It’s been quite a few years since Gerry Berthiaume stepped onto a baseball field in the state of Maine, but this weekend the Biddeford graduate will be back where it all started as he is inducted into the 2015 Class of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

Berthiaume was a solid player for Biddeford back in the early 1970s and would eventually go on to play at the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham (now University of Southern Maine) and in the minor leagues.

Those credentials alone may have gotten Berthiaume into the hall of fame, but the BHS grad also put together an impressive resume as a baseball executive ”“ including a long run as a minor league general manager.

Berthiaume’s story starts right back here in Biddeford where he played for coaches Art Descoteaux and Jim Maguire.

“I was never an all-star or an all-state player. I played the outfield and pitched and our teams were fair, but competitive. My coaches were outstanding and I learned how to play the game hard, with a positive attitude and with enthusiasm whether we won or lost,” Berthiaume told the Journal Tribune.

Berthiaume was never a part of a championship team with Biddeford, but that didn’t mean the Tigers didn’t have some big moments back in his day.

“In my senior year, Deering was again the No. 1 team in the Telegram League and they were led by an outfielder/pitcher by the name of Garry Smith, who eventually was drafted out of college by the New York Yankees. They were coming to St. Louis Field in Biddeford with one intention: To beat us and capture their umpteenth Telegram League title,” said Berthiaume. “I pitched against them in this game and, in the fifth or sixth inning, we were down 4-2. I came up with runners on first and second with two out and lifted a soft liner to left centerfield for a base hit. Now with the bases loaded, Jerry Crowley ”“ a very fierce competitor who ended up going to MIT ”“ our clean-up hitter delivered a very big blow, a grand slam to put us ahead, 6-4.”

Berthiaume was still on the mound in the ninth inning and would shut down Smith and Deering.

“Smith came up with runners on first and second with one out. I proceeded to strike him out swinging and then got the next batter to hit a one hopper back to me which I tossed to first base to end the game. I got mobbed on the mound by the players and we got an enormous ovation from the crowd of about 500 people. It was arguably my most memorable moment as a high school baseball player,” said Berthiaume.

Following his high school graduation in 1973, Berthiaume would take a proactive approach to playing at the next level.

“I drove to the campus of the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham looking for the baseball coach, Joey Bouchard. He happened to be in his office and I asked if it was at all possible for me to play college ball at UMPG,” said Berthiaume. “He asked me who I was and when I told him my name and that I played at Biddeford he said, ”˜are you that lefty outfielder/pitcher?’ And of course I said yes and I found myself going to college and playing baseball at UMPG.”

Berthiaume would struggle in his first season at UMPG, but an advertisement in this newspaper would send his baseball career on a better trajectory.

“My first year (at UMPG) was a disaster, hitting only .239, and unfortunately finding myself doing all the wrong things as a freshman,” said Berthiaume. “While playing Legion ball in the summer of 1974, I saw a very small ad in the Biddeford newspaper that was for a Cincinnati Reds tryout camp that was to take place in Cape Elizabeth. I asked many of my teammates to join me, but not one obliged. So, I went by myself to this tryout camp and that’s where things turned around.”

Berthiaume, who now lives in Berlin, Connecticut, would work out for the Reds and would impress one of the team’s officials.

“The Northeast Regional Scouting Director for the Reds, Porter Blinn, fell in love with the way I hustled that day, threw that day ”“ I did have a very strong and accurate throwing arm from the outfield ”“ the way I hit and my attitude towards the game,” said Berthiaume. “He asked where I was playing ball and how I did as a freshman and of course the batting average did not impress him at all.”

Berthiaume would not get signed by the Reds, but would start to dedicate himself to the game.

“It was the very next day that I started a completely different routine for the upcoming 1975 Spring baseball season at UMPG. It all paid off as I hit .362, hit two home runs (one a grand slam), which was the most home runs at that time in a season by a player, was named the team MVP for a 14-8 club and received All-NAIA district honors as an outfielder,” said Berthiaume.

The Biddeford grad would also excell on the mound during his sophomore campaign.

“I also had three saves for the pitching staff. In fact, the team ERA for the staff has held up for 40 years in the USM record books. We had a team ERA of 1.97,” said Berthiaume.  

