University of New Mexico head baseball coach Ray Birmingham will step down at the conclusion of the 2021 season, ending an impressive 43-year coaching career, including 14 seasons at the helm of the Lobos baseball program.
A 2015 inductee into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame, Coach Birmingham is the winningest coach in New Mexico baseball history, with 1,224 wins over his illustrious career.
“I want to thank the people of New Mexico for being so good to me for so long,” said Birmingham in a release from the school.
“I have always believed that New Mexico kids can do just as much as anybody else in the country, and I have committed my entire life to prove that and helping them prove that. I have always believed in leaving it better than you found it, and I feel good that I have done that”
One hundred sixty-seven different players who played under coach Birmingham went on to play at the professional level, including 39 Lobos.
In addition to his time coaching in New Mexico, Birmingham spent the summer of 2014 as the hitting coach for USA Baseball’s Colligate National Team and has coached at numerous baseball clinics in the USA and abroad.
A legend on the diamond and in the community, Birmingham will be greatly missed by Lobo fans and the many members of the New Mexico baseball community he touched over the years.