Memories Diamond
by Stacey Walters
I
f you are a baseball fan in Eastern Kentucky, then Johnnie LeMaster is easily recognized as a local diamond legend. A former professional baseball player who served as the head baseball coach for the Pikeville College Bears between 1994 and 2006, LeMaster set records and inspired many on and off the field. A Paintsville, Ky., native, he began his baseball career in high school and jumped to the big-leagues as the sixth overall pick in the 1973 Major League Draft by the San Francisco Giants.
LeMaster played shortstop for four major league teams over 12 seasons (1975-1985 and 1987), 10 of them for the San Francisco Giants. He set a major league record, hitting an inside-the-park home run in his first at-bat as a Giant during a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of only two players to ever accomplish the feat.
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He recalls playing in historic Wrigley Field and Fenway Park as “pure, unadulterated baseball.”
After his major league career, LeMaster returned home to Kentucky. Soon after that, he accepted a head coaching position at then Pikeville College and built upon the Bears baseball program for 12 seasons and became the all-time leader in career coaching wins with 277.
More than that, LeMaster wanted to positively influence Appalachia’s youth, and serving as the head baseball coach at Pikeville College gave him that opportunity. “God had blessed me with a talent to teach baseball, and I did not want to bury that talent,” said LeMaster. “I wanted to have a positive effect on young people to help guide them in better ways in this world.”
Ron Damron, dean of students and athletics director during that period, praised LeMaster for establishing a successful program and serving as a role model for Eastern Kentucky athletes.
