After 50 years and 938 victories, Jim Hughes will retire as the Franklin High School Sabers' winningest baseball coach.
Today's TMJ4 Main Sports Anchor Lance Allan asked Hughes, "Where does the time go, and what are your thoughts, now?"
"Well, it went too fast," said Hughes. "You don't go into it thinking, 'Well, I'm going to win this many games and all of that.' It just started adding up."
"When it got to 500 people were giving me baseballs with 500 on it," said Hughes. "I realized the magnitude of it."
"You couldn't get to a thousand?" asked Allan.
"People asked me why you didn't stay for this thousand," said Hughes. "No, I wasn't looking at it that close. A couple years ago, I made the decision that 2019 would be my last year."
Wisconsin's all-time winningest coach still doesn't compare to having his name above the Franklin Sabers Field.
"It's hard to believe," said Hughes. "I, when I see my name on the field out there, I just, I couldn't believe it when they did that. I was so overwhelmed with that. I just think of how my parents were big time fans baseball. They would be so proud to see their name up there."
Hughes is always quick to credit the many coaches and talented players that helped him along the way.
"You know you arrived as a coach," said Hughes. "When people refer to you as coach, that's like your name, 'Hey coach."
And while the memories of teaching are strong, breaking through to win two state championships will always be a milestone achievement.
"That was special," said Hughes. "I, you know, we got there four or five times before that and you know we didn't win it, so that was big. I was really impressed with those kids because they did it back to back. That team could hit. I realized all the teams that I took up there, the other teams didn't hit, and really I emphasize pitching and defense."
