ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Already a member of both the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame and the Lea County Hall of Fame, University of New Mexico head baseball coach Ray Birmingham is now a nominee for the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame.
For just the second time in 43 years, the public is able to participate in the voting process. Fans can vote twice, once at the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame website, and once on the Hall of Fame’s Facebook page, where each “LIKE” counts as a vote. Voting is open through the end of September, and fans are encouraged to vote early!
Birmingham has a career record of 1,090-529-3 in 28 years as a head coach in the Land of Enchantment. He began his career at College of the Southwest and spent two years there before taking over the new baseball program at New Mexico Junior College, where he turned the Thunderbirds into a national power. He won 765 games in 17 years there, including the National Championship in 2005 and the national runner-up in 2007. At UNM he guided the Lobos to their first NCAA postseason berth in 42 years back in 2010, the start of a four-year stretch of NCAA Tournament appearances. He has helped New Mexico finish in the top 10 nationally in team batting average in six of the last seven years, one of only two programs in the entire country that can make that claim since 1988.
Birmingham Nominee for NM Sports Hall of Fame
