By Nate Owen, News Staff
When asked about his 600th career win, baseball coach Neil McPhee was quick to credit his success to others.
‘I’ve always said for my entire coaching career that coaches don’t win games, coaches don’t lose games,’ said McPhee, who is in the midst of his 24th season at the helm’ of Northeastern baseball. ‘It’s simply a reflection of the players.’
Assistant coach Pat Mason, who played for McPhee from 1994 to 1997, said McPhee and the coaching staff were aware of the milestone coming into the season, but it snuck up on them this weekend.
‘It was great,’ Mason said. ‘I was looking forward to it in the offseason; in my head I was trying to figure out when it was going to be. I was hoping it would happen at home. I didn’t think it would happen this weekend. We’re probably ahead of where we thought we’d be in terms of wins and losses.’
Mason said McPhee wasn’t aware of the milestone until he gave him the game ball after the game, a 7-5 win in game two of a doubleheader Friday at Dallas Baptist.
‘ ‘I think Pat mentioned to me that it would happen this season,’ McPhee said. ‘It’s not that it wasn’t on my mind, it just never entered my mind for this weekend.’
Mason and assistant coach Mike Glavine were both players when McPhee won his 200th career game at Northeastern in a 9-2 win over Drexel on April 17, 1994. Glavine went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the game.’ ‘
On April 29, 1997, the Huskies downed Providence 8-5 to give McPhee his 289th win, tops in Husky baseball history. Mason went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI, while current Tampa Bay Ray’s first baseman Carlos Pena was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
McPhee’s 300th win over Bethune Cookman May 16 that year wasn’t just another personal milestone, but it also was a key win for the team.
‘The game was overshadowed because of the playoff implications,’ said Mason, who was 2-for-3 with a double and a home run, plus two stolen bases. ‘The winner of the game got an NCAA regional bid, so it probably went under the radar a little bit. We gave him the ball afterward and then had a big celebration because we were going to regionals.’
McPhee’s history at NU goes beyond coaching. He played second base for NU Hall of Fame coach John ‘Tinker’ Connelly from 1963-1965, posting a .310 batting average in 59 games and drawing praise from Connelly as ‘the best second baseman I ever had.’ He also played two seasons on the hockey team, scoring 71 points in 50 games.
McPhee became Northeastern’s first ever Major League Baseball draft pick when he was taken by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 1965 draft.
After his playing career was done, he coached at Newton South High School from 1968 to 1985.
Senior co-captain Jeff Thomson, who started and won the game, said it was an honor to be a part of an important milestone.
‘I knew about it from reading The News and seeing he was on 599,’ Thomson said. ‘I was here for his 500th win; it was pretty cool to be the winning pitcher for his 600th win.’
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