NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale baseball head coach position has been endowed in memory of Francis T. "Fay" Vincent '31. The endowed position was made possible by a donation from his son, Francis T. "Fay" Vincent, Jr. '63 LL.B.

A Torrington, Conn. native, Fay Vincent captained the baseball and football teams at Yale. In his senior year of baseball, under legendary head coach Howard E. "Smoky Joe" Wood, Fay led the Bulldogs to a 14-9 record that included a pair of wins against both Harvard and Princeton. He holds the Yale Baseball record for triples in a single season with seven, a testament to his speed, strength, and hitting ability. As a football player, Fay Vincent played in the famous Army-Yale football game at the Yale Bowl in 1929. During his senior year of football, Fay led the Bulldogs to a 5-2-2 mark and was selected to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl.

"We are honored to pay tribute to the incredible legacy of Fay '31," said Victoria M. "Vicky" Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. "We are grateful to Fay '63 for honoring his father with this generous gesture that will support Yale Baseball for years to come."

Upon graduating and settling in New Haven, Fay pursued careers in teaching and banking before embarking on a career in utilities with the Southern New England Telephone Company. He continued his baseball playing career after Yale in the City Amateur League where he won the batting title with a .579 batting average. Fay eventually became a baseball umpire and football referee, officiating at the high school and college levels and ascending to the National Football League in 1940.

Throughout his life Fay was an active alumnus and avid supporter of the Bulldogs, an example of the lifelong bond created between Yalies and their alma mater. Fay shared his passion for baseball, football, and love of Yale with his son Fay Vincent Jr. who would earn a law degree from Yale in 1963 and pursue a law career leading to positions as chairman of Columbia Pictures Industries and executive vice president of Coca Cola. In 1989, Vincent Jr. succeeded his friend and former Yale President A. Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti '60, '64 Ph.D. as Commissioner of Major League Baseball, a position he held until 1992.

The donation from Fay Vincent, Jr. honors his father's love for baseball, pride in Yale athletics, and appreciation of the mentorship that a coach provides student-athletes. "My father, whose name I share, taught me to love baseball and to appreciate the joys of playing it as well as the challenges and subtleties of our great game," said Fay Vincent, Jr. "Like Bart Giamatti, he was proud of his Yale ties and believed in doing all things both well and properly. He would be honored to be identified with his alma mater and with the noble tradition of Yale baseball."

Brian Hamm, who is in his second year at Yale, is now the Fay Vincent '31 Head Coach of Baseball.

Hamm first met Fay Vincent, Jr., in 2007. That summer, Hamm was a coach with the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Vincent, Jr., had been the league's president and chairman of the board.

"Fay Vincent '31 lived a life dedicated to service, leadership, character, work ethic and curiosity; traits that are at the heart of how Yale educates athletes," said Hamm. "It is fitting that the Vincent name be associated with the head baseball coach position as an inspirational model for coaches and athletes. His legacy reminds us that our first responsibility is to the greater good. Thank you to Fay Vincent, Jr., for his generous investment in Yale Athletics. In honoring his father, Fay Jr.'s gift celebrates the people and communities that were a part of Fay Vincent's life."