Ray Birmingham’s T’birds soared with him at the controls. He expects a howl heard ‘round the world when his Lobo baseball team takes the field. Birmingham is UNM’s 11th baseball coach. He joins Lobo athletics after 18 seasons at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. He has an impressive 818-328-2 (.713) record in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Photo: Lobo Baseball Head Coach Ray Birmingham
Birmingham had the opportunity to retire from coaching and move into the business world – likely a more lucrative endeavor – but he answered the call.
“I went with my heart. When I got here, I felt the electricity and the positive move forward,” he said.
Birmingham likes to win, but winning begins before the players pull on that cap and walk out on the field.
“It’s important to break down the walls between athletics and academics. I am not a coach first, but a teacher. I was an English teacher. Baseball people are literary people. It’s about developing well-rounded people who don’t come to the university just to play baseball,” he said. He added, “When we walk out there, we’re not just winning a game. We’re winning at life,” he said.
He backs it up. He boasted 31 All Americans from NMJC, now in professions ranging from doctors and lawyers to teachers and professional ballplayers.
Birmingham sees UNM’s potential campus-wide.
“Look at the new Richardson Pavilion and you see good stewardship of New Mexico resources. We all want UNM to grow as an academic institution. We don’t want it to become an athletic machine. But I do want people in Texas to think, ‘Look out, here comes UNM,” he said.
Timing is everything he said, adding, “A school is only as good as its people: President David Schmidly, Athletic Director Paul Krebs, Assistant AD Tim Cass. This is a great time for Lobo athletics. The stars are aligned.”
Birmingham plans to build with New Mexico talent. “I can go out and recruit from Arizona, California, Texas and Oklahoma from my reputation. Young men want to play for me. We do need to find some pitching, but we have good baseball players in this state. I want to win with New Mexico boys,” he said.
He plans to enjoy getting to know the UNM family. “What I liked about Dr. Schmidly is that he and I both come from the Permian Basin South Plains influenced by oil and cotton fields. He ’s just a guy. I want to take him out quail hunting,” he said.
Returning to the sport he loves, he said, “I have a passion for New Mexico. I want to walk off the field in the NCAA championships and have people know that UNM has the best team in the whole country.”
It’s a dream he plans to make a reality.
| Scrimmage to Help Establish Heritage |
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| Birmingham plans to establish a heritage of Lobo baseball. To launch it, he is hosting a scrimmage game between current and former Lobo baseball players on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. tentatively scheduled at Isotopes Stadium.
Prior to the game, the alums and the Lobos will take some batting practice, as will UNM President David Schmidly, AD Paul Krebs and Asst. AD Tim Cass. Organized by former players Ernie Blackstone, (’78), Rick Ronquillo (’83) and Walt Arnold (’80), the connections between former and current players are already being made. "I invite everyone to come and be a part of this. We are about building a family first. We want families to attend. The game is just for fun and we will have a little tailgating afterward with sandwiches and chips. After that, we all need to cross the street and go watch the Lobo football team beat BYU,” he said. |
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu