Former UNM baseball coach Alday dies » Albuquerque Journal
Rich Alday talks to his University of New Mexico baseball team during the 2002 season. Alday, who coached the Lobos from 1990-2007, has died at age 71. (Dean Hanson/Journal)
Rich Alday’s baseball coaching numbers speak for themselves.
Over 35 seasons at the University of New Mexico and Arizona’s Pima College, Alday racked up 1,032 wins. He is the career leader in victories at both schools.
But Alday, who died Wednesday in Tucson at age 71, may be better remembered for the positive impact he made on the players and people around him. Statistics, several of his former players said, are only a small part of Alday’s legacy.
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“He was truly one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever been around,” said Dusty Young, associate director of the New Mexico Activities Association and a former UNM player under Alday.
“He cared deeply for his players and always had the same demeanor whether things were going well or not so well. Coach Alday was very easy to play for, just a really good man.”
Alday, who grew up in Tucson and later retired there, reportedly died unexpectedly after undergoing prostate surgery. A story posted Wednesday by allsportstucson.com quoted Alday’s nephew, Brian Alday, who confirmed the elder Alday’s passing.
Alday coached at UNM from 1990-2007 and compiled a 515-513-3 overall record. His teams won 30 or more games six times, including in 2000 when the Lobos finished 35-21 and won a Mountain West Conference regular-season championship.
“He did a lot for the program when you’re talking about 500 wins,” said sportswriter Glen Rosales, who covered much of Alday’s UNM tenure for the Journal. “His teams always had some flair and were fun to watch. They were competitive, too, battling with BYU for conference titles just about every year.”
Jeff Grady played at UNM in the early 2000s and recalls Alday as serving as more than just a coach.
“Coach Alday was a devout Catholic, and he knew my family was Catholic,” said Grady, who played alongside his younger brother, Tim, and cousin Josh Mader while at UNM. “Whenever we were on the road on a Sunday — except in Provo, Utah — he would wake us up early in the morning and take us to mass.
“I’d known him since I was 9- or 10-years old, going to UNM baseball camps,” Grady added. “I aspired to be a Lobo, and when I finally got there, my family knew I’d be well taken care of.”
Thirty-four of Alday’s UNM players went on to be drafted by major league organizations, including big-leaguers Danny Ray Herrera and Jordan Pacheco. Pacheco said he was “crushed” to hear of Alday’s passing.
“Coach Alday had so much passion for the game,” Pacheco said. “He was the same whether he was talking to a big-leaguer or a little-leaguer. When I was at UNM, he treated us as men and gave me so much confidence. The longer I’m in this business, the more respect I have for him.”
Alday persevered through personal hardship during his UNM coaching tenure. His son, Ambrose Alday, died of cancer at age 16 in 1995.
Travis Young, Dusty Young’s older brother who played for the Lobos at the time, recalls how the team pulled together around its coach.
We are saddened to learn of the passing of former UNM baseball coach Rich Alday, a true gentleman and very nice man we had the pleasure of working with in our early years. Our thoughts are with UNM and Coach’s family. #RIP Coach pic.twitter.com/APJljASFuo
— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) January 7, 2021
“It was really difficult because Ambrose had practiced with us and we all knew him,” Travis Young said. “Coach Alday took some time away from the team and (assistant coach) Mark Martinez filled in, but when coach Alday came back, he was all about us and the team. But we knew what he was going through and kind of rallied around him and won 10 or 12 games in a row.”
UNM’s batting cage and an annual endowed scholarship are named after Ambrose Alday. Tags bearing the names of both Rich and Ambrose Alday were recently attached to new stadium seats installed at the program’s Santa Ana Star Field.
“You go over Rich Alday’s coaching résumé and it’s a really good one,” said Ray Birmingham, who succeeded Alday as the Lobos’ coach in 2008. “He worked hard and kept this program alive. But the No. 1 thing to say about coach Alday is he was a great man.”
God bless Rich Alday. A good man. Prayers. Gone too soon. Heart broken. pic.twitter.com/Hii5pZ1tMM
— Ray Birmingham (@BirminghamRay) January 6, 2021
Prior to his UNM tenure, Alday coached at Pima College fron 1974-89. He returned to the school in 2017 and notched his 500th career win there in 2018, finishing with a 517-251 record over 17 seasons.
We are saddened by the passing of @BaseballPima coach Rich Alday. Our thoughts are with his wife Norma and their family. He had a record of 517-251 in 18 seasons at Pima. Check out the link to get a glimpse of who he was and his impact. #PimaBaseballhttps://t.co/rh1iDOC05npic.twitter.com/EdaSF6iKt8
Alday served as an assistant coach with Team USA during the 1988 and 1996 Olympics, the latter team winning a bronze medal. He also coached high school baseball and softball in the Tucson area during his career and umpired prep games there after his retirement from coaching.