Matthew Reichert ’28
Staff Writer
Former Holy Cross pitcher, Matt Blake, appeared in the World Series this fall as the Yankees pitching coach. Blake has served in this role since November 7, 2019.
Many Holy Cross students probably likely aren’t happy about Blake’s success. After all, we are in Massachusetts, which is decidedly Red Sox country. I can imagine any frustration may grow when you consider just how integral Matt Blake has been to the Yankees success.
As the Yankees pitching coach, Blake has worked on more fixer-uppers than HGTV. There’s no Mariano Rivera in the Yankees bullpen this year. However, with guys like Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Tim Mayza, and Mark Leiter Jr., Blake has produced a winner.
Let’s focus on maybe his greatest achievement: Luke Weaver. Weaver, who spent parts of last season with the Reds and Mariners, had an earned run average (ERA) over 6. Then, Matt Blake got his hands on him. All of the sudden, Luke Weaver is the closer on the best team in the American League. Weaver posted a 3.38 ERA last season in his three games with the Yankees, and in 62 games this year, Weaver went 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA in the regular season. That change in one year—incredible.
Holy Cross has no current MLB players and very few in total post-WWII. Matt Blake may represent the peak of HC in professional baseball for the time being, which is worth recognizing. He has represented Holy Cross in the World Series this year. That’s one more institution—along with the Supreme Court, the US Senate, and the CEO’s office of JetBlue—that HC is represented and Boston College isn’t. So… there. Also, did you know that Boston College calls their baseball players Birdballers? I have to imagine this hurts recruiting.
Don’t think all the great things about the Matt Blake Holy Cross baseball experience happened after he graduated. He was also a pitcher for the Crusaders. By his senior year he was co-captain. As a junior, he even pitched over two scoreless innings in a classic one-run victory over Central-Connecticut in 2006. His freshman year, he was on that team that beat Bowling Green. Sophomore year he did have more runs allowed than innings pitched, but that season served as a learning experience that helped him later.
After college he became a high school coach, and private instructor. A good one, too. According to Charlie Galland on Matt Blake’s LinkedIn profile (do baseball teams look for coaches on LinkedIn?), “Matt is a dedicated instructor who worked with numerous kids from our team. He was able to translate both the fundamentals and the difficult mechanics to athletes.”
He went on to work for Cleveland’s MLB team as well before the Yankees. All this led him to baseball’s biggest stage in 2024. Maybe you hate the Yankees, maybe you’re not invested in Holy Cross baseball, maybe you’re skeptical of the veracity of LinkedIn comments.
Nevertheless, I think it’s worth being proud of our school and its connection with Matt Blake. He has reached the pinnacle of his field and, maybe, Holy Cross helped him get there. In some ways his victory is the school’s victory. So if you did not root for the Yankees in the 2024 World Series, you should have at least rooted for your fellow Crusader, pitching coach Matt Blake.
Featured Image courtesy of The New York Times
Web Edited by Zexuan Qu ’28
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