FUNERAL TODAY FOR 'BUD' METHENY
Arthur "Bud" Metheny, who served Old Dominion University for 32 years as head baseball coach, head basketball coach and athletic director died Thursday after a long illness. He was 87 years of age. His wife of 61 years, Frances, also passed away earlier Thursday at the age of 82.
The funeral will be Monday at 11 am at St. John The Apostle Catholic Church on Sandbridge Road. The viewing will be Sunday, Jan. 5th from 1-4 p.m. at H.D. Oliver Funeral Home on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach.
Metheny joined the athletic staff in 1948 as head baseball coach compiling a 423-363-6 record before retiring in 1980. He was honored by the NCAA as the Eastern Regional Coach of the Year in 1963 and 1964 when his Monarchs captured College Division crowns those two years. Metheny was named National Coach of the Year in 1964. In 1980, his final season as the Monarchs head coach, ODU captured the Virginia State Championship by defeating the University of Virginia.
Metheny served as head basketball coach from 1948-65, compiling a 198-163 record and posting 16 winning seasons. The 198 wins is still the most among men's basketball coaches at Old Dominion. He served as the university's athletic director from 1963-1970. "I've seen the school progress and grow," noted the veteran coach. "I'll always have a deep feeling for the institution. Considering my long association with Old Dominion, I'm probably one of the few people who could have this type of feeling."
Metheny came to Old Dominion after a career with the New York Yankees organization from 1938-47. Metheny played for the Yankees in the second and last game of the 1943 World Series as the Yankees defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1984, to honor Metheny and his days with the Yankees, Old Dominion University adopted the Yankees uniform with the blue pinstripes.
Metheny was enshrined in the College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in January of 1983 in Dallas, TX. He is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the William and Mary Hall of Fame, and the Tidewater Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1940 William and Mary graduate (he earned his M.Ed from William and Mary in 1952) launched a managerial career in 1948 piloting the Boston Red Sox Class "D" team in Baxley, GA. He spent the next season in the Piedmont League (Class "B") playing outfield for the Portsmouth team in 1949-50, and managing the Newport News team in 1950. Despite those commitments, Metheny still found time to begin his 32-year Old Dominion career in the spring of 1948.
The baseball stadium which opened in 1983 was officially named in his honor in a Board of Visitors Resolution on June 12, 1980.