Lehigh University Athletics
Perich trades in majors for major
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Last summer, Lehigh head baseball coach Sean Leary gathered his team together to talk about their new hitting coach. He was concerned they might be confused about his new hire, so he wanted to clear the air. The new coach was very experienced and knew a lot about hitting, but there was one thing about him they might find odd. Their new coach was a freshman.
Lehigh’s new hitting coach Josh Perich is indeed a freshman – but spent the last five years playing minor league baseball in the New York Mets organization. Now 24, Perich has put his baseball dream on hold to pursue higher education at Lehigh, and will be providing his expertise to the Lehigh baseball team while doing so.
“I was recruited here by Coach Leary when I was in high school,” says Perich, who is from nearby Slatington and went to Northwestern Lehigh High school. “When I decided to go back to school, obviously education was very important to me. I was familiar with Lehigh from when I was in high school, so when I got in here, I knew it would be a good place for me.”
Leary tells of when Perich says he knew a change was coming. “They were on a road trip his last summer” explains Leary. “They stopped at some local store, and while the other players were buying magazines and comic books, Josh purchased calculus and physics textbooks.”
“It’s been awhile since I’d been in school, so I was a little nervous coming back,” says Perich, whose blond hair and boyish smile allow him to pass easily for an undergraduate, if not a freshman. “I remember looking around my first day and seeing all these young kids walk by, and thinking, ‘oh man’.”
When Perich ran into Leary last summer, he mentioned he would be coming to Lehigh in the fall and asked about the possibility of helping out with the baseball team.
“I had been giving hitting lessons for a few years already, and thought maybe I could help out with the team,” Perich says. “The coaching staff was in a little bit of turnover, so it just worked out.”
Leary says Perich brings a fresh point of view to the coaching staff: “In this business, the longer you coach, the more credibility you earn. But because of where Josh has been, he already has that credibility with the players. It’s not a matter of name-dropping or anything, but I think players sit up and take notice when someone says they learned something from a major league player or manager.”
Drafted in the 11th round by the Mets out of high school, Perich passed up a full ride at Davidson to take his crack at the big leagues. He spent most of his time shuttling between the lower levels of the Mets farm system, in places like Port St. Lucie, Florida, Columbia, South Carolina, and Kingsport, Tennessee. He got to participate in Spring Training in the Mets camp one year, even teaching Garth Brooks how to slide.
He had some success over the years, leading his winter league team in home runs one off-season. But a combination of injuries, illness, and bad luck kept him from getting a real shot at the higher levels. Perich says he has no regrets.
“I wouldn’t change anything that has happened,” Perich says defiantly. “Everything that took place led to where I am now. Sure I wish I could have done better, but it just didn’t work out. I love it here at Lehigh, and I am surprised at how much I enjoy coaching. I wasn’t sure what I would think of it at first, but now I feel like it’s something I will be a part of for a long time.”
One thing Coach Leary worried about at the beginning was Perich’s ability to juggle a full classload with the responsibilities of being a coach. But Perich says his baseball job actually helps him in school.
Perich goes to school in the mornings, taking classes towards his planned major of chemical engineering. After class he comes into the office, taking care of various administrative tasks and getting schoolwork done until practice begins. “I live a good distance from campus,” says Perich, who earned a 3.49 grade point average in his first semester, “so it’s not like I’m going to go home between school and workouts. It really helps me plan my hours better. I actually think it would be harder if I wasn’t coaching.”
And as for the adjustment to being a student once again?
“Well, I definitely think I am doing better now than I would have had I gone straight to college then,” Perich says with a smile. “I don’t have to worry about trying to fit in.”
The players on the team have had a good time with it as well, says Perich. “I’ve been invited to try out a couple fraternities,” laughs Perich, “and I actually have had some classes with people on the team. They just call me Coach.”
Perich has thought about trying to latch on with an independent team this summer to give it one last shot, like the local Allentown Ambassadors. But if it doesn’t happen, he won’t look back with disappointment. “I love what I am doing right now, and I look forward to helping this team reach their potential this year.”
“Besides,” he says, “I hit two home runs in what turned out to be the last game of my professional career,” he says, “if nothing else, that’s not a bad way to go out.”
-Story by Micah B. Hart, Lehigh Media Relations
