Price Vies For Winning On And Off The Field

The Miami Dade College baseball team is prospering this season. They currently have a 26-13 record, including a 14-7 mark in the Southern Conference.

Winning is nothing new to Sharks Head Baseball Coach Danny Price. He has won a lot since taking over the MDC baseball team in 2011.

During his tenure at MDC, none of his teams have ever had a losing season. He has never won less than 25 games and has twice won 38 games, compiling a 215-119-1 overall mark.

Despite the winning, he has remained humble and cares not only about producing great baseball players, but just as much about helping nurture great human beings.       

“Winning is kind of short lived. They gotta have the right attitude.” Price said. “You can’t win out there until you win in the classroom.”

Price was introduced to baseball in little league. He played college ball at Indian River State College before moving onto Florida International University where he was an outfielder. At FIU, Price collected the program’s first hit while serving as team captain.

He started his coaching career as a baseball and football coach at Miami Central Senior High School. Eventually, opportunity knocked on his door when his old FIU coach asked him to come on as a volunteer assistant coach.

After a year and a half of being a volunteer coach at FIU, Price was promoted to the head coaching position. He held that post for 28 years, boasting a 1086-597 record for the Golden Panthers.

During his time at FIU, the program produced numerous players who would go on to play pro baseball including World Series champion Mike Lowell. Price led FIU to eight NCAA Division I regionals, six of them coming in his last 11 years as head coach.

During Price’s last five seasons as head coach, the team failed to make a postseason appearance. Price was fired after the team was swept by Florida Atlantic University, eliminating them from qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

“I had no exit plan, my thing has always been coaching,” Price said.

His life outside of baseball involves a good amount of fishing and reading. He is the kind of person who is invested in his personal relationships with his family and his players. Price is known for offering sage advice to players or anyone willing to listen.   

“He pushes us because he expects a lot,” said Jason Grana, a pitcher on this year’s Sharks team.

When Price talks, his players listen. His résumé speaks for itself.

He is one of the few collegiate baseball coaches to record a thousand coaching victories. He was named Trans America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1991, 1995 and 1998 while at FIU. He played an integral role in FIU going from a Division II school to a Division I school.

At MDC, the winning has continued. The Sharks have been crowned Southern Conference Champions twice, finished as the 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association National Runners- Up and the 2010 Florida College System Athletic Association State Runner-Up.  

“I enjoy it here. I don’t know how to do anything else,” Price said. “If you ever wanna receive anything, give something; it’s amazing.”