ON THE CUSP OF A MILESTONE RIO RANCHO COACH ONE AWAY FROM 500 th CAREER TRIUMPH
He may not remember the first, but he surely will remember the next.
Sometime over the next three days, Ron Murphy figures to earn his 500th career victory as a high school baseball coach, and he also will earn membership into a very small club.
“I just love the fact that I get a chance to influence kids’ lives on a daily basis,” said Murphy, 57. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a very smart person as far as school and academics and those things, but one thing I knew was sports. This was my calling, to be a mentor to kids.”
The only downside to this milestone is Murphy almost assuredly won’t win No. 500 at home.
He probably won’t even win No. 500 in the state of New Mexico.
The Rams on Wednesday traveled to El Paso, where they open every season at a five-games-inthree-days tournament. It is sort of a rite of passing for the program.
Murphy, who has become the metro’s dean of baseball coaches after Jim Johns of Eldorado retired last May, almost surely will get at least one win in Texas. If the Rams somehow don’t, then they open their home season Tuesday afternoon against Eldorado.
And it doesn’t seem likely that Rio Rancho, last year’s state runner-up to Carlsbad, will go winless on this trip.
Rio Rancho plays two games today to open the year.
“We may start out a little slow,” Murphy said, “but I think we have
the capabilities to be better than we were last year.”
But 500 is not Murphy’s only goal. If the Rams get to 18 victories this season, Murphy will have reached the 400-win plateau just with Rio Rancho.
“That’s even more exciting for me,” he said.
He is starting his 20th season with the Rams and is the only head coach the school has had. He also was St. Pius’ coach from 1990-97.
The always affable Murphy was 117-42 with the Sartans. He is 382-140 with the Rams for a combined mark of 499-182.
It is believed that John Gutierrez (582 wins with Bloomfield and Navajo Prep) and Johns (552 with Eldorado) are the only two men to have surpassed 500 baseball coaching wins in New Mexico. Murphy coached against both men.
“What stands out to me is he does a really good job of evaluating his talent for that particular season,” said Johns. “And getting the most out of his guys. That’s what every coach strives for.”
Murphy has won three state championships with Rio Rancho: in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
“How lucky and blessed am I to have had so many great players, and so many loyal assistant coaches that have put the time in,” Murphy said.
But this next win will be “bittersweet,” he said, as he still mourns the loss of one of his close friends, assistant coach Ray Chavez, who died during the 2016 season.
“Me and Ray talked all the time about getting that 500th together,” Murphy said.
When he is fully engaged, Murphy remains, even in his 28th season as a head coach, one of the most fiery coaches in the state.
“According to alumni, I’ve gotten a lot softer,” he said with a chuckle, adding, “every coach has to evolve. You can’t be the same guy all the time. Society changes, kids change, parents change. The key is making little tweaks as you go along just to keep up with the times.”
Still, few coaches so fiercely protect their players as does Murphy.
“I tell my kids all the time that I love them,” he said. “But it’s tough love. I’m not gonna let (them) slack off. These are things they’ll learn the rest of their lives.”
While Johns recently retired at Eldorado, Murphy is still going strong, as passionate about coaching as he always was.
“It was a lot of fun playing his teams,” Johns said.
Murphy’s son Tyler will soon be filtering into the Rio Rancho program, so Murphy isn’t going anywhere, although he said he will abandon his normal chair seat during games — which he has been using for many years — and return to the third-base coaching box this season.
“Why would I retire?” Murphy said with a laugh. “I’d stay home and be bored.”