Head coach Ed Blankmeyer is entering his 13th season at the helm of the St. John's baseball program. In 12 seasons with the Red Storm, Blankmeyer has posted a 398-247-3 record, won two BIG EAST regular season titles, one tournament championship and made four NCAA Regional appearances. St. John's has flourished every season under the tutelage of Blankmeyer and his staff of Mike Hampton and Scott Brown. Blankmeyer has guided St. John's to three consecutive 40-win seasons, four 30-win seasons and at least 29 wins in ten of his 12 seasons. He has been named BIG EAST Coach of the Year three times, Northeast Region Coach of the Year three times and has seen 40 of his players sign professional contracts. Utilizing a superb mix of pitching and offense, the 2007 Red Storm won 40 games for the third straight season and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament via the Myrtle Beach Regional. For the second straight season, the Red Storm was the only team in the country to finish in the top ten nationally in both team batting average, seventh, and team ERA, tenth. A school record eight players earned All-BIG EAST honors, while Ryan Mahoney was named to the ABCA All-Northeast Region second team and Brian Kemp earned freshman All-America honors. Blankmeyer himself earned both BIG EAST and Northeast Region coach of the year honors for the second time in three seasons. The 2007 squad also saw three players sign professional contracts. Anthony Smith was drafted in the 21st round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Sam DeLuca (New York Mets) and Brendan Monaghan (Baltimore Orioles) singed free agent deals. Despite losing seven players to professional baseball in 2005, the 2006 Red Storm won 40 games for the second season in a row and was a victory away from the BIG EAST Championship game. With new players in new roles, including a group of underclassmen pitchers that accounted for over 70 percent of the team's innings, St. John's grew quickly and finished among the top 10 nationally in both team batting average and team earned run average. Senior Will Vogl grew into one of the most dynamic leadoff hitters in the country and earned first team All-BIG EAST and third team All-America honors. Vogl (New York Mets) and co-captain pitcher Rob Delaney (Minnesota) signed professional contracts and made solid debuts for their organizations, giving Blankmeyer and the Red Storm nine signings in a two year span. A record seven players signed in 2005, including six selections in the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Reliever Craig Hansen headlined that list by being selected with the 26th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox. Anthony Varvaro (12th round), Greg Thomson (15th), P.J. Antoniato (15th), Joe Burke (18th), Anthony Sullivan (19th) and Jim Wladyka (signed as free agent) would follow, as Blankmeyer and St. John's continued their history of strong representation in professional baseball. The group of players that moved to the next level was the end result of a 2005 season that was perhaps the most successful in school history. The team broke a 27-year old school record for wins in a single season, finishing 41-18 overall and 19-4 in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm went on to capture the BIG EAST regular season title, and Blankmeyer went on to earn his second straight Northeast Regional Coach of the Year honor. After the record-setting regular season, St. John's made its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and the third under Blankmeyer. Blankmeyer has come a long way since taking the helm of the St. John's program in 1996. An associate head coach at Seton Hall University for 14 seasons, he came to St. John's after spending just over a year as Seton Hall's director of admissions. Blankmeyer succeeded longtime head coach Joe Russo, who retired in 1995, and immediately elevated St. John's to one of the elite programs in the Northeast. He was hired on Feb. 1, 1996, just five weeks before the 1996 season began, and led the Red Storm to a 26-18 record - an astonishing task, considering he had to evaluate his talent from indoor workouts and put a team on the field for the first time without ever having seen it play. The Red Storm finished 14-10 in the BIG EAST Conference, came within two outs of the BIG EAST championship game and finished third in the postseason tournament. For his stellar efforts, he was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year, an incredible achievement considering he had only 17 players and five healthy pitchers for a majority of the season. The following season, he guided the Red Storm to its first NCAA Regional appearance in five years and won the school's fifth BIG EAST Tournament Championship. The team finished 