Talley Haines will be entering his first season as Harding’s assistant coach and will serve as the pitching coach and high school recruiting coordinator.
Haines was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998. During his 10 years in professional baseball, he pitched in the organizations of the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, spending portions of seven years at the Triple-A level.
In 2004, Haines was a Major League Rule 5 selection and was added to the Toronto Blue Jays (40-man) Major League Roster. He owns a total of five championship rings, ranging from high school, to college, to pro ball where he was a member of two Durham Bulls (AAA) back to back championship teams. Haines was a Double-A All-Star and a member of the 2005 USA National Team. Throughout his professional playing career, Haines pitched for four current or former major league pitching coaches: Joe Coleman (St. Louis Cardinals), Chuck Hernandez (Detroit Tigers, California Angels), Rick Kranitz (Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles) and Brad Arnsberg (Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, current Houston Astros).
Haines began his college pitching career at Southeast Missouri State for two seasons before moving on to Freed-Hardeman University for one season. He was drafted after his junior season in the 25th round. Haines earned his degree from Southeast Missouri State in Dec. 2010.
Haines was the pitching coach for the Danville Dans of the Prospect League, a wooden bat collegiate summer league, in the summer of 2010. Haines helped lead the Dans to a second-place finish in the 15-team league.
Haines owned and operated an indoor baseball and softball training facility called Balls-n-Strikes for several years and started the Rawlings Legends baseball clubs. Haines also worked as a bird-dog scout with the Tampa Bay Rays after his retirement from the game.
Talley is a native of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and is married to the former Jackie Derwort. They have two daughters, Melaina and Maria.
