It's very rare to encounter someone who can have a long-lasting impact on another person's personal and professional life. But that was who Wally Kincaid was, and his impact on others is as long-reaching as the game of baseball. Kincaid, who coached the Cerritos College baseball team for 22 years, passed away of natural causes on November 16, just two months after his 90th birthday.

Private servces will be held with the family, while a celebration of life will take place after the holidays.

"This is a difficult time for a lot of people who were affected by Wally," said University of Oregon head coach George Horton, who was coached by Kincaid (1972-73) and welcomed him to his staff when he coached the Falcons (1985-90). "I have received calls from so many people once they heard he passed away. It speaks volumes of the impact he had and how many lives he changed for the better."

Kincaid is considered one of the inventors of the way baseball has been played for many years. As the first head baseball coach in the college's history, he spent 22 years at the helm and won six state championships, while posting a career record of 678-163 (.806 winning percentage). Kincaid also led his teams to 15 conference championships, 51 tournament championships and a 60-game winning streak that covered three seasons (1965-67). In 1966, he led the team to a perfect 40-0 record, which is still the only undefeated team in the history of California Community College baseball. He was named the National Community College Coach of the Century by Baseball America Magazine and was inducted into the Community College Coaches Hall of Fame and National College Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2012, Kincaid was one of the inaugural inductees into the Cerritos College Hall of Fame.

After working at Cerritos College, Wally Kincaid, who had over 125 of his players move on to become coaches at all levels, served as an assistant coach during three College World Series appearances for Cal State Long Beach under former player Dave Snow. In 1992, Cerritos College named the baseball field in his honor.

"All of us who were fortunate to play for Coach have benefitted from his teachings," said Snow, a member of the 1969-70 Falcon teams under Kincaid. "He touched our lives and not only made us better baseball players, but better young men. He was always so generous with his time and knowledge. When I was a young coach just getting started and a volunteer coach at Cal State Fullerton, I would come to Cerritos at night and talk with Coach Kincaid and pick his brain. His analytical approach to the game was so far ahead of everyone. He was factoring On Base Percentage in the 60's and stressed walking more than striking out. From a teaching standpoint, his fundamentals captured your attention and essentially, he was Moneyball in the 1960's."

Kincaid was a teacher of simplicity. He would drill into his players during practice that, "baseball is a simple game. Quit making it difficult. Throw strikes. Play catch. Put the ball in play. You do that and you'll win more games than you lose." It generally was the first thing he would teach his players. They practiced long and they practiced every game situation that would come up in order to be prepared once a game started. His approach was that his teams would make their mistakes in practice, and when the game started, the Falcons would capitalize on their less-prepared opponent.

It paid off to the tune of six state championships, 14 30-win seasons, a 40-0 record in 1966 (pictured, left) and a 40-1 campaign in 1970. Those that played for Kincaid have gone on to great coaching success. In addition to Horton and Snow, Don Sneddon (Santa Ana College), Ken Gaylord (Cerritos College), Butch Hughes (Merced College), Rick Vanderhook (Cal State Fullerton), Dave Serrano (University of Tennessee), Bill Moisello (Texas Christian University) and Bob Apodaca (MLB pitching coach), as well as countless other players have gone into coaching.

Many of his players viewed the tutelage of Kincaid as equal to that of a father figure. He commanded respect whenever he walked onto the field or in a room.

Said Horton, "he had a parental affect on a lot of us. He set a good example for us and it carried over into our personal and professional lives. Coach always had a burning desire to help young people."

As the son of a coach, Mike Kincaid received that at home and then on the field from 1980-81 as a Falcon player. He was granted access to the teachings of his father as a young boy, and also felt protected by the players, who he viewed as "big brothers".

"As a young boy, I viewed my dad as my hero, like a a lot of kids do," said Kincaid. "He commanded respect everywhere he went. And at the same time, I was able to witness the love and respect his players had for my dad. The guys would look out for me when I was younger and I got a lot of attention from them as I got older. When he was home, my dad would work on his practice plans and he was the most organized person I've ever known. He would have 100 guys out there at practice and everyone knew what their assignment was because of his attention to detail."

"I've had many coaches, numerous educators and a handful of employers that I've learned from over the years," said John Rodriguez (1985-86). "However, nobody has influenced me the way Coach Kincaid did. There was something about Coach Kincaid that just made you want to listen and learn from him. Coach Kincaid not only helped me become a better pitcher, he taught me that what I learned between the lines on the baseball field will help me in life with my education, professional career and raising a family."

"Coach Kincaid was, is, and will always be, a major influence in not only my baseball life but my life in general," said Mike Pagnotta (1972-73). "He taught me how to play the game correctly. What and what not to do in certain situations and most importantly, 'always have a plan'. Those fundamental assets have followed me through my lifetime and have been invaluable to me in my 33+ year career as an airline pilot. I will always remember the time he asked me to go with him to take a look at San Bernardino Valley JC, as they were playing a game just before we were to play them in the playoffs. He just watched... no notes, nothing written down. As the final out was recorded he looked to his left and said to me as only he could with that sly smile on his face, 'Well Pag, ya think we should show up?' I tell that story today and can still see that smile!"

Gene Martin, who met Kincaid in 1947 and worked with him as one of the original hires at Cerritos College, recalls his dedication from the first day he stepped on campus.

"When I met Wally at a dance at the Lakewood Country Club in 1947, he was dating (his wife) Mona at the time," said Martin. "Wally was hired as both our baseball and basketball coach. After his first season, (Athletic Director) Earl Klapstein told Wally he needed to chose one sport, either baseball or basketball because doing both was too taxing on his time. Wally chose baseball and he turned that decision into a career that is unmatched by anyone."

"Coach Kincaid had a way of making things simple," said current Falcon head coach Ken Gaylord (1973-74). "He was so far ahead of his time with not only the way he prepared for a game, but how he implemented what he was teaching. So many other coaches have tried to copy his style and what he did. But it was in the details of what we did in practice that made his teams so successful."

Cerritos football coach Frank Mazzotta, who was hired as an assistant football coach in 1976 before taking over the head coaching duties in 1978, continued to visit Coach Kincaid long after his retirement.

"Wally was so good to me when I was hired as a young coach in 1976," remembered Mazzotta. "He didn't have to be, but he had such a great heart and wanted young people to succeed. He didn't know about being famous or anything like that. But he was famous. His coaching style was adopted by so many people and it changed the way baseball has been played all the way into today. Wally and I would get together for breakfast every now and then and just spend time talking and visiting. He was such a generous man with his time and knowledge. I'll truly miss getting together with him and talking."

During his induction speech into the Cerritos College Hall of Fame in 2012, Kincaid matter-of-factly stated, "First off, I want you to know that I haven't retired," which was received by a room full of applause. "I want to coach until I'm 90 years old. Don't know who will want me to coach with them, but I'd like to coach until I'm 90. This is been a great journey for me and I had the pleasure to coach many, many wonderful young men who grew into great adults. I had a lot of success coaching baseball at Cerritos and we worked hard to achieve that success. I'm very grateful to be honored and accept this with a great deal of pride."

"The first generation of the Bird Nation lost their leader," said Horton. " We have all benefitted from knowing Coach Kincaid and his legacy will continue. There can only be one Big Bird. And that was Wally Kincaid."