The Amherst baseball network began when Harry Dalton ’50 joined the Baltimore Orioles organization in 1954. Dalton in turn offered Dan Duquette ’80 his first job in baseball, and Duquette subsequently hired Huntington as an intern right out of college. “The network perpetuates itself,” said Duquette, who served as the General Manager of both the Montreal Expos and the Boston Red Sox, among other positions in Major League Baseball. As a direct result of the work Head Coach Bill Thurston has done, “Amherst is well-respected in the baseball world.”
For such a small school, the number of Amherst alumni who have moved on to work in professional baseball (at many different levels) is remarkable. Since Thurston became coach in 1966, the Div. III program has had 23 graduates sign a professional baseball contract and sent 17 former players to work as coaches and executives in professional baseball. Other Div. III schools are proud when they can boast of a pair of players filling similar roles.
The Amherst baseball network, then, may very well be as strong as any there is. While working with the Cleveland Indians, an organization in which he progressed from Director of Player Development to Special Assistant to the General Manager, Neal Huntington created the position of mental skills coordinator. In designing the position, Huntington had one person in mind: His college teammate John Couture. “I probably would not,” he said, “be in organized ball if not for Neal creating a position and calling me up.”
To confuse what goes on between former Amherst baseball players as nepotism, however, would be a mistake. Alumni help each other out by setting up interviews, but every person has to prove his own merit—a place where experiences at Amherst prove to be very beneficial. Couture explained, “It is the Amherst product that makes it in professional baseball—smart, willing to learn, ability to work under pressure, knows the game of baseball, and competes to win.”
It is no wonder, then, that Amherst graduates advance quickly and successfully through the ranks of baseball executives and find themselves in position to continue building the Amherst network. Duquette became the General Manager of the Montréal Expos with just three years experience as Director of Player Development. Only fifteen years after working as an intern in the Expos organization, Huntington was hired to run the Pittsburgh Pirates as their General Manager.
Spending four years with Thurston is a hugely rewarding experience for all Amherst players. Across the baseball world he is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to baseball fundamentals, especially with his pitchers. “He teaches a level about baseball that other people don’t have, even the greatest baseball players don’t necessarily have. A player who hits a 96-mph fastball 400 feet doesn’t always know how it is done. Those are the intricate subtleties that he has taught over the years,” said Couture. “When I compare notes with other people in professional baseball, what Thurston is teaching is stuff professional staff members are just coming to terms with now.”
“Coach Thurston sets a standard for the baseball program that is pretty similar to professional baseball,” added Ben Cherington ’96, who now works as the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Boston Red Sox. “He works extremely hard to make sure every practice is run with a purpose, that every player is given a chance to reach his potential, and that preparing to win every game is instilled in the culture. Those are qualities that any good organization strives for.”
Stephan Rapaglia ’92 arrived at Amherst as a strong multi-sport athlete who was more excited about basketball than baseball. Freshman year, he roomed with a baseball recruit named John Couture, who he described as completely obsessed with the game. Spending time with Couture (the two would end up rooming together all four years) turned him into a baseball fanatic. Dedicating himself on the field, he and Thurston were able to transform the 80-mph fastball Rapaglia arrived with to 90 mph, ultimately allowing him to get drafted by the Houston Astros. After a year in the minor leagues where he posted a 5-4 record with a 3.94 ERA, Rapaglia was cut. The next day, once again with the assistance of Thurston, Rapaglia was on a plane to the Netherlands, where he was to play with the Neptunus Club of Rotterdam. With his 2.72 ERA, Rapaglia helped lead Neptunus to the national championship. Upon returning to America, Rapaglia played and coached, at times with other Amherst alumni (including Couture), in the Independent League. He was recently hired to coach the Great Britain National Team.
Rapaglia is a perfect example of the type of player who thrives under Thurston. Huntington describes the Amherst baseball player, including himself, as one who is “scrappy, out-thinks [his] physical abilities, exceeds expectations, and [has] a love for the game.” All of those traits seem to be crucial to navigating the baseball world that exists beyond Amherst. The players who come through the Amherst baseball program have to be able to handle the full-time commitment to both baseball and school expected of them. When on the recruiting trail, Thurston actively searches for kids that love the game of baseball and crave its presence in their lives. He recognizes that his program is not for the “casual baseball fan,” something that has set it apart from the very beginning.
While 14 Amherst baseball players have made it to the major leagues, (including John Cerutti ’80, who was drafted in the first round of the 1981 draft by the Blue Jays), Div. III is certainly not a hotbed of baseball talent. The players that come through Amherst are special in this respect; intelligent, eager and curious, they have manfully overcome the limitations of Div. III to carve out professional baseball careers.
“On the pro side, people don’t feel like I played, and don’t consider experience at Amherst valuable,” said Huntington. “Professionally, I’m never considered to have played, that’s fine, I know what I learned, and I am not being compared as a player. My foundation in baseball is just as good; my experience and exposure are as good. I learned to treat the game right.” Huntington also notes that Dave Jauss ’80, who never played baseball professionally and is now the bench coach for the Baltimore Orioles, is still one of “sharpest baseball minds in understanding a game, often five or six innings ahead of the game.”
The plaque on the outside of Coach Bill Thurston’s office reads Gift of Dan Duquette, Class of 1980. This gesture by Duquette echoes Huntington’s sentiment when he says, “There is no question I wouldn’t be where I was without Amherst.” Inside the office, Assistant Coach Brian Hamm is examining pictures of his players and comparing them to those of professionals, preparing for the afternoon’s practice. The schedule for practice, written out on several pages and cataloged down to second, lies on Thurston’s desk. It’s all part of the preparation for cultivating great baseball minds.