Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States. Singer Patti Smith released what was then considered to be the first punk rock single, “Hey Joe.” And the Oakland Athletics defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Many things have changed since 1974, but Arundel High baseball coach Bernie Walter has remained the constant.
Walter has coached 55 former or current major leaguers, including Denny Neagle, Mike Mussina and John Smoltz. As a U.S. Olympic assistant coach in 1985, Walter coached Smoltz. In 1986, Walter was the USA Junior National team assistant coach, earned a bronze medal and was selected to the All-World Team along with Mussina.
Walter is slated to be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in January of 2007 in Orlando, Fla. Walter is only the third coach inducted from Maryland. Max Bishop of the U.S. Naval Academy made the list in 1966 and Tom Kibler of Washington College was inducted in 1972. To date, the hall of fame consists of 16 high school coaches.
“It?s an elite group of coaches, and this would be the culmination of a great career,” Walter said. “It?s the highest coaching honor anyone can get, and I told my wife right after I heard the news.”
“Bernie has been a major influence in my life, not only as a colleague, but more importantly, as a mentor and best friend,” said Southern High baseball coach Manny Branco, who has known Walter for eight years. “I can think of no other individual who is more deserving of the great honor.”
With Walter at the helm, Arundel has won a record-setting nine Maryland state championships and is a three-time national coach of the year. He has been named National High School Baseball Coach of the Year by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association (1993), the National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches Association (1996) and the American Baseball Coaches Association (1998).
He was the head coach for the USA Baseball Junior National Team in 1998 and 1990, and has been a frequent clinician at national coaching events. But with nearly four decades of coaching on his docket, Walter has yet to exhaust his love of the game.
“I don?t know how much longer I will do this, but I have no plans to retire any time soon,” he said.
THE WALTER FILE
School: Arundel
Sport: Baseball
Position: Coach
Did you know? He is the only baseball coach to have been recognized by Disney?s American Teacher Awards … Was one of only seven U.S. coaches to ever win a World Championship .. Wrote USA Baseball?s Coaches Education Program, and is the educational consultant for MLB Productions “This Week in Baseball” … Wrote the best selling instructional book ” The Baseball Handbook” of which 14,000 copies have been sold … Holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from the University of Maryland.
