On October 16, USM baseball coach Ed Flaherty was notified that he will receive college baseball coaches’ greatest honor. The American Baseball Coaches Association, (ABCA) inducts only six members a year and Flaherty joins a group of only 209 other amateur coaches, only four of whom coach at the Division III level.
“I was totally shocked, it’s the highest honor you could ever receive as a coach,” Flaherty said.
Coach Flaherty is already a member of the University of Maine Hall of Fame, State of Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Maine High School Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I don’t care about the awards, they never meant anything to me, I coach for the
competitiveness,” said Flaherty.
In Flaherty’s nineteen seasons as USM head baseball coach he has compiled a 569-241-3 record, taken his team to the NCAA Division III tournament 16 times, adding six regional titles, and two national championships.
USM Director of Athletics, Al Bean, felt Flaherty was more than worthy of the award.
“I saw it coming, but I didn’t think it would come so soon.?He is only 50 or 51, most coaches in the ABCA hall of fame are older, and some already retired. But he definitely deserves it,” said Bean.
The ABCA takes a lot of things into consideration and is very demanding when inducting new members. They not only look at what a coach does on the field, but off the diamond as well. Coach Flaherty has accomplished many things that make him a great candidate for the ABCA Hall of Fame. Flaherty was the president of the ABCA in 2000, and is presently a member of ABCA’s board of directors. He has been a member of the ABCA for 27 years, which presently has over 10,000 members.
“The baseball community already knew about his success, there’s a great deal of people that have a lot of respect for him,” Bean said.
Flaherty has been around college baseball since his playing days at the University of Maine at Orono, where he played right field and first base.?As a youngster he described himself as a “wild pitcher.” He said he would throw 250 pitches a game, which he thinks may have eventually ended his playing days.
“In my senior year we were playing at Providence College and it was in the mid 30’s.?I was doing some warm up throws and my arm hurt. It was never the same after that.?Back then there was no such thing as scopes and M.R.I.’s, so for the most part you took the cortisone shot and fought through the pain,” said Flaherty.
Before the injury, Flaherty had no idea that he wanted to be a coach.?After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he stayed at UMO to get his master’s degree in teaching.?After graduation, he quickly found a job as a middle school math teacher, which also offered him the opportunity to coach the 8th grade baseball team.?His career in coaching blossomed from there.
“After 8th grade, I took over as Deering High School’s head baseball coach,” Flaherty said.
He led the Rams to the state championship in 1983.?In 1986, the USM coaching job opened up and Flaherty accepted the position.
“I never thought I’d coach at USM. They play in the NAIA and I really didn’t know much about the talent in the league,” Flaherty said.
It hasn’t been all smiles for Flaherty in his years coaching at USM.?He has recently been disgruntled on how the NCAA treats Division III baseball.?He says the NCAA legislation has discouraged him, due to all the cut backs they have made in the number of teams allowed to play in the NCAA baseball tournament.
Flaherty is also disappointed with how many rules and regulations Division III baseball is making on the amount of time a coach can spend with his players.
“I really enjoy spending time with the kids and the NCAA is taking that time away from me.?If this trend continues I don’t know how much longer I can coach for,” said Flaherty.
“Coach Flaherty is a great coach and mentor to the players.?The NCAA keeps making these cut backs and this limits the amount of time he can spend with them,” said Bean.
The NCAA has cut back the number of fall practices that a Division III team can have from 30 last year to 16 this year.?The NCAA says that student athletes are spending too much time on the field and not focusing on their schoolwork.
For this season at least, Coach Flaherty will be in the dugout coaching another group of passionate Huskies.?Considering a team that will start six or seven sophomores this year, Flaherty is optimistic about the upcoming year.
“You can’t really tell until the season starts.?I think we’ll do pretty well. Our pitching is as good as it’s ever been.?I like the energy and competitiveness of the team,” he said.
Coach Flaherty’s official induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame will be held on January 8, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee. Bean is planning to schedule an award ceremony for Flaherty sometime after his induction.