The Least Qualified Coach in Professional Baseball
An Inspiring Baseball Story
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How the Least Qualified Coach in Professional Baseball Survived the 2025 Pecos League Season and Helped Guide the North Platte 80s to a Winning Record and the Playoffs
There were more than 2000 coaches in pro baseball in 2025 and I was the least qualified. My baseball coach resume was the weakest among nearly 300 major, minor and independent league teams.
I never played baseball until I was 45, in a men’s league. That meant I never played an inning of Little League, high school or college baseball. One of my adult baseball highlight moments was raising the Over Thirty Baseball championship trophy over my head like the Stanley Cup as our team the Twins celebrated our second title in four years in Lowell, MA in 2009.
I never coached baseball until I was 65, for a small high school. That meant my three-year coaching career totaled 75 high school games. In 2022, when I was pitching/catching coach, the Manchester Essex Hornets won the Division 4 MA state championship. Here I am with catchers Simon Rubin and Connor Heney.
But after surviving the 2025 season as bullpen coach of the North Platte 80s of the Pecos League, it’s a point of pride. The 80s finished 27-21 and advanced the division playoff finals in just their second season. I helped build the team as a preseason scout. I supported a strong pitching staff in a high-offense league.
The 80s walk-off playoff winning series win
The 80s walk-off playoff winning series win
A moment of pregame bullpen relaxation
A moment of pregame bullpen relaxation
Jumping from high school baseball to pro baseball as a coach should be impossible. During the season there were moments when it seemed so.
But, at age 69, I was committed to my baseball capstone project: scout and help build a professional team, then coach and support the players to bring out their best over a full season.
This page shares some of the moments where I learned to become a professional coach. I took some risks and experimented. Sometimes I relied on blind faith or my decades of professional work experience and leadership. When the season ended I had successfully completed my baseball capstone project.
Evan Katz, September 11, 2025
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