Beyond strategy, Stuper remembered Walsh for his love of the game.

“I remember the first time we played them, we beat them three out of four. And the next day Joe called us and said, ‘Gosh, that was a great series. That was great baseball,’” Stuper said. “If I had lost three out of four, I don’t know if I would have been so effusive in my praise of the other team or how great a weekend it was. He just loved good baseball.”

Stuper recalled Walsh pining for Ivy League teams to play four nine-inning games each weekend, because “in his eyes, that was real baseball.”

He also remembered Walsh’s care for his players, and Sandra said he showed that sort of concern off the diamond as well.

“Just the other day he was on his way to the dump and came home with a turtle in the back of the truck,” she said. “All the other cars whizzed by it, but he stopped so he could take it to the pond.”

Sandra said her husband was devoted to spending his free time with their four daughters, Tory, Holly, Katie, and Kasey. And she has seen the profound effects of his love—for his family, his athletes, and the game—since his passing.

“I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls this morning,” she said. “I have never in my entire life heard so many grown men crying.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.