Coach's 1,000th win doesn't distract him from season goals

by Steven Fernandez

Daily Lobo

It was one of the biggest milestones of his career, but one Rich Alday did not know about until after it happened.

Alday, the UNM baseball head coach won his 1,000th career game Monday after the Lobos beat Air Force

17-8.

However, he was unaware of the number until he was informed after the win.

"Actually, I didn't know until they announced it after the ballgame," he said. "I had just completely forgotten about it. I'm

excited, though. It's a goal that every coach tries to win every game he coaches."

Alday is in his 17th year at UNM and his 34th year of coaching overall. In those 34 years, he is 1,000-724-3. As a Lobo, Alday has gone 504-504-3. He spent 17 seasons at Pima Community College in

Arizona.

He said he had plenty of help getting to the thousand-

win mark.

"The biggest thing is that when you get a thousand wins, you've got to be pretty lucky and have coaches and guys that work really hard for you," he said. "And then, you got to have some good athletes, and we've had that - not only here at UNM, but at the junior college that I worked at."

Alday said he's surprised how fast the years have passed in his coaching career.

"Time flies pretty quickly, and it's been a lot of fun," he said. "On the field, that part of the game is the best. You can't

beat that."

Part of the reason he didn't head into Monday's game with the record on his mind is because he is trying to rack up as many wins as possible this season.

"The biggest thing is that we'd like to try and win another MWC league title," he said. "I think there are some team goals, and those are the things we

focus on."

Baseball at Utah

Thursday, 6 p.m.

Salt Lake City