How's this for a potential hire. I like Birmingham alot, and he obviously likes his own chances. Anybody who can recruit players to Hobbs has my respect. This is from the ABQ Journal.
Baseball: NMJC Coach Makes Pitch
By Will Webber
Journal Staff Writer
If there's a pot of gold at the end of the college baseball rainbow, Isotopes Park is it.
So says Ray Birmingham, anyway.
The architect of the New Mexico Junior College powerhouse thinks the University of New Mexico's baseball program is a sleeping giant. If there's anyone out there who can wake it up, he says he's the guy to do it.
That's why the 50-year-old with a slight West Texas drawl has thrown his name into the mix for the Lobos' coaching vacancy.
"I can take the Lobos to Omaha; I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt," Birmingham said Tuesday.
UNM associate athletic director Greg Remington said a pool of approximately 40 candidates have applied to replace the recently retired Rich Alday. A search committee will meet today to begin whittling the list "down to a more manageable level by the end of the week," Remington said.
Birmingham considers Alday a friend and won't go into specifics as to how and why UNM has maintained its perennial also-ran status for as long as anyone can remember. What he is saying is he's got what it takes to do what Alday couldn't— turn the Lobos into a national power almost overnight.
"I think that place should be kicking tail almost immediately," Birmingham said. "I know I can beat TCU right now, but the Mountain West Conference or any team in it can't be your goal. Every year it should be Omaha. In the MWC you should be able to kick butt almost immediately."
Texas Christian won the MWC title this season and nearly upset Rice in last weekend's sub- regionals. At present, the Horned Frogs would seem to be light years in front of UNM on the diamond.
Birmingham says the key to getting the Lobos to that point— and beyond— is recruiting. While he admits it's easier said than done to sign a player with a spotty academic record at the JUCO level than at NCAA Division I, anything's possible.
"Baby, I've been in Hobbs. If you can recruit a winner to Hobbs, you can do it anywhere," he said. "If you work your tail off to sell yourself, one of those kids will eventually come and once that first one does, the rest will follow."
He also wants the state's best players to stay home.
"They've all been leavin' and that's got to stop," he said. "Now, you'll still have to go outside to find your premier guy, but there's talent here and it should stay here."
It seems like big talk from a guy who has never coached at a four-year school. In 18 years at NMJC, Birmingham is 817-328-2. His past three teams have gone a combined 159-26-1 and he's had 15 clubs finish in the national rankings.
His past three teams have all qualified for the JUCO World Series. His 2005 club won it all while this year's team lost in the finals last Saturday.
By comparison, the Lobos went a pedestrian 144-146 in Alday's last five seasons, including a 28-30 record this year. The program has finished below .500 in three of the past four seasons.
Not once have the Lobos fielded a team the caliber of those making the annual trek to the College World Series in Omaha. Then again, Birmingham said, neither did a lot of teams before they made their first trip to Nebraska.
"I've got friends who used to coach in (NMJC's Western Junior Conference Athletic Conference), friends now at DIs, and they all say UNM's absolutely a gold mine," Birmingham said. "Everyone I talk to thinks it's possible to win there right away."
When Birmingham looks at UNM— particularly Isotopes Park— he said fans should dispense with talk of conference titles and winning the annual battle with New Mexico State. He sees the Lobos entering the college baseball stratosphere, and he insists he's got to tools to get it done.
"There are two kinds of people in this game: those who are humble and those who are about to be." Clint Hurdle
