Harvard's baseball coach Joe Walsh dies suddenly at 58

He coached for the past 17 seasons and won five Ivy League championships.

Joe Walsh

Head baseball coach Joe Walsh died suddenly at his Chester, N.H., home early on July 31.

Walsh, 58, served proudly in his self-professed “dream job” for the past 17 seasons, winning five Ivy League championships. He played baseball at Suffolk University, where he assumed his first head-coaching job in the 1980-81 season. He came to Harvard in 1996 as the first full-time, endowed baseball coach, a position funded by former player (and now Harvard Corporaton member) Joseph J. O’Donnell ’67, M.B.A. ’71.

Walsh’s college coaching record is 569-564-3, including the Crimson record 1998 season of 36-12. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their four daughters.

Related topics

You might also like

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

Harvard Magazine Questionnaire: The True Cost of Grade Inflation

A faculty committee is recommending changes to grading at Harvard College to limit an overabundance of A's. Add your voice to the conversation.

Harvard Faculty Group Proposes Limits on A Grades

The grade inflation measure requires a full faculty vote, expected in the spring.

Most popular

Harvard’s Epstein Probe Widened

The University investigates ties to donors, following revelations in newly released files.

Martin Nowak Sanctioned for Jeffrey Epstein Involvement

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences announces disciplinary actions.

U.S. Military to Sever Some Academic Ties with Harvard, Hegseth Says

The defense department will discontinue graduate-level professional programs for active-duty service members.

Explore More From Current Issue

A football player kicking a ball while another teammate holds it on the field.

A Near-Perfect Football Season Ends in Disappointment

A loss to Villanova derails Harvard in the playoffs. 

A stylized illustration of red coral branching from a gray base, resembling a fantastical entity.

This TikTok Artist Combines Monsters and Mental Heath

Ava Jinying Salzman’s artwork helps people process difficult feelings.

Lawrence H. Summers, looking serious while speaking at a podium with a microphone.

Harvard in the News

Grade inflation, Epstein files fallout, University database breach