I had the pleasure of knowing Bud Daniel.
It was my great fortune to have worked with him.
I haven't known many genuine, honest-to-goodness heroes.
Kenny Sailors was one. Ken Cook was another. My Dad was to me.
So was Bud.
When I began as a Sports Information intern working for Bill Young back in 1967, Bud was the Cowboy baseball coach. He'd already been at Wyoming for 17 years when I got here.
I liked him immediately, partly because he loved baseball, and partly because we were the same height. We kidded each other about that. He was a heck of a baseball man. He was honest, he worked hard and to a young freshman from Cheyenne he was also a little intimidating.
He was old school when old school was "in". He was like a lot of baseball coaches at the time. Heck, he was like most coaches of that era, tough, disciplined with high expectations for everyone around him.
But what a guy. I loved being around him because I loved baseball and he was all about baseball.
Well, at least I thought he was. Baseball was just the tip of his iceberg.
He was so much more. I had no idea.
To begin with, he not only directed the Cowboy baseball program, he also was the department's business manager! He handled two jobs without a complaint, without blinking an eye.
He had also lived a couple of lives by the time I knew him.
Because his father worked for the railroad, he went to high school in four different states, but graduated from Casper High School. He had actually begun playing baseball at the age of 14 in the American Legion program at Salina, Kans. Like everything else, he was good at it.
In the fall of 1941, he came to UW from Casper and had plans to play baseball for the Cowboys. His collegiate experience was cut short, however, by the attack on Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Navy, and graduated from the Naval Aviation Training Center in Corpus Christi, Tex., as a second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He ended up in the South Pacific flying fighter planes.
His military decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with two gold stars, a Purple Heart and a Naval Unit Citation. In every sense of the term, he was a war hero.
When World War II ended, and he was released from active duty he chose to remain in the Marine Corps, serving in the USMC Reserve for 10 years. He transferred to the Wyoming Army National Guard where he served on the staff of the Adjutant General for the State of Wyoming. He later served as the battalion commander of the 1022nd Engineer Battalion, and eventually retired after 29 years of service.
Bud returned to playing baseball for the Cowboys in 1946, and that's when his next life evolved. He was a career .384 hitter, and a team captain. Additionally, he was UW's Student Body President.
He signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals following his collegiate days. While playing for a Cardinal farm team in Pocatello, Idaho, he received a job offer from Cody High School which he accepted. He was a science teacher and the head coach for both the basketball program and for Cody's baseball team. His team captain one year was Senator Alan K. Simpson.
After two years at Cody, UW came calling. Bud was hired as the Cowboy head baseball coach, and the department's athletic business manager. He handled both jobs from 1950 through 1971.
As baseball coach, he directed the Cowboys to six conference titles and two Western Athletic Conference division championships. The Pokes won NCAA District VII titles in 1954 and 1056, and the '56 group earned a spot in the College World Series. He was the Skyline Coach of the Year three consecutive years during the mid-1950's. He coached a pair of first-team All-Americans and a host of all-conference performers. He also found time to serve as the commissioner of a summer collegiate baseball league, known as the Basin League.
His list of baseball honors were many, including the Meritorious Service Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association, induction into the Wyoming Coaches Hall of Fame, the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and the UW Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. His 1956 Cowboy World Series team also was inducted into our Hall of Fame.
What I loved most about Bud, was that very special relationship he had with the game of baseball. He was a purist in every sense of the word. In my mind, he was perfect for Wyoming, a tough-minded disciplinarian, who always treated you fairly.
Bill, Scott Binning (like me, an intern for Bill), and I would sit in the press box (ice box we called it) at Cowboy Field for conference night games. You can only imagine Laramie in April and May at 9 p.m. and we are in the bottom of the sixth! It was challenging to say the least. We would ask Bud on occasion if there was any way we could maybe play earlier in the evening when it might be a little warmer. He'd laugh and say, "we installed lights for a reason, and we're going to use them". Of course it was a competitive advantage for Wyoming. His kids were tougher.
He loved Wyoming even though his teams would begin each season playing the first couple of weeks of the season on the road in warmer climes. Yet he never complained to us about the weather. He left the state in 1971 for Tucson, where he held several positions at the University of Arizona. He was as active in Tucson as he had been everywhere else.
He also could play plenty of golf, a second passion of his.
Bud wrote several books about his World War II experiences and the game he loved. All of that came after the age of 85! His first work was a history of the Daniel family. His second was a history of Cowboy baseball.
He and his wife of 50 years, Connie, had three sons (Tim, Tom and Mark), six grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren, and two great, great grandchildren.
He was a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), and served as its president. He served on its Board of Directors for 34 years, and was the group's oldest and longest serving member.
I so appreciated Tim letting me know that his father had passed away on November 1, at the age of 96.
Ninety six years doesn't seem like enough, given all he accomplished. Quite a lifetime, quite a guy.