35-17 and was 16-7 in the conference, just a half game behind West Virginia for the BIG EAST American Division crown. In addition, the 35 victories were the most by a St. John's team since 1986. After losing his starting rotation to the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft (Derek Adair, Mike Hughes, Mike Rooney), Blankmeyer still managed to lead his team to a 28-17-1 record and an appearance in the conference postseason tournament. Blankmeyer had three players earn All-America honors, (Kevin McGerry, Keith Stamler and Mike Dzurilla) and as a result of his achievements, he was invited to participate in the NCAA Y.E.S. Clinic held in Omaha, Neb., during the 1998 College World Series. In 2001, the Red Storm was picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST, but the team responded with an outstanding season and was in the race for the BIG EAST Tournament all the way through the final weekend of the season. A one-run loss at Rutgers knocked the Red Storm out of contention for a tournament berth, and St. John's finished with a 31-22 record. Prior to that season, Blankmeyer and the University oversaw the construction of The Ballpark at St. John's, a first-class facility equipped with an electronic scoreboard, press box, lighting and a public address system. Combined with the team's recent successes, Red Storm fans had plenty of reason for optimism heading into the 21st century. In 2002, the Red Storm battled through early season-ending injuries to starting pitchers Marc Goldberg, Geno Orsogna and Joe Reid and overcame a sluggish start to come within a game of a BIG EAST Tournament berth. Younger players grew as the season wore on, and the team won 28 of its last 43 regular season games to finish 29-23 overall and 14-12 in league play. Blankmeyer achieved a personal goal midway through the 2002 season when the Red Storm beat C.W. Post, 10-7, on April 17 for his 200th career win. In 2004, the team was picked to finish seventh in the league, but with a strong pitching staff, the Red Storm surprised many league members by posting 17 wins, finishing second in the league and advancing to an NCAA Regional. The team finished with a 37-23 record overall and was the only squad from the Northeast selected as an at-large participant for the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm gave second-seeded Long Beach State all it could handle in the first round of the Palo Alto Regional at Stanford and topped UNLV before being eliminated by top-seeded Stanford. Blankmeyer's recruiting prowess has been well documented, having coached over 80 players who went on to play professional baseball, including eight first round draft picks - most notably major leaguers Mo Vaughn (1995 American League MVP), Craig Biggio, Matt Morris and John Valentin. Craig Hansen joined that exclusive list in 2005 when he went from the 26th overall selection in the amateur draft to a member of the Boston Red Sox bullpen months later. In addition to his duties in the dugout, Blankmeyer has also been heavily involved in the management of collegiate baseball off the field. Prior to the 2008 season, Blankmeyer was appointed as a conference representative for the NCAA baseball selection committee and was also named an ABCA Division I Eastern Regional chairman. Also, in December of 2007, Blankmeyer represented the ABCA at the MLB winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn. to discuss collegiate and professional baseball issues. Before the 2006 season, Blankmeyer was appointed to the American Baseball Coaches Association Editorial Committee and was also named President of the BIG EAST Baseball Coaches Committee. An outstanding second baseman in his own right, Blankmeyer played four seasons at Seton Hall during his college days, hitting .320, with 152 hits and 66 stolen bases. He co-captained the 1976 Pirate team that went on to play in the NCAA Northeast Regional and was the starting second baseman of both the 1974 and 1975 Seton Hall squads that played in the College World Series. He was the Atlantic Collegiate League Most Valuable Player in 1975. Blankmeyer earned Academic All-America honors during his tour at Seton Hall and graduated in 1976. Following his graduation, he was a 15th-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles. He spent one season in the Orioles farm system before beginning his coaching career. The ultimate compliment came in 1986 when Blankmeyer was honored by Seton Hall, receiving induction into the Pirate Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the North Shore High School Hall of Fame. Blankmeyer and his wife, Susan, reside in Convent Station, N.J. They have two daughters, Brittany Leigh and Alison Joy, and one son, Taylor Edward.
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