LG’s Garry Dippel To Be Inducted Into UTRGV Athletics Hall of Fame

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Forty-four years after he was a star for the University of Texas-Pan American baseball team, La Grange native Garry Dippel’s name is still all over the school’s record books.

The school, now called The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, has announced that it is inducting Dippel, along with some of the school’s other greats, into its 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame class.

TheAthletics Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor induction ceremony is scheduled to take place in the UTRGV Ballroom on Saturday, March 22 at 11 a.m.

“It means a lot, but it really means a lot being that I was a walk-on there that was given the chance to show what I could do because a lot of times people don’t get that chance,” Dippel said. “That means a lot to me. That’s a tremendous baseball program, always has been, and it’s an honor to be part of it.”

Here’s a snapshot of the legacy Dippel left at the school, where he played baseball from 1978 to 1980.

Hit program record .443 (54-for-122) in 1979 … 1979 All-District VI honoree … Hit .356 during career, which ranked fourth at the time (now eighth) … Drew 55 walks in 1980, then the third-highest total (now seventh) in program history … Recorded .550 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage in 1979 … Hit .359/.506/.451 in 1980 … Part of second-winningest two-year span in program history from 1979-80 (113 wins) … Walked on to the team in 1978 … 1980 Team Captain and Jody Ramsey Award winner … Went on to play for Gulf Coast League Cubs in 1980.

But before he played at UT-Pan Am, Dippel learned the game of baseball in La Grange.

He was the son of Onie and Joyce Dippel and probably would have been on the 1973 La Grange state baseball team as a freshman except they only had one uniform for the team’s two freshmen.

Kenny Hatfield got that jersey instead of Dippel. Even Dippel admits that was the right choice. Hatfield ended up pitching 5.2 inning of onehit relief in the state title game to lift the Leps to the title that year.

But by his sophomore year, Dippel, was a key contributor on the Leps team that went to the regional finals.

His junior and senior years the Leps dropped down from 3A to 2A, and won regional titles, but that’s as far as 2A schools went back then.

He did win a state football title as a wide receiver and defensive back on the 1975 La Grange team.

Dippel said he credits local La Grange Jaycee Demons baseball coach Clinton Bippert with giving him the confidence to play at the next level.

“He really was the guy that made me feel like I could play with anybody,” Dippel said.

Dippel walked on and won a starting spot at Temple Junior College, but they were going to disband the baseball program before his sophomore year.

A teammate that had a fullride at Pan American talked him into trying out there where he blossomed into a star second baseman and one of the most feared hitters in the southwest. He teamed with his cousin Tom Supak and another former La Grange teammate, Doug Bippert, on the 1980 Pan American team that went 61-18 and won 29 straight games.

Dippel signed with the Chicago Cubs organization after college, played in the minors one year and then in Mexico, but he developed arm problems and left the game behind.

He went into a 41-year career as a financial planner and now lives in the Dallas area.

Dippel has been married for 34 years to his wife, Shelly. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.

But ever the athlete, he’s stayed in the sports realm by raising money for a group called Coaches Outreach that organizes Bible Studies for coaches, and he still officiates high school football games.

He’s calling a playoff game this weekend, as a matter of fact.

By March 22 he will be able to add a new line to an illustrious resume – Hall of Famer.