By Eric Meany
When Bernie Walter left his home just outside of Baltimore to attend the University of Maryland as a 17-year-old freshman in 1959, the recent Brooklyn Park High School graduate dreamed of playing basketball and baseball for his new school, unsure of his chances but determined to give it a try.
When he returned to College Park 50 years later as the winningest coach in Maryland high school baseball history, the university’s newly-minted director of baseball operations hoped to use his wealth of knowledge and experience to aid a new coaching staff in lifting his beloved Terps out of their perennially losing ways.
During the intervening half-century, as he forged a career that would lead to his induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007, Walter remained a loyal and passionate supporter of the University of Maryland and its sports teams. As a season-ticket holder for the school’s football and basketball teams, and as a member of the Terrapin Club, the M Club and the Home Run Club, Walter never wavered in his love for his alma mater.
“He eats, sleeps and breathes University of Maryland,” third-year baseball coach Erik Bakich said. “The guy has Terps blood running through his body at all times. There’s nobody that wants the University of Maryland to succeed more than Bernie Walter.”
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