There are very few men who were as dedicated to the game of baseball and the young men who play it as the Bronx's own Frank “Buddy” Paine. Paine was proud of his Irish heritage and got his amazing work ethic from his parents. Buddy learned desire, discipline, focus and toughness at a young age, having been a successful golden gloves boxer. He also had a tremendous love for the game of baseball.
One of Buddy's earliest coaching stints was at at Concordia College in Bronxville. At Concordia, Buddy built a strong Division II baseball program which produced two future major leaguers- Scott Leius (Minnesota Twins) and John Doherty (Detroit Tigers). Buddy also had a huge hand in the development of major league shortstop Mike Aviles (Kansas City Royals). Amazingly enough, the small division two school produced three major leaguers in a short span. He also was the head coach for the division one Iona Gales.
Paine became a well known fixture in the local area baseball scene as well, as he guided the ACBL New York Generals to muliple titles. Through this process, and his other summer baseball projects, he coached over 120 future professional baseball players. As time passed, Buddy began scouting for the Cleveland Indians and followed that stint with the Detroit Tigers. He was most recently named the Northeast Scouting Supervisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
During this time, Paine had a vision to form an elite level baseball organization, along with his very successful “Diamond Buddies” program (which is still run today by the outstanding instruction of Carlos Abreu). The New York Nine was co-founded in 2006 by Paine and Ian Millman with the express purpose of getting maximum exposure to the collegiate coaching and pro scouting communities for qualified student athletes. Paine was instrumental in helping create the rosters, create scouting venues such as the spring scrimmage, and set up the overall goals for the organization.
One of the most straight-forward assessors of talent you would ever come across, Paine would consistently put conviction and principle before the dollar. His assessment of talent, or lack thereof, would never waiver. He would tell parents and athletes alike the truth in what he saw presently, and what they could or couldnt expect in the future. It was this philosophy which made him one of the most respected men in the New York scouting community. Buddy passed in August, 2008, after losing a brave fight with Pancreotic Cancer. The New York Nine will always carry itself in the professional manner that its co-founder demanded.
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“I learned many lessons from Buddy. The most important thing that Buddy demanded was that no matter what you stay professional- in your desire to excel at something, work ethic, approach, everything. This translates to all areas of life. You must envision success, and work for it, to become successful… nothing is handed to you, and in this life you're not guaranteed anything but death and taxes. Buddy also wasn't one of these 'yes' men. He would tell you what he was thinking, and would never change his own mind based on what someone else said they saw or didnt see in a player. He always wrote accurate scouting reports, and would give many people the courtesy of seeing players they thought were worthy, but at the end would go with guys he thought had major league potential. Lastly, he taught me you can't eat a t-shirt- meaning that people shouldnt expect the whole world for free. There is nothing wrong with providing the very best of services for fair compensation, making sure you never overlook someone who needs assistance along the way – Visa and the Landlord don't give credit for community service. Parents sometimes lose focus that coaches put in a tremendous amount of time and work for their children, and this is done more for the love of the sport and desire to see young men succeed than for the money, money which is minimal in summer ball. I want to thank Buddy for all he has taught me, all he has done for me, and promise to never sacrifice professionalism, hard work, honesty, integrity and self worth – in exchange for the 'dollar' or to become another yes man”. – Ian Millman, General Manager and Co-Founder of the New York Nine.
