Jason Harvey expects to shake Billy Swift's hand and say hello to Mike Bordick. He will work the room, meeting men whose names made sports headlines two decades ago in Maine.

Usually flawless when he handled hard-hit ground balls at shortstop for Husson, Harvey prays he won't fumble words Saturday night when nearly 200 friends of John Winkin come together to toast the legendary baseball coach. Swift and Bordick are among his baseball heroes.

Harvey will listen to the stories about a man who is very much alive and part of their lives. He played for Winkin, too. But he's the one who succeeded Winkin as Husson baseball coach under circumstances no one saw coming.

Seventeen months after Winkin was felled by a stroke, Harvey guided Husson to a high-water mark of 33 wins this spring. The last victory put Husson among four remaining teams in the NCAA Division III New England Regional.

Harvey was no longer the 25-year-old trying to make it as a college baseball coach. He became the latest part of the legacy Winkin is leaving. Harvey doesn't have to walk in anyone's shadow Saturday.

Harvey remembers how awe-struck he was in the summer of 2006 when Mike Coutts and his wife, Lynn, helped organize a day of golf and socializing with Winkin at Val Halla in Cumberland. About 60 of Winkin's former players from Colby, the University of Maine and a few from Husson were there. Lots of laughs and a few tears.

"It was amazing to see the passion and the appreciation for Coach Winkin," said Harvey. "It was real interesting to hear baseball stories in the company of one of the greatest coaches in the country."

Winkin played cards with Vince Lombardi, worked baseball camps with Ted Williams and was around Carl Yastrzemski enough to wonder why there was so little joy in that baseball hero's life.

Winkin was an officer on a Navy ship that escaped Japanese bombs at Pearl Harbor and earned his doctorate from Columbia, writing a thesis on the statistical possibility of the double play. He was part of a pregame baseball show on television with Mel Allen and Curt Gowdy before accepting the position to coach baseball and freshman football at Colby.

And that's just the first half of his life.

As a Husson ballplayer, Harvey and his teammates joked that Winkin didn't know as many people as he said he did. It was impossible. But Harvey can't forget his last trip to Florida as Husson's shortstop. The team was about to leave a spring-training camp when Winkin saw Peter Gammons, the former Boston Globe baseball writer and now baseball guru for ESPN. Gammons was about to do an interview on the field.

"Coach says, 'That's Peter, I've got to say hi,' and walks right down onto the field. Peter stops and gives Coach a big hug. Our jaws must have dropped to the ground. Coach knows every big shot in baseball."

Even more, few knew baseball better than Winkin.

"With Coach's health, he couldn't come to our games but I was still picking his brains in my mind," said Harvey. "It's amazing how much he knows."

At the NCAA Regional, Husson lost to the University of Southern Maine and its veteran coach, Ed Flaherty. "He had his kids playing flawless baseball," said Flaherty. "They simplified baseball. Wink did that. That's why he was so successful."

Winkin was past his 80th birthday when Harvey was his shortstop. Harvey looked past the age. "He may not have been able to relate to you (culturally) but he was the guy everyone looked to when you had questions. He had answers."

Saturday night, Winkin's men will gather again. They've learned they can't say thank-you enough. Winkin was and has been, their coach for life.

Tickets to the dinner, which starts at 4 p.m. with a social hour, are available. Check the UMaine sports Web site.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com