by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
UNM head baseball coach Rich Alday welcomes an old friend to his dugout with the hiring of assistant Dave Bingham.
Bingham will primarily work with pitchers in the upcoming season.
Bingham has coached baseball for more than 30 years, and brings a remarkable resumÇ to the program. He was the head coach at the University of Kansas from 1988-95 and was head coach at Emporia State University from 1974-87.
His lifetime record is a staggering 807-495-2.
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"It's pretty exciting to have him on," Alday said. "We've coached and played together for a long time."
Their long-time friendship is the key reason Bingham moved from Lawrence, Kan. to coach in Albuquerque.
"Rich Alday and I go back to high school when we played against each other," Bingham said. "Then we went to the University of Arizona together, and it's just been a long, long relationship, back to 1965. He's been a very dear friend of mine."
For Alday, bringing Bingham in was both a chance to work with a great friend and a great coach. Bingham led his Kansas squad to the program's first appearance in the College World Series in 1993 when the Jayhawks finished with a 45-18 record and a top-10 ranking. He also made it to the postseason the following year and again finished in the top-25.
At ESU, Bingham led the Hornets to the NAIA World Series five times and won the national championship in 1978. He was recognized as National Coach of the Year three times during his tenure there.
Bingham has also worked as an assistant for the United States Olympic baseball team in 1984 and 1988. He's coached eight international teams that have won three gold medals - including the '88 Olympic team - two silvers and one bronze.
Considering Alday's own career total of 901 wins, there are more than 1700 wins sitting on the bench, just between the two of them.
"That's a lot of wins," Bingham said.
With that kind of experience, he said, "it's great to just sit and share ideas."
The new coach's excitement is palpable.
"We're all goofy about this game," he said. "It's part of our blood, and we have this passion to understand it. To be able to share ideas between the two of us is a lot of fun. Working with Rich in just the few days since I've gotten here has been a ball."
Bingham's son, Brandon, is a sophomore on the team this season.
