Legendary coach Ralph Raymond died early Tuesday morning, according to a tweet from ESPN broadcaster Michele Smith and later confirmed in a news release by USA Softball.
Raymond was 94 years old, just days away from what would have been his 95th birthday on April 27th.
The head coach of the 1996 and 2000 US Olympic teams, Raymond led Team USA to back-to-back gold medals in the first two Olympics that featured softball. He led Team USA to a 332-9 record during his tenure as the national team manager, giving him a .974 winning percentage in the red, white, and blue.
Then known as the ISF World Championships, now known as the WBSC World Championships, Raymond led the United States team to five championships during that tournament, including in 1974, ’78, ’86, ’90, and 1994.
Raymond’s tenure United States national team head coach was also marked with a trio of gold medal from the Pan American Games, earned in 1979, ’95, and ’99. He led the US to a silver medal finish in the same tournament in 1983.
The manager of the legendary Raybestos Brakettes from 1968 through 1994, Raymond also helped popularize the game of softball in the lead-up to the Olympics with the US pre-Olympic tour. Just a few of the softball legends that he coached include Joan Joyce, Sue Enquist, Lisa Fernandez, Dot Richardson, and Smith.
