Ray Birmingham Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Year

Ray Birmingham enters his third year as head coach of the Lobo baseball team. In the short two years Birmingham has been with New Mexico he has produced two Mountain West Conference regular season second-place finishes and posted a two-year record of 71-45. For the second season in a row and the third time in four seasons the Lobos posted 30-win seasons and went 37-20 in 2009. The 37 wins are tied for the third most in school history and were the most since 1979. New Mexico was nationally ranked for the first time since 1985 and ranked as high as No.18 on March 30.

In 2009 six student-athletes were named all-MWC with senior second baseman Mike Brownstein earning MWC Player of the Year honors. The Lobos finished the season as the NCAA statistical team leader in batting average, .363, with four players hitting over .400 (Rafael Neda, Ryan Honeycutt, Brownstein and Kevin Atkinson). Brownstein led the country in triples with 11. Under Birmingham a record number six Lobos were selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft - Cole White, Brian Cavazos-Galvez, Brownstein, John Hesketh, Cameron Monger and Dane Hamilton. Under Birmingham, 137 athletes have gone on to play professional baseball. Also under Birmingham, 34 athletes have earned All-America honors. Brownstein was named to three different All-America Teams including the American Baseball Coaches Association, Louisville Slugger and Ping!Baseball. Cavazos-Galvez was named to the Ping!Baseball All-America Team as well.

Birmingham's athletes excelled in the classroom as well as the diamond last season. Nine student-athletes were named Academic All-MWC with three also named MWC Scholar-Athletes. The Lobo baseball team posted a 3.03 grade point average in the Spring of '09, their highest in program history.

In his first season, Birmingham led the Lobos to one of their most successful seasons in recent history. The UNM baseball team wrapped up 2008 with a 34-25 overall record and second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference. Eight Lobos were named to the 2008 All-Mountain West Conference teams and three moved on to pro careers, Bobby LaFromboise, Scott Gracey and Stephen Smith. Rafael Neda, a Freshman All-American, became the first Lobo named MWC Freshman of the Year in 2008.

Birmingham joined with UNM after 18 seasons as the head baseball coach at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs.

Birmingham, 54, and a New Mexico resident for nearly his entire life, has a sparkling 889-373-2 (.706) record in 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He was 765-255-2 (.750) at NMJC, winning a national title in 2005 and finishing second in 2007. Birmingham's teams were on a streak of 17 consecutive winning seasons and the Thunderbirds were a gaudy 378-88-2 (.805) from 2000-07. So successful was Birmingham at NMJC that the school held ceremonies on Feb. 2, 2008, to dedicate the newly renovated baseball field that bears his name.

After posting a 53-73 record in two seasons (1988-89) at the College of the Southwest in his hometown of Hobbs, Birmingham became the first skipper of the baseball program at New Mexico Junior College in 1990. The T-birds went 22-30 in his first year, but did not have a losing season over the next 17 seasons. They were nationally ranked 14 times, including five appearances in the Top-10.

Under Birmingham's leadership, New Mexico Junior College became known for its hitting prowess with six former players leading the country in batting and six teams hitting over .400. The Thunderbirds hit .416 as a team in 2007. The 2005 NMJC national championship team hit .411 during the regular season and .400 in postseason play. In 2001, the Thunderbirds displayed one of the most impressive offensive machines in college baseball history, batting .438 as a team. NMJC led the country in home runs (122) in 1998.

Of course, Birmingham was more than just the baseball coach at New Mexico Junior College. He wore a lot of hats. Birmingham taught physical education classes and helped coordinate curriculum for the department. He also initiated and led the development and execution of the $1 million expansion of the baseball field.

Birmingham's coaching career began at Las Cruces (N.M.) Mayfield High School where the Trojans won the Class AAAA state championship in 1981 and had three No. 1 rankings through 1983. Birmingham came to NMJC in the fall of 1983, serving as the public relations officer and assistant to legendary basketball coach Ron Black. The Thunderbird basketball team posted three consecutive 20-win seasons, including the school's first conference championship in 1987.

Birmingham moved to College of the Southwest in 1987 to guide its new baseball program. In 1989, the Mustangs reached No. 25 in the NAIA national rankings, won 33 games and advanced to the regional finals before losing to Dallas Baptist.

Birmingham has coached or spoken at numerous clinics throughout the United States and South America. He has been published in the American Baseball Coaches Association Journal and worked professionally for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals. Birmingham led the NJCAA all-star team to four wins in five games over the Chinese All-Stars in Beijing, China in 2004. In 2006, Birmingham was selected as the head coach of the NJCAA all-star team when China returned to the United States to play a U.S. team.

Despite national championships, international victories and jaw-dropping numbers on the diamond, Birmingham is most proud of his former New Mexico players. NMJC closer Brendan Donnelly (1990-91) won Game 6 for the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series, and became the first T-Bird with an MLB championship ring. A year later, Armando Almanza (1992-93) was a member of the World Champion Florida Marlins. In the summer of 2003, Donnelly was the winning pitcher in the Major League Baseball All-Star game in Chicago. During the past few seasons, Birmingham also watched proudly as former NMJC players Jose Flores (1992-93) and Mike Vento (1997) participated in the MLB playoffs with Oakland and the New York Yankees, respectively.

Birmingham currently serves on the College Baseball Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

Birmingham is a 1973 graduate of Hobbs High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism Education from New Mexico State in 1978 and later received a master's degree in Education Administration from College of the Southwest.

Birmingham has three sons: Josh, 30, a former NCAA World Series participant at the University of Nebraska, played for his father at NMJC and is now a lawyer in Texas; Bryan, 27, a golf professional at San Angelo (Texas) Country Club; and Nick, 10.