Rich Alday to be Inducted in ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Legendary Lobo Baseball Coach and UNM all-time wins leader Rich Alday has been named as one of eight coaches that will be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in January, the ABCA announced on Wednesday.
The eight members of the ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be honored and inducted at the ABCA Hall of Fame Banquet presented by C&H Baseball, which will be held Friday, January 3, 2025, during the 81st annual ABCA Convention at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Induction to the ABCA Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by the American Baseball Coaches Association. For consideration, a coach must have served as a head baseball coach and been an ABCA member for a minimum of 15 years, made professional and personal contributions to the ABCA, have significantly contributed to the advancement of baseball at the local, national or international level, and should be representative of high moral character and ethical standards, excellence and leadership.
The inaugural Hall of Fame class was inducted in 1966, with more than 350 individuals being honored since.
Founded in 1945, the American Baseball Coaches Association is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 15,000 members represent all 50 states and 41 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association members have broadened to include nine divisions: NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth and Travel.
Rich Alday, Head Coach 1989-2007
Rich Alday began his coaching career at Pima Community College in Arizona, where he amassed 517 wins over 17 combined seasons (1974-89, 2018). After taking on the head coach job at University of New Mexico after the 1989 season, Alday did more of the same, becoming the all-time winningest coach in the university’s history with 515 victories over 18 seasons. He still ranks No. 8 among Mountain West coaches all-time in total conference wins (121) and overall wins (227), ranking No. 10 in win percentage (.533)
His accolades are numerous, including three Coach of the Year awards—1992 and 1995 in the Western Athletic Conference, and 2000 in the Mountain West Conference.
Named one of Tucson’s Top-50 Athletic Figures in the 20th Century by the Arizona Daily Star, Alday’s impact transcended the baseball diamond, as evidenced by his stint as head softball coach at Ironwood Ridge High School (Ariz.), where he orchestrated two state title victories while accumulating 107 wins and an impressive .764 winning percentage over three seasons.
Furthermore, he served as Bench Coach for Team USA in 1988, contributing to their gold medal win in Seoul, South Korea, and was an auxiliary assistant coach in 1996 when Team USA won a bronze medal in Atlanta.
The 48-year Lifetime ABCA Member passed away in January 2021. His enduring influence is commemorated as a member of the Pima County Hall of Fame and Pima College Athletics Hall of Fame.
“Rich was a good man and a good coach. He was everything a coach should be and more,” said former UNM head coach and all-time Mountain West wins leader Ray Birmingham (2008-2021), who followed Alday as Lobo head coach and was close with the former Lobo coach.
Alday is survived by his wife Norma and many family members in Tucson and other areas. While coaching at UNM, his son Ambrose passed away at age 16 in 1995 from cancer. The Ambrose Alday Memorial Scholarship Fund was set up at New Mexico, and UNM’s hitting facility was officially named in their honor ahead of UNM’s home game on Feb. 23, with Norma and the Alday family honored pregame.
On Feb. 23, Rich Alday & his son Ambrose Alday were honored with a facility naming, imprinting their legacy as a permanent part of Santa Ana Star Field with Norma Alday and members of the Alday family present for the ceremony.