October 17, 2014
Name: Dan Maynard - Biology
Graduating Class: `87
Hometown: Broadalbin, NY
Current Residence: Saratoga County, NY
Current Occupation: Vice President TW Telecom - Albany, NY
Position: Catcher
Family Information: Dan has been married to his wife Maria now for the past 19 years. He is happy to inform everyone that Maria has recently retired from teaching with the intention of following their son Danny (18) around the country watching him play baseball for the University of Notre Dame. Danny committed to Notre Dame this summer and will enter in the fall of 2015.
LAFAYETTE COLLEGE CAREER STATS and RECORDS
SINGLE SEASON RECORDS
• 10th Single Season Batting Average .411 1987
• 5th Single Season RBI 49 1987
• 6th Single Season Triples 5 1987
LAFAYETTE CAREER STATS
• 10th Career Hits 176
• 6th Career Average .364
• 5th Career Runs 143
• 1st Career RBIs 156
• 9th Career Doubles 34
• 5th Career Triples 11
• 8th Career Total Bases 266
• 9th Career Slugging Percentage .551 AWARDS
o 1987 Lafayette College Outstanding Senior Male Athlete
o 1987 ECC Conference Player of the Year
o 1987 Converse All Region Team
o 1987 1st Team All ECC Conference Catcher
o Team Captain and Team MVP
o 1986 1st Team All ECC Conference Catcher
o Team Captain
o Cape Cod League - Falmouth Commodores
o 1985 1st Team All ECC Conference Catcher
o Team MVP
o Cape Cod League - Hyannis Mets
o 1984 2nd Team All ECC Conference Catcher
What attracted you to attend Lafayette College?
From my very first visit to Lafayette, I could sense the quality of the campus. I loved the size, look, openness and the overall feel of the campus. Not sure if it was luck or fate, but Lafayette College was just the perfect fit for me. Obviously, an education from Lafayette speaks for itself, but the instant connection I had with Coach Hindelang took it over the top. I loved his vision and direction on where he wanted to take the program, philosophies on the game of baseball and life. He always told me if I ever got into coaching to never recruit someone that I didn't like because he felt that you would never pour your heart and soul into that person. That little life teaching moment was something that I have carried over to my professional life.
What do you miss most about Lafayette?
I miss everything about Lafayette -- the campus life, being with your friends every day, going to football games on Saturday afternoons and cheering on my fraternity brothers. Not a day goes by when I don't think about the best four years of my life and the entire experience. The camaraderie of playing baseball at Lafayette was priceless.
Between your former teammates and coaches, who has made the most impact on your career?
Without hesitations it is Coach Joe Hindelang. I hear his voice in my head almost everyday. He didn't just teach us the game of baseball; he taught us how to be men. He often connected the parallels between life and the game of baseball during our conversations. He always reminded us that "life wasn't fair and neither was the game of baseball." He taught me that it was ok to fail because it was really all about how you handled the adversity when things weren't going well. He would always tell me "to learn from my past and move forward." I still hear him saying "Dan, if you want to get to the next level, you need to do something today better than you did yesterday. Expect excellence and give me your best. " I have adopted this simple philosophy to my life and career by challenging my work teams to give their all and expect excellence.
What collegiate baseball experiences have been invaluable to your successful career?
One thing about that 1987 ECC Championship team was that we were coached to expect excellence. You knew right away what the expectation were when you came to Lafayette. This was done with transparency and respect from the 25th man on the roster to the 1st man on the rosters. It did not matter who you were on the team because if you didn't strive for excellence, you just wouldn't fit in with Coach. I look back at some of the guys I played with just to name a few -- Jeff Mutis, Gino Cara, Chris Tedeschi, George Yolich, Joe Yanek, John Boozang, John Scott, Mike Ippolito -- we all bought into Coach's philosophy of "do something better today than you did yesterday. Then do something better tomorrow than you did today." This idea of "chemistry" leads me the next invaluable lesson I learned from my playing days at Lafayette. I look around my office now and look at the work teams that I direct. I see people that really care about each other, pull for each other, help one another succeed and reach their goals just like we did on that 1987 ECC Championship team.
What was your most memorable moment playing Lafayette baseball?
Let's start with my first game playing for Lafayette as a freshman because it was in leftfield. Mind you, it was our first game of the year, in Florida against Purdue. At the time, I had never been on a plane in my life, so that was an experience all by itself. Coach Hindelang decided to start me in left field that game which was alarming because I had only played a handful of games in the outfield during my high school career. All I had were my catchers mitts, so I had to borrow someone's outfield glove to top it all off. It wasn't all bad because I did go 2-4 on the day. Sorry to say, I never did step foot in left field again and I caught the rest of my career at Lafayette. Then there were the rivalry games against Delaware. These games were always big at the time because Delaware was stacked. This one particular double header versus Delaware my roommate Billy Paulik was pitching game 1. We gave up 3 runs in the first inning but I hit a 3 run HR to tie it up the follow inning. We eventually won Game 1 which was huge because we were trying to win the league. Game 2 starter Jeff Mutis came in to close Game 1 and Delaware was all over him. I mean all over him because Jeff was maybe 160 lbs soaking wet, but he threw gas. He shut them down, struck out the side and then won Game 2 for us. It was awesome. I could have caught 50 innings that day! Next was my last game I ever playing for Lafayette losing to Delaware my senior year. I was awarded the 1987 ECC Player of the Year Award after that game but all I wanted to do was trade the award for that single win. The award meant nothing to me at that point in time. However, looking back now, I am really proud of that award because of all the hard work and commitment I put into my baseball career. Finally, the quality of teams / players we faced and how life goes full circle. We were playing Seton Hall at the time: their lead off hitter was Marquis Robinson who led the NCAA in hitting, batting second was Craig Biggio, a future MLB Hall of Famer, Batting third was a future MLB All-star with the Boston Red Sox John Valentine, batting cleanup of course another future MLB All-Star Mo Vaughn. I found myself calling from behind home plate and thinking to myself "Wow, these guys have a really good lineup." I had the opportunity to reconnect with Craig Biggio this past year during my son's recruiting trips to Notre Dame. Both of his sons are currently on the Notre dame Baseball team.
What do you feel are some of your greatest accomplishments?
As a Lafayette student, graduating from a school like Lafayette and creating those life long friendships. I grew up a lot over my four years in college and I could not have done it without my friends. As Lafayette Baseball player, it has to being named the ECC 1987 Player of the Year and 1987 Lafayette Male Athlete of the Year. I am very proud of these honors because I was measured against other amazing athletes in the ECC as well at Lafayette. It humbled me to be among these great athletes who were just as deserving as I was in 1987. For example, there were guys like Joe Yanek, a two sport athlete in football and baseball and Bruce McIntyre, who played for the Denver Broncos as a running back in 1987. Is there one teammate you would love to hear from? It would have to be our starting short stop George Yolich. George might be one of the best short stops I have ever seen. He was always free spirited and filled the role as the joker of the team. But when it was game time, he turned it on. He was the poster boy for the term "Gamer."
What advice do you have for Lafayette athletes?
1st "It's not how you start -- it's how your finish" My career did not start off to well because we were not the best team my freshman year. The guys that Coach Hindelang brought in after me though just added to the "family culture" he was building. It really was culture of guys pulling for each other off and on the field. It all came together my senior year when we won the ECC. This is why the saying "it's not how you start, it's how you finish" resonates with me so much today. 2nd "Start with the end in mind" You might not be the All-Conference player as a freshman, but you can be by the end of your senior year. Work hard, never give up, and develop your self with the end in mind.
