Dan Andrews remembered his old college as pro, with donation

After Dan Andrews arrived at rookie Great Falls in 1990, The Great Falls Tribune asked Dan Andrews and his teammates their greatest thrill.

For Andrews, he looked back to his college days at Cal Poly, and the time he went 5 for 5 in a game.

He later remembered his college in a bigger way, with a $400,000 donation toward the school's new stadium project in 2012, Andrews then the head of Dan Andrews Farms, a fruit and vegetable growing business in California.

"Danny's dedicated service to the university and generous gift to launch the new baseball stadium project is truly inspirational," Cal Poly athletics director Brian Swanson said in a statement then. "His vision and desire to revitalize the baseball stadium will provide generations of Broncos an unprecedented student-athlete experience. Everyone at Cal Poly Pomona is greatly appreciative of this gift from Danny Andrews."

In between his college career and his career in produce, Andrews played baseball professionally. He saw two seasons, both spent at Great Falls.

Andrews' baseball career began in 1990, taken by the Dodgers in the 59th round of the draft out of Cal Poly Pomona.

Sent to Great Falls that year, Andrews got into 41 games and hit .276. He lined a single in an August game for an RBI. His fielding ended a July game as he dove and caught a foul ball for the final out.

Andrews returned to Great Falls for 1991, but his stay proved brief. He saw three games and went 0 for 6 to end his career.

Andrews then soon went to work with the degree he earned in food marketing and agribusiness management at Pomona by selling produce for his father's company, according to his bio on his company's website.

He then became the owner and manager at Dan Andrews Farms a business that employs 15 and hundreds of seasonal workers and ships a million cartons of produce each year, according to a university profile.

His donation to his old school helped build the $7.1 million stadium project.

"When I heard the price tag to build the new stadium, I felt it necessary to make a lead pledge to show the community and alumni that this is really going to happen, not just talk," Andrews told The Poly Post then.

• Great Falls Tribune, July 16, 1990: Dan Andrews
• Bronco Athletics, Jan. 4, 2012: Gift Bridges Past, Future for New Baseball Facility
• The Poly Post, Feb. 21, 2012: Modern baseball stadium spearheaded by grant
• Dan Andrews Farms: Dan Andrews
• Cal State: Daniel A. Andrews

More: The 1990 Great Falls Dodgers

1990 Minor League Tally
Players/Coaches Featured:3,384
Made the Majors:1,199-35.4%
Never Made Majors:2,185-64.6%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 498
10+ Seasons in the Minors:290