Berthiaume was hoping to get selected in the Major League Baseball draft after his sophomore season, but that never happened. However, two weeks after the draft, the former BHS standout was contacted by Blinn, who gave him a contact to play minor league baseball.

“Porter Blinn called me and asked that I meet him at Deering Oaks for a one-man tryout. After the tryout, he asked if I wanted to sign as a free agent and that he could offer me a $500 bonus to sign. I obviously said yes and I was assigned to the Billings Mustangs Rookie League team in the Pioneer League in Billings, Montana,” said Berthiaume. “I made $500 a month and played against notable players such as Carney Langsford, Floyd ”˜Sugar Bear’ Rayford and Hall of Famer Andre Dawson.”

Berthiaume would actually face Dawson in his minor league debut.

“I faced nine batters in two innings, gave up three hits and one run and struck out a batter. The third batter that got a hit off me and the RBI was Andre Dawson,” said Berthiaume. “My claim to fame is that I held him to a single as he had a torrid summer as the leading hitter in the league.”

Berthiaume’s playing career would end in 1976 and he ended up back in Biddeford as the Tigers’ junior varsity baseball coach. Following a one-year stint as JV coach, Berthiaume would take some advice from Biddeford native Dr. Neil Serpico, who was the head baseball coach at Division I West Chester State University in Pennsylvania, and ended up going to the school to get his degree in Health and Physical Education.

According to Berthiaume, he would get a “baseball education” from Serpico and also met his wife, Jenny, while at West Chester.

Serpico would set the wheels in motion for Berthiaume to get back into professional baseball ”“ as an executive.

“Serpico pointed me in the direction of professional baseball as an administrator, so I took Amtrak from Philadelphia to Boca Raton, Florida, stayed with Jenny’s grandmother, rented a car and headed to Hollywood, Florida where the 1981 Baseball Winter Meetings were being held,” said Berthiaume. “I met minor league mogul Joe Buzas there, who at that time owned three minor league teams. He set me up with interviews with two of his (general managers) and I got the business manager’s job for the Eastern League’s Bristol Red Sox in Bristol, Connecticut.”

Berthiaume’s first championship as a baseball executive would come in 1983 ”“ thanks to a future MLB legend.

“We moved to New Britain, Connecticut in 1983 and won an Eastern League Championship that year with Roger Clemens pitching the deciding game,” said Berthiaume.

Following the championship season, Berthiaume would get a big opportunity.

“I was named (general manager) after the season and held the position of Executive Vice President and General Manager until Joe sold the team in 1999,” said Berthiaume. “We switched affiliation to the Minnesota Twins in 1994 and began playing in a new facility, New Britain Stadium, in 1995. We changed name to the Rock Cats and that name has stuck for all of these years.”

Berthiaume had the privilege of watching several future All-stars compete while he was general manager.

“I saw a number of players … Roger Clemens, Steve Lyons, Jeff Bagwell (traded in 1990 from New Britain to the Houston Astros), Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, Scott Cooper, John Marzano, Jeff Plympton to name a few from the Red Sox (organization) and David Ortiz and Torii Hunter from the Minnesota Twins,” said Berthiaume. “Needless to say, it was a great run. I stay in touch with the folks in Minnesota and visited them with my family during their final season in the Metrodome. We got the ”˜royal’ treatment.”

Berthiaume was thrilled to find out he was being inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I was inducted into the University of Southern Maine Hall of Fame in 1993, having only played there for two years. I thought that was a terrific honor. But to be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame is off the charts incredible,” said Berthiaume. “I am extremely thankful and honored to be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. I’ve been out of the state for a long time and most of my baseball accomplishments have been in Connecticut, so this is without a doubt unbelievable.”

The Biddeford native gives plenty of credit to the people who helped him along the way.

“I have a host of people to thank for this accomplishment but most importantly to the one person that went to bat for me, who I call my little brother, Tim Curley. (Curley), who graduated from USM, played in the Pirates organization and is also in the USM Hall of Fame, nominated me several months ago,” said Berthiaume. “He’s also in the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame and it will be such a great feeling to know that we will share these honors together. He will be at the event on Sunday and I can’t wait to see him. This would not have happened without him.”

Berthiaume will be inducted along with 10 other players, coaches and contributors during an event held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland on Sunday.

NOTE: Look for a story on fellow 2015 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Rod Choroszy of Old Orchard Beach, in Saturday’s Journal Tribune.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.