"Baseball junkie"

It was the summer of 1961, and 13 year-old Mike Walsh was spending the summer at a caddy's camp at the Lake Sunapee (N.H.) Country Club. One day

a Cadillac with the license plate "ROLFE" pulled into the parking lot. A man stepped out of the car, and the first thing Walsh spotted was a World Series ring on his finger. Walsh couldn't believe it. Standing in front of him was Robert "Red" Rolfe '31.

Rolfe was a man whom Walsh idolized as a kid. Voted the New York Yankees' "all-time third baseman," Rolfe was one of baseball's greats. He later managed the Detroit Tigers before returning to Dartmouth as the College's director of athletics from 1954 to 1967.

Rolfe played golf once a week that summer at Lake Sunapee, and Walsh made sure he always got to carry the baseball legend's clubs. "I'm sure he probably dreaded having me as his caddy because I always asked him so many questions," Walsh says. "I was a real baseball junkie."

That same summer, Walsh got his first look at Dartmouth. Peter Luitwieler '64 was director of the caddy camp, and he gave Walsh a tour of Hanover. "When I was a kid this is what I thought all colleges were like," says Walsh. "It might have been an Ozzie and Harriet view of life, but that's what I thought." Ever since that summer, when Walsh met Rolfe and first saw the College, he has been a Dartmouth baseball fan. Any time Dartmouth played at Brown, Walsh would make the short trip over from his hometown of Attleboro, Mass., to watch his favorite team.

At age 36, Walsh is still a baseball junkie and still a Dartmouth partisan, but he's more than just a fan. This is his fourth year as the College's head baseball coach. "It was really a dream come true when I became the baseball coach here," says Walsh. "I couldn't believe it, I was so happy."

At the time he was named to replace George Landis as head baseball coach, Walsh was an assistant basketball coach at the College. Walsh had come to Dartmouth from a position as a coach and a teacher at Northfield-Mount Hermon, where he'd gone after his graduation from the University of Massachusetts. Landis, who was also a football assistant, left Dartmouth for another job, and Walsh jumped at the chance to take over the baseball program.

After doing well in the early 1970s, the Dartmouth nine had fallen upon hard times. "I realized immediately it was going to take a lot of work and effort to get it going again," says Walsh. He didn't waste any time. In his second season, 1983, the team had its first winning season since 1972, with a 14-13 record. The team also finished fourth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League (EIBL) that year, its best finish in 11 years.

Now, after two strong recruiting years, Walsh thinks the program is on the brink of bigger and better things. "The hole has been dug and the cement has been poured," he says. "The frame is starting to go up now. Time will tell if we have a bungalow or a mansion." Still, Walsh thinks the team is a year away from becoming an EIBL contender. "We have some quality players in our two upper classes, but the depth of the program is with the sophomores and some talented and unproven freshmen."

This is only Walsh's second season as baseball coach on a full-time basis. Previously, Dartmouth's baseball coach was also an assistant in another sport. Walsh thinks the change represents a necessary commitment by the College's athletic administration. "I get the impression that baseball is a sport Dartm outh would like to be successful in," he says. "They sense that we could in time be competitive in the League and be in a position to contend for the title."

While he likes to talk about the future of Dartmouth baseball, Walsh also appreciates the past. "There's 120 years of tradition in Dartmouth baseball," he says. "That tradition is literally sprinkled with great names in the sport of baseball." His office in Davis Varsity House looks like something out of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. There's a large picture of the 1891 Dartmouth team on one wall, and prominently displayed in a corner is a 1924 Dartmouth baseball uniform. "Baseball is a game of history," Walsh says. "I think anyone who gets involved in baseball gets caught up in that history." Another part of Walsh's office is reserved for the "Captain's Corner." This is where he hangs the photos of the players who have been captains or co-captains of his teams. So far there are photos of Rob Carroll '82, Peter Lavery '83, Tim Whall '83, Steve Karol '84, and Mike Timmons '84. After this season, Lance Portland '85 and Jim Lavery '85 will join them.

Another addition to the program since Walsh took over has been the Friends of Dartmouth Baseball. It was established three years ago, and at first the only members were former baseball players. Now, with Frank Logan '52 as president, Dick Burns '42 as vice president, and Roger Clarkson '75 as secretary-treasurer, the Friends of Baseball has grown to include 200 dues-paying members.

With groups like that and coaches like Walsh, Dartmouth's baseball future appears to be as bright as its past.

Head baseball coach Mike Walsh feels theDartmouth nine may be on the brink of contending for an Ivy title.