Carrollton, GA – Tom D’Armi, the man credited with beginning West Georgia’s winning tradition in baseball, died Saturday in Wilson, N.C., at the age of 75.
A 1990 inductee into the University of West Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame, D’Armi spent four seasons (1962-65) as the school’s head baseball coach. His teams posted an impressive record of 59-13, and his teams captured three consecutive Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.
D’Armi also mentored several of program’s all-time greats. His list of former players includes two charter members of the West Georgia Hall of Fame: Ronnie Burchfield and John Devore. Also, 2010 Hall inductee Jimmy Blackwell played under D’Armi’s tutelage.
After leaving Carrollton D’Armi spent eight seasons (1966-73) as an assistant coach at Mississippi State. There, he helped the Bulldogs to three Southeastern Conference titles, including a trip to the 1971 College World Series.
After leaving Mississippi State, D’Armi excelled in a variety of endeavors. He trained former heavyweight boxing champ Floyd Patterson, traveled to Italy as the general manager and field boss for the Milan franchise in the European professional baseball league, and authored the book “Daddy, Will You Play Catch With Me?”
D’Armi in 1977 moved to Duke University, where he began a 28-year relationship with the ACC institution. He spent one season as assistant baseball coach under Enos “Country” Slaughter, and was then named the Blue Devils’ head coach, a position he maintained through the 1984 season.
During his seven-year tenure at Duke, D’Armi’s teams posted five straight winning seasons, and an overall record of 125-98-2. Also, he coached eight All-ACC selections and had seven Major League Baseball draft picked during that time.
Beyond coaching baseball, D’Armi also handled groundskeeping duties at Duke’s Jack Coombs Field, grooming the field on his tractor on the morning of every home game and lining the field himself. After retiring from coaching in 1984, he took over management of all of Duke’s athletic facilities, including Cameron Indoor Stadium and Wallace Wade Stadium. He later assumed responsibility for game management of all Duke athletic events.
A native of Federalsburg, Md., D’Armi was an All-America soccer player at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) State, where he graduated in 1960. He later earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina.
D’Armi was preceded in death by his wife, Jane and is survived by son, Mickey.