LAS VEGAS, Nev.--Former Bulldog baseball great Mike Redmond was inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor Saturday morning during the WCC Induction Brunch at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.

"Coach [Steve] Hertz gave me the opportunity to go to a great school and give me a great education. He kept me in school," said Redmond during his induction speech." All I wanted to do is play baseball, and Gonzaga gave me that opportunity, along with my brother. I will be forever thankful for that. It was a great ride."

Having decided to stay home and play collegiate baseball at Gonzaga, Spokane native Mike Redmond quickly became one of the best catchers to ever call a game for the Bulldogs.

After sharing time behind the plate as a freshman, Redmond moved into the starting role his second season and immediately produced great results. In 1991, he led the team and was fifth in the Pac-10 North with a .371 average, collecting 59 hits and 34 RBIs for the Zags as well as posting a fielding percentage of .983. The standout season earned Redmond his first of two First Team All-Pac-10 North designations, and he also earned an invitation to USA Baseball's Olympic Trials that summer, where he hit .571 to tie for the camp lead.

As a freshman, Redmond helped lead the Bulldogs to 37 victories, which was the program's highest win total in 10 seasons and is currently tied for the fifth-most in program history. They also finished fourth in the Pac-10 North standings, just two games out of second place.

During his junior year, Redmond hit .333 in league play, collecting 53 more hits and 36 RBIs throughout the entire year. Behind the plate, however, 1992 was his best year yet with a .989 fielding percentage overall and a perfect 1.000 mark against Pac-10 North competition. He picked up his second All-Conference honor that season, his last in college baseball.

Redmond went pro in August 1992, signing as a free agent with the Florida Marlins. He went on to make his major league debut with the Marlins in 1998, hitting .331 and fielding .992 in 37 games that season. He earned a World Series ring with the Marlins and 2003 and went onto better his career marks in later years, hitting .341 in 2006 for Minnesota and going without an error from 2005 to 2009. Throughout his career, Redmond hit a solid .287, but his fielding percentage of .996 as a catcher is the second highest in major league history.

After his playing career was done, Redmond moved down the bench into managing. In 2011, he took over the Lansing Lugnuts, leading the squad to its best record in history and earning Midwest League Coach of the Year. A year later, in November 2012, he was hired to manage the Miami Marlins, a role which he held until 2015.

Bay is the second member of Gonzaga's baseball team to enter the WCC Hall of Honor after Jason Bay was inducted in 2015. Along with Bay, he joins GU basketball greats Frank Burgess, Jeff Brown, Blake Stepp, and Dan Dickau, former men's soccer player Brian Ching, and former volleyball star Kelley Cunningham Spink as Zags in the conference Hall.

The 2016 WCC Hall of Honor class also includes: BYU's Dylann Duncan Ceriani (Women's Volleyball), Loyola Marymount's Kate Dunn (Murray) (Basketball), Pacific's Ron Cornelius (Basketball), Pepperdine's Maureen Formico-Caloiaro (Basketball), Portland's Bill Krueger (Baseball and Basketball), Saint Mary's David Vann (Basketball), San Diego's Susie Barosso (Erpelding) (Basketball), San Francisco's Bill Cartwright (Basketball) and Santa Clara's Randy Winn (Baseball and Basketball).