Bio
Mike Gaski was elected to his first term as President of USA Baseball on January 7, 2001, he was re-elected multiple times and served until December 2023,
He was the Head Baseball Coach at UNCG since its inception in 1991 and in those 22 seasons accumulated over 650 wins. A beautiful $4.3 million baseball stadium was completed in 1999 and a new $2.4 million locker room and training center opened in 2010.
During his tenure, Gaski coached over 40 players who have been either drafted or signed with professional baseball including Rob Gilliam (2007-09), Ricky Orton (2007-08), Matt Gaski (2007-08), Ryan Falcon (2003-07), Guy Welsh (2006-07), Jermaine Mitchell (2006), Chris Mason (2003-05), Taft Cable (1999-01), Brian Moehler (1991-93), and Jay Metzger (2001-04).
He has had on his squads four All-Americans, five Freshman All-Americans, three Freshman All-American honorable mentions, two Academic All-Americans, and a remarkable fifty-four All-Conference selections. Six of his players have been inducted into the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame.
Coach Gaski guided the program to NCAA Tournament appearances and league championships in two different Division I conferences – the Big South and the Southern. Gaski has also led the Spartans into the Top 30 of several national polls over his 22 seasons. In 2006, he guided the Spartans to the program’s first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team when UNCG knocked off North Carolina, the eventual national runner-up. He has been honored as the Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions; his most recent award was in 2011.
In 2010, Gaski was presented with his 600th win as a head coach, and that year he was also inducted into UNCG’s Hall of Fame with his 1994 team. That Spartan team, composed mostly of the players who had started the UNCG program only three years earlier, posted 39 wins and captured their first Big South Conference title. The ’94 squad made UNCG’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in any Division I sport. In 1997, the Spartans recorded a school-record 45 wins on the way to the Big South Conference regular-season and tournament titles and a No. 28 final national ranking.
In 1998, UNCG’s first season in the Southern Conference, the Spartans posted a then-record 22 league wins en route to the conference title. After posting a 40-18 overall record, the team narrowly missed its third NCAA trip in five years. In 21 seasons of Division I play, Gaski’s teams had an impressive 648-507-1 record.
Gaski began coaching at the collegiate level in 1979 as an assistant at Cleveland State and spent one season with the Vikings. After his tenure with Cleveland State, Gaski headed to Ohio State in 1980. There, he coached the pitchers and catchers. Gaski helped the Buckeyes to back-to-back record-setting seasons and their first NCAA appearance in more than fifteen years. From Ohio State, Gaski went to Florida Southern to assume the position of assistant head coach with the Moccasins. During his four-year stint (1983-87), the team made four consecutive NCAA appearances, finished second in the nation in 1984, and claimed the Division II National Championship in 1985.
Gaski left collegiate coaching in 1988 to assume the position of Executive Director of the Spanish Olympic Program in preparation for the Games of the 25th Olympiad in Barcelona, Spain. As the principal administrator for Olympic baseball preparation, Gaski’s responsibilities included the development of a national baseball program and the preparation of the Olympic venues. Upon his return to the United States and UNCG, Gaski was immediately enlisted by USA Baseball to serve as a consultant on international affairs and Olympic preparation.
In 1991, he became the team leader of the U.S. squad in the Pan American Games in Cuba and joined the 1992 USA Olympic Baseball coaching staff in a similar role.
In 1993, Gaski was elected treasurer of the Pan American Baseball Confederation which governs international baseball throughout the Americas.
Gaski returned to the Olympics in 1996, serving this time on the USOC International Games Prep Committee for the Atlanta Games. In 1998, Gaski joined Team USA as an assistant coach on the National Team that played in the IBA World Championships.
In March of 2001, Gaski was elected by the International Baseball Federation to serve on the technical committee that oversees all international competitions, including the World Championships and the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. In February 2006, Gaski was elected technical commissioner by the International Baseball Federation’s Executive Committee in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Gaski’s administrative skills placed him in high demand throughout the United States and abroad. He served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of numerous statewide and local organizations including the North Carolina Amateur Sports Association. He was a member of the NCAA Baseball Division I Selection Committee and several advisory groups including the NCAA Baseball Academic Enhancement Working Group, a committee charged with addressing the concerns surrounding academic performance by baseball student-athletes and their correlation to the NCAA’s APR standards. Additionally, he served on Major League Baseball’s Official Playing Rules Committee as an advisory member from 2006-2022.
In December 2014, Gaski published his first novel, Magicians and Brothers.
Gaski’s accomplishments in the game have been recognized with his 2023 induction into the UNC Greensboro Athletics Hall of Fame and his 2015 induction into the Guilford County (NC) Sports Hall of Fame.
Gaski earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Detroit, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from UNCG, and a Master of Arts in English from Ohio State.
