Charlie Stand; considered legend of high school diamond
At portentous moments in high school baseball games, Charlie Stand dropped into a crouch in front of Milford's dugout, his stare taking in everything from the batter to distant center field.
Lessons learned from years of coaching Milford's Scarlet Hawks churned silently in his head. Eyes masked behind sunglasses, Mr. Stand conveyed instructions that more often than not resulted in runs for his team or an out for the opponents, depending on who was batting.
During more than a quarter century coaching baseball at Milford High School, Mr. Stand ran up a 450-140 record that included a Division I state title, and he was inducted into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame two years ago. Mr. Stand, who had been suffering from bladder cancer, died at 60 Monday in his home in Milford.
"He's awesome as a coach," said his daughter Jessica, who played for Mr. Stand when he coached softball in Milford after his tenure with the baseball team ended. "He knows what to say to players to get you fired up and wanting to play. He always said the right words to motivate everyone."
Deferring to his players, however, Mr. Stand gave more credit to those on the field than to his own coaching abilities.
"For me, it's gratifying," he told the Globe in 2002 after his baseball team won a Division I semifinal, one of many tournament victories he notched as a coach. "But to be very honest with you, I've been here before. The bottom line is that this should be more gratifying for the kids. They should get the credit, because they're the ones who put in all the hard work. It's the kids who took the lead."
He once was one of those kids. Charles J. Stand played baseball at Milford High School and at the University of Bridgeport, graduating from both, and for Harwich in the Cape Cod League.
Then he returned to Milford to begin a long career as a physical education teacher and multisport coach. At various times, Mr. Stand also headed the boys' and girls' soccer teams in addition to baseball and softball.
And 22 years ago, he married Mary Ann Peroni.
"There was a fun side to him," his wife said. "There was something about him; he could just make you laugh."
His successes on the playing fields and in the classroom, she said, were driven as much by pleasure as by the serious approach he took to his work.
"He was fortunate enough to be in a profession he really loved," she said. "He loved teaching. He loved being a physical education teacher. He was good at what he did, and he loved all of it. He enjoyed going to work, and he enjoyed being with the kids."
That enjoyment translated into a string of winning seasons. After several years as an assistant, Mr. Stand was named head coach in 1978. From then until 2003, he coached Milford's baseball team to 25 straight appearances in the Central Massachusetts Tournament and several league titles. The Scarlet Hawks played in the Division I title game in 1991 and 1997 after winning the championship in 1990.
"Charlie knows his stuff," Steve Paddock, then a junior at Milford, told the Globe in 2002. "He knows his baseball. He's been around it for a while, and he knows it."
Still, Mr. Stand downplayed his extraordinary success in an interview just before he was inducted in the state coaches hall of fame in 2006.
"If you coach for that long and you have a good program and you have good kids and good coaching, you should win your share of games," he said, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "When you start out, you really don't have that as one of your goals. You start out trying to do the best you can and be as competitive as you can and put together the best program you can - and more times than not, we did that."
In 1990, when Milford won the Division I baseball title, the Scarlet Hawks posted a perfect 24-0 season. That wasn't enough to calm Mr. Stand as he watched his team get the final three outs against New Bedford in the championship game.
"I was pretty nervous in that dugout," he told the Globe afterward.
Weather permitting, Mr. Stand wore more or less the same thing coaching, no matter the sport. There were the dark sunglasses and a scarlet Milford cap to shield his eyes from the sun and his thoughts from everyone. He also sported a white Milford T-shirt, black slacks, and black shoes.
After retiring as head baseball coach, he switched to coaching softball in 2004, drawn by the opportunity to work with his daughters, Jessica and Jennifer. The following year, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. In 2006, he watched from the stands as Jessica played second base and Jennifer first base.
"I want to win this fight so I can continue to watch my daughters play," he told the Globe. "I'm battling harder with this than any game that I've coached in my life."
Jessica, who now plays outfield and infield for Fairfield University in Connecticut, said Mr. Stand's influence as a coach and a father continues to inform her life.
"It's why I play now, for him," she said. "He taught me how to play and how to handle situations. It bettered me as a player and a person, learning from him."
In addition to his wife and daughters, Mr. Stand leaves a brother, Joseph of Charlestown, R.I., and a sister, Judy Hartley of Stonington, Conn.
A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today in St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford. Burial will be in St. Mary Cemetery in Milford. 