Rich Alday to be Officially Inducted into ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late New Mexico Baseball Head Coach and all-time wins leader Rich Alday will be officially inducted into the American Baseball Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2025 during the 81st annual ABCA Convention on Friday night; another well-earned honor for the coach who led the Lobos to 515 wins over 18 seasons.

Alday, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 71, is one of eight members of the ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2025 honored and inducted at the ABCA Hall of Fame Banquet presented by C&H Baseball on Friday in D.C. alongside Dave Jarvis (Belmont University), Dave Johnson (Ephrata [Wash.] High School), Costa “Pop” Kittles (Florida A&M), Charlie Migl (St. Mary’s University), Dunn Muramaru (Mid-Pacific Institute), Jim Schlossnagle (University of Texas) and Larry Turner (Owasso [Okla.] High School).

“I had the pleasure of knowing Coach Alday back when he recruited me out of high school,” said current UNM Head Coach Tod Brown. “Being in the Hall of Fame is a well-deserved honor for him– he had an outstanding coaching career here and beyond. But Rich was also Hall of Fame human being … He represented the program and the university exceedingly well at a crucial time.”

Alday’s career as a coach is laden with accomplishments and accolades, including but not limited to:
• 515 career victories at UNM; 1,302 career wins (UNM + Pima)
• Coached 11 All-Americans at UNM
• 3-time WAC/MW Coach of the Year
• Mountain West Champion in 2000
• 2nd-longest tenured HC in UNM history (1990-2007)
• Six 30-win seasons at UNM
• Assistant Coach for Team USA in ’88 & ’96 Olympics

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.

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.

Alday began his coaching career at Pima Community College in Arizona, where he racked up 517 wins over 17 total seasons (1974-89, 2018) to become the Aztecs’ all-time winningest coach. After taking the helm at the University of New Mexico following the 1989 season, Alday went on to do the same for the Lobos, becoming the all-time winningest coach in the university’s history with 515 victories over 18 seasons while guiding them in their transition from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West.

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, when the Lobos won the inaugural regular-season title with a 22-8 record in conference play.

Named one of Tucson’s Top-50 Athletic Figures in the 20th Century by the Arizona Daily Star, Alday also served 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.

Alday also was a part of Team USA in two different Olympic games. He served as Bench Coach for Team USA in 1988 when they won Gold in Seoul, South Korea, and was an auxiliary assistant coach in 1996 when USA won a bronze medal in Atlanta.

The 48-year ABCA Member passed away on Jan. 6, 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 him.

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.