Coach Robert N. Baldwin
Graduating class: 1980
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2015
Hall of Fame Category: Coach
Robert N. Baldwin took over the boys’ basketball coaching reins prior to the 1988-89 season when he replaced the veteran Mark Southworth who had resigned to accept the dual role of athletic director and boys basketball coach at Bourne High School. For Baldwin, it was a coming home party of sorts.
In the late 1970’s he was a two-sport athlete at the high school in the town where he grew up. He played some varsity basketball but his athletic career at Fairhaven High School was clearly defined by his success on the baseball field where his pitching and hitting earned him numerous accolades over the last two years of his varsity career.
As a junior, the hard-hitting and throwing lefthander helped keep his Blue Devils in the thick of the Southeastern Massachusetts Conference Division 2 East race. One memorable moment came five games into the schedule when he pitched Fairhaven’s first shutout and complete game of the season, striking out seven while issuing no walks in helping his team record its fourth win in five starts.
The following season Baldwin was one of the better pitchers in the area, earning Standard-Times Perfection Player of the Week honors for his four-hit pitching gem in blanking Bourne, 4-0, and for his offense that produced three hits and five runs in a 22-1 rout of Holy Family. Baldwin finished his high school baseball career - by earning a spot on The Standard-Times All-Star team thanks to his .430 batting average and impressive pitching numbers that included a 6-2 record and ERA of 1.60.
Following his graduation Baldwin enrolled at Springfield College where he continued his baseball career, primarily as a relief pitcher, while earning a degree in Physical Education. He then dipped his toes into the coaching waters when he was named head coach of Fairhaven’s Post 166 American Legion baseball team. In previous summers he had coached baseball at the Ted Williams Camp in Lakeville.
He married his high school sweetheart (Jane Collins) in 1984 and after receiving his Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland, the couple returned to Fairhaven where Jane resumed her career as a nurse and Bob accepted a teaching position in the Dartmouth school system. After two years of teaching and serving as a volunteer basketball coach under Steve Gaspar, Baldwin returned to Fairhaven High School where he was named the Blue Devils’ head basketball coach, succeeding Southworth.
Baldwin’s basketball coaching career at Fairhaven lasted 12 seasons. Over those dozen campaigns he compiled a record of 149-113 including tournament games. Under his guidance, Fairhaven qualified for the postseason tournament eight times. Nine of his teams finished the season with double-figure wins, only three had losing records and none won fewer than eight games. His best season came in 1990-91 (Baldwin’s third year with the team) when the Blue Devils finished the regular season at 16-4 and advanced to the South Sectional Tournament semifinals before being eliminated.
Bob’s last season was 1999-2000 and his players said thank you with a record of 18-4, the most regular season wins by any team he coached. With his coaching career in the rearview mirror, Baldwin looked ahead to his educational goals serving as a vice principal at the Hastings Middle and as principal at Middleboro High School, he was later appointed Superintendent of Schools in Fairhaven, a position he continues to hold.