Foster/Arizona Summer Wildcat Former UA head baseball coach Jerry Kindall takes a break during the USA game Monday night. Kindall, who retired from the UA position two years ago, is now the senior adviser to the USA Baseball national team.

Two years ago Arizona baseball head coach Jerry Kindall stepped off Frank Sancet Field for the last time.

He left as the most successful coach in school history (860-580-6, .597 winning percentage) after 24 years, with three College World Series titles and two coach of the year awards under his belt.

But Kindall isn't done with baseball just yet.

He is now the senior adviser to the USA Baseball national team, located in Tucson, and has a role that ranges from the task of unofficial fifth coach to running the team's new Alumni Affairs division.

"I'll do whatever (Director) Dan O'Brien asks me to do," Kindall said in relation to his job.

Kindall was called out of retirement by O'Brien last fall, and his appointment became official in January.

The role Kindall has carved out for himself in terms of helping scout for and train the national team has been beneficial to the club, said head coach Ron Polk.

"I've known Jerry for many years," Polk said. "He has a lot of experience, a lot of savvy in regards to the game. The kids respect him, too, because he played in the Majors and was a college head coach for such a long time. He's kind of that older, calming influence."

Even though Kindall is not officially part of Polk's coaching staff, he has helped out in that manner. He said the lack of official recognition has not bothered him.

"I was glad to do it," he said. "It's a part-time job that takes up full time."

Kindall said that his relationship with Polk goes back a long way.

"Ron Polk is a longtime friend who has given me this opportunity," he said. "I'm not an official coach, just an added voice."

Kindall was an assistant coach on the 1991 Pan American team which Polk coached to the bronze medal. Prior to that Kindall was head coach of the 1979 Pan American team, which came in fourth.

For the most part Kindall worked with the team when it came time to select which players to invite to camp, and then the training process that reduced the invited 44 college players down to the current 26.

Kindall also became involved in what he called "the previously neglected" area of alumni relations.

He said that there are more than 100 former USA Baseball players currently playing in the Major Leagues, including such notables as Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin, Tino Martinez, Nomar Garciaparrra and Travis Lee.

"We're trying to foster a closer role between them and the current team," Kindall said.

Though he could not give an exact date or location, Kindall said USA Baseball is hoping to stage a charity golf tournament, which former players would compete in, after the Major League season ends in the fall.

All of these responsibilities have kept Kindall busier than most retirees, though he said his life has not been completely devoid of activity since leaving Arizona in 1996.

His wife, "Diane, and I have 10 grandchildren and six children," Kindall said. "They all live elsewhere, so we've been doing a lot of traveling to visit them."

Kindall has also continued his volunteer work with a number of local organizations, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and providing color commentary on Fox SportsNet college baseball game broadcasts.

"I've been busy enough," he said. "And now I'm back in baseball and it's even better."

Kindall said he will keep working "as long as I continue to enjoy it," before adding that there was one other person who might just have a say in how long he remains on the field: "And as long as Diane continues to enjoy the baseball aspect."