Greene Flake "Red" Laird[1] (December 16, 1902 – April 10, 1992) was an American college basketball and baseball coach. He is best known for being Virginia Tech's head baseball coach for 30 seasons and compiling the second most wins in program history through the 2013 season (343).[2] He was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1971,[3][4] and into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. The home dugout at Virginia Tech's home baseball venue, English Field, is named in his honor.[5] Laird also coached the men's basketball and baseball teams at Virginia Tech, Catawba College, and Davidson College as well as the freshman football team at Davidson.[6][7][8] Laird attended Davidson between 1922–23 and 1925–26. While there he earned 12 varsity letters – four each in football, basketball and baseball.
 Laird pictured as a senior in Quips and Cranks 1926, Davidson yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 16, 1902 Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | April 10, 1992 (aged 89) Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1922–1925 | Davidson |
| Basketball | |
| 1922–1926 | Davidson |
| Baseball | |
| 1923–1926 | Davidson |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Basketball | |
| 1926–1928 | Catawba |
| 1931–1937 | Davidson |
| 1947–1955 | Virginia Tech |
| Baseball | |
| 1927–1928 | Catawba |
| 1932–1939 | Davidson |
| 1940–1944 | Virginia Tech |
| 1948–1973 | Virginia Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 134–221 (basketball) 409–392–5 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| ABCA Hall of Fame (1971) | |
Head coaching record edit
Basketball edit
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba Indians (Little Six Conference) (1926–1928) | |||||||||
| 1926–27 | Catawba | 6–15 | 1–9 | ||||||
| 1927–28 | Catawba | 8–12 | 4–8 | ||||||
| Catawba: | 14–27 | 5–17 | |||||||
| Davidson Wildcats (Independent) (1931–1936) | |||||||||
| 1931–32 | Davidson | 3–12 | |||||||
| 1932–33 | Davidson | 4–14 | |||||||
| 1933–34 | Davidson | 6–13 | |||||||
| 1934–35 | Davidson | 13–10 | |||||||
| 1935–36 | Davidson | 4–15 | |||||||
| Davidson Wildcats (Southern Conference) (1936–1937) | |||||||||
| 1936–37 | Davidson | 13–10 | 5–8 | ||||||
| Davidson: | 43–74 | 5–8 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Independent) (1947–1955) | |||||||||
| 1947–48 | Virginia Tech | 14–9 | |||||||
| 1948–49 | Virginia Tech | 10–13 | |||||||
| 1949–50 | Virginia Tech | 16–9 | |||||||
| 1950–51 | Virginia Tech | 19–10 | |||||||
| 1951–52 | Virginia Tech | 4–16 | |||||||
| 1952–53 | Virginia Tech | 4–19 | |||||||
| 1953–54 | Virginia Tech | 3–24 | |||||||
| 1954–55 | Virginia Tech | 7–20 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech: | 77–120 | ||||||||
| Total: | 134–221 | ||||||||
Baseball edit
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba Indians (Independent) (1927–1928) | |||||||||
| 1927 | Catawba | 10–13–1 | |||||||
| 1928 | Catawba | 5–9 | |||||||
| Catawba: | 15–22–1 | ||||||||
| Davidson Wildcats (Independent) (1932–1939) | |||||||||
| 1932 | Davidson | 6–11 | |||||||
| 1933 | Davidson | 15–6 | |||||||
| 1934 | Davidson | 3–13 | |||||||
| 1935 | Davidson | 5–11 | |||||||
| 1936 | Davidson | 2–18 | |||||||
| 1937 | Davidson | 6–17 | |||||||
| 1938 | Davidson | 8–8 | |||||||
| 1939 | Davidson | 6–11 | |||||||
| Davidson: | 51–95 | ||||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Independent) (1940–1943) | |||||||||
| 1940 | Virginia Tech | 7–5 | |||||||
| 1941 | Virginia Tech | 6–10 | |||||||
| 1942 | Virginia Tech | 10–5–1 | |||||||
| 1943 | Virginia Tech | 4–8 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Southern Conference) (1948–1965) | |||||||||
| 1948 | Virginia Tech | 14–8–1 | 6–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1949 | Virginia Tech | 10–11 | 5–7 | 10th | |||||
| 1950 | Virginia Tech | 13–9 | 8–2 | 1st (North) | SoCon tournament[a] | ||||
| 1951 | Virginia Tech | 8–11 | |||||||
| 1952 | Virginia Tech | 4–9 | 3–6 | 7th | |||||
| 1953 | Virginia Tech | 6–7 | 4–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1954 | Virginia Tech | 14–8 | 10–4 | 1st | NCAA District III playoffs | ||||
| 1955 | Virginia Tech | 13–8 | 8–4 | 3rd | |||||
| 1956 | Virginia Tech | 9–12 | 7–7 | 6th | |||||
| 1957 | Virginia Tech | 9–12 | 8–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1958 | Virginia Tech | 9–11–1 | 6–7 | 6th | |||||
| 1959 | Virginia Tech | 12–7 | 9–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1960 | Virginia Tech | 10–9 | 7–6 | 5th | |||||
| 1961 | Virginia Tech | 9–15 | 7–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1962 | Virginia Tech | 11–6 | 7–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1963 | Virginia Tech | 14–7 | 10–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1964 | Virginia Tech | 12–10 | 9–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1965 | Virginia Tech | 10–13 | 5–11 | 7th | |||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Independent) (1966–1973) | |||||||||
| 1966 | Virginia Tech | 10–6 | |||||||
| 1967 | Virginia Tech | 14–10 | |||||||
| 1968 | Virginia Tech | 17–9–1 | |||||||
| 1969 | Virginia Tech | 27–7 | NCAA District III playoffs | ||||||
| 1970 | Virginia Tech | 15–11 | |||||||
| 1971 | Virginia Tech | 16–10 | |||||||
| 1972 | Virginia Tech | 15–11 | |||||||
| 1973 | Virginia Tech | 15–10 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech: | 343–275–4 | ||||||||
| Total: | 409–392–5 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- ^ The top two teams in each division were invited to the SoCon Tournament. The North Division was composed of 7 teams, while the South had 9.
References edit
- ^ "Quips and Cranks - 1926". Davidson College. 1926.
- ^ "Coaching Records" (PDF). 2011 Baseball Media Guide. Virginia Tech. 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "ABCA Hall of Fame" (PDF). American Baseball Coaches Association. 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ Smith, Dave. "A Field of Dreams Come True". VT Magazine. Virginia Tech. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "English Field". HokieSports.com. Virginia Tech. 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "Flake "Red" Laird, Davidson Coach for Ten Years, Leaves for Position with V.P.I." (PDF). The Davidsonian. Davidson, North Carolina: Davidson College. April 12, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "Coaches". Quips and Cranks. Davidson College. 1933. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "Wildkittens to Meet Pups on Snyder Field" (PDF). The Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. October 14, 1932. p. 12. Retrieved July 19, 2013.