Hackett, Ed (2008)
Ed Hackett is the answer to one of those trivia questions you hear now and then on ESPN or similar shows. An announcer might ask, “Name me a player who’s played in the World Series at every level from the Little League World Series to the major league baseball World Series.” And then there might be one or two or three answers to the trivia question.
In Maine baseball circles, the trivia questions often relate to the hey day of University of Maine Black Bear baseball; before the collegiate playoff system was changed in 1986, the University of Maine had the good fortune of sending teams to four consecutive College World Series tournaments in Omaha, Nebraska. The trivia question in Maine goes like this: “Name the players who played in four consecutive college world series for the University of Maine in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984.” One of the answers is Ed Hackett.
Hackett, a dependable catcher for Coach John Winkin’s teams, had a strong high school career at Orono High School. He was named All-Conference at Orono High in 1979 and 1980. His career statistics at the University of Maine include 132 games played, and 61 hits. He was a teammate of Mike Bordick in 1984. Hackett was team captain in 1984.
He was Brewer American Legion coach in 1985 and 1986. He became baseball coach and A.D. at Dover-Foxcroft from 1985-87. He was head coach for the Piscataquis Legion team in 1987, and Bangor team assistant in 1994 and 1995. He became a Bangor Legion fixture from 1995-2003.
Stu Lacognata, a pitcher on those Black Bear teams in the 1980’s, and one of the answers to that same trivia question about the CWS remembers Hackett fondly, “Ed was a great catcher. He knew the game. He was a real good catcher to throw to because he worked well with the pitchers and the coaches to follow whatever game plan we had for that day’s opponent. There’s no question that he was a big reason for our success in the 1980’s.”
Coach Winkin said of Hackett: “Ed was one of my favorite players and there is not another player I coached who worked any harder at becoming a baseball player than Ed Hackett.”
Hackett also worked extensively with Andrew Sturgeon, past President of the Bangor East Little League, to develop a state of the art little league facility on the east side of Bangor. “This task alone took many hours of physical labor,” Sturgeon recalls. “Ed lives and breathes baseball. He is a great representative of the game.”
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