Demie J. Mainieri (October 21, 1928 – March 13, 2019) was an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

who was the first junior college coach to win 1,000 career games.

Biography

Mainieri was from Jersey City, New Jersey and attended Lincoln High School. He graduated from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in 1963 with a Ph.D. in education and administration. He served as an assistant coach in college football at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

under head coach

Lou Little Luigi "Lou Little" Piccirilli December 6, 1891 – May 28, 1979) was an American football player and coach born in Boston, Massachusetts. City of Boston, Birth Registrations, number 8583, December 6, 1891After Lou's birth, his father changed his ...

. Mainieri served as the head coach of the

team at

Miami Dade Community College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida College S ...

for thirty years, starting in 1960. He was named

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

in 1963.
/ref> Mainieri became the first junior college coach to win 1,000 career games. Mainieri won 1,012 games at Miami-Dade. In 1978, Mainieri skippered the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Mainieri's son,

Paul Mainieri Paul Mainieri (born August 29, 1957) is a former baseball coach and second baseman. He played college baseball at LSU, Miami-Dade CC and New Orleans before pursuing a professional baseball career. He then served as the head coach of the St. Th ...

, was the head coach for the

LSU Tigers baseball The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. It ranks seventh overall with 18 College World Series appeara ...

team from 2007 until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Mainieri was inducted into the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2014, Mainieri was elected into the

National College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collect ...

. On March 13, 2019, Mainieri died at the age of 90.

References

1928 births 2019 deaths Miami Dade Sharks baseball coaches Cape Cod Baseball League coaches West Virginia University alumni Baseball coaches from New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey Lincoln High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Columbia Lions football coaches National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees {{US-baseball-manager-stub