The current Chairman of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Board of Directors, JWU (Providence) baseball assistant coach John Casey spent 38 seasons and 1,201 games leading the baseball program at his alma mater, Tufts University. He retired following the 2021 campaign with a record of 765-431-5.
In January 2020, Coach Casey was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame. A member of the ABCA leadership team for several years, Coach Casey served as President of the organization in 2016. He had served as a Vice President for four years and is a member of the ABCA Board of Directors. Casey was inducted into the Boston Park League Hall of Fame – the oldest amateur baseball league in the country – in 1999.
The Jumbos were one of the best teams in New England throughout Casey’s tenure, capturing six New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament nine times (1995, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), earning the No. 1 seed in the region in both 2010 and 2011.
A three-time NESCAC Coach of the Year who became the 29th coach in Division III history to reach the 750-win mark in 2019, Casey saw five of his student-athletes sign professionally and coached numerous All-American’s. Casey was also actively involved with advancing the game overseas as part of the International Sports Groups' (ISG) coaching clinics. He has made trips to Sweden, Curacao and Switzerland providing instruction to baseball coaches in those countries.
In 2019, Casey entered the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Hall of Fame, for which he served many years in a leadership capacity. In 2000, the NEIBA presented him with the Jack Butterfield Award – its most prestigious honor – given to an active coach who exhibits the integrity and dedication to the game of college baseball that Coach Butterfield demonstrated throughout his career. Coach Casey received the Andy Baylock Distinguished Service Award from the NEIBA in 2005, recognizing his significant contributions to the betterment of New England college baseball.
A native of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts who graduated Tufts in 1980, Casey helped pitch the Jumbos to consecutive ECAC Division II/III Tournament appearances. He returned to Tufts the following year and worked as an assistant coach with the baseball and football programs before replacing Lee Sargent as head baseball coach in 1984.
Off the field, Casey was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director at Tufts in 2001 and later held the title of Associate Athletics Director. He resides in Milford, Massachusetts with his wife, Diane. The couple has four sons – Brian, Kevin, Brendan, and Chris. Brian is currently the head baseball coach at Coast Guard while Brian is the head baseball coach at WPI and Kevin heads the JWU (Providence) program.
Â
