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Alumni Feature: Main Brothers leave mark at area schools
KEENE, N.H. 6/16/10 – The game of baseball has changed quite a bit since brothers Howard “Bucky” Main ’59 and Eddie Main ’60, M’68 began tossing around a ball growing up in Harrisville.
The fields left a lot to be desired, and the equipment was mostly secondhand, but that didn’t seem to stop the Main brothers from taking their first pitch in a sport that turned out to be a life-long passion.
Little did they know at the time that they were destined to become hardball coaching icons in the Monadnock region. Bucky coached the varsity Keene High Blackbirds for 23 seasons while younger brother Eddie spent 22 years on the bench directing the varsity nine at Monadnock Regional High School.
Both Bucky and Eddie took similar routes on the way to their dugouts. Each played shortstop at Keene High and briefly attended college before enlisting in the Air Force.
“I tried to emulate my brother growing up,” said Eddie, the younger of the two siblings by two years. “He was one heck of a fielder with a great glove and a good arm.”
Bucky, who attended Keene High from 1946-49, and his Blackbird teammates helped set the stage for future success on the diamond. Eddie took over at short the next two years, leading the team to the 1950 state championship. Following high school, Bucky played a couple of seasons at the University of New Hampshire before going into the service. Eddie played one season for Sumner Joyce at Keene Teacher’s College before beginning his military commitment.
“We had a hard time finding players,” said Eddie. “The older guys were getting out of the service and had families and jobs. Baseball was not their top priority at the time.”
Both brothers played a lot of ball in the military before enrolling at Keene Teachers College. Bucky, who played two seasons for the Owls (1956-57), helped usher in a resurgence of baseball at the school. His teammates included Rollie Hardwick ’57, who went on to coach and serve as the athletic director at Milford High, local players Ken Menard ’60 of Walpole and Keene native Bill DiGiulio ’59, and John Cummings ‘59, a legendary coach at Somersworth High.
Eddie returned to play three more seasons at KTC. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in Education, coming back in 1968 to earn his master’s in administration.
Simultaneously starting their teaching careers, Bucky and Eddie paid their dues coaching freshmen and JV baseball teams before moving up to the varsity.
While each achieved unprecedented success directing their programs, none could top June 9, 1973, when, in matter of hours Bucky and Eddie both hoisted state championship trophies after winning State Class I and L championships, respectively, in Manchester.
“It was a day I will never forget," said Bucky.
Bucky also won a state title in 1975 and in his final season at Keene High in 1989, while Eddie’s Monadnock teams claimed consecutive crowns in 1984 and 1985 before he retired in 1990.
In addition to the championships, both coaches were equally proud of the many players they sent into the college ranks over the years. Among the noteworthy Husky players to advance were Dave LaPointe (Dodgers) and Jimmy St. Laurent (Rangers), who signed professional contracts.
Bucky’s impressive launching list includes current Keene State Coach Ken Howe and O.T. Holden, who both played at the University of Central Florida, and Brian Tebo, a standout four-year player at Western Carolina.
Howe was a member of Bucky Main’s “Murderers Row” line-up in the early eighties. After a couple of years of seasoning, Howe blossomed into a solid all-around player during his junior season at Keene High. “Kenny was a big, strong kid who became a real good hitter,” said Bucky. “His attitude was as good as anyone I had.”
Howe enjoyed playing for Bucky and his old-school approach to the game. “I remember the first day going to see him. We had white spikes and he gave us a bottle of white shoe polish and told us, ‘I expect these to be clean every day.’ That’s the way it was,” said Howe. “We respected him and took pride in the way we looked wearing a Keene High School baseball uniform.”
“Everyone around the state knows about Keene baseball,” Howe added. “Even though we’re over here in the southwest corner of the state, people know they’re going to have a battle when they come over the hill to play.”
The game has changed during Bucky’s and Eddie’s long coaching tenure.
Over the years, both saw a dwindling dedication to the game. “Back in the 70s, the kids wanted to play baseball. They had an appreciation for the game,” said Eddie. “Talking to some of the coaches, I don’t see the same dedication we had back then.”
To the chagrin of old-timers like Bucky Main, wooden bats were replaced with metal, designated hitters came into vogue, and pitch counts became part of the baseball jargon.
“I remember when a team would hit four or five home runs the entire season,” said Bucky. “All a sudden with the aluminum bats they were hitting 35-36 and tattooing that barn out in right field.”
When it comes to the designated hitter, Bucky says it belongs in the major leagues and not at the high school level. And talk of pitch counts will send Bucky into orbit. “Coaches should have enough common sense to realize when a pitcher has more in his tank or needs to be taken out,” he said. “If he’s doing well they should keep him in.”
Regardless of their pet peeves, Bucky and Eddie Main still love and follow the game that has been a staple their entire lives. “I love it. You still can’t beat the game," said Bucky.
