Edison assistant coach Brian Appelman takes a moment to remember Jim Muldowney, for whom he played in the 1990s, and who’s number has been retired for years on Edison’s outfield wall. (Source: @bapp21 on Twitter)
While the passing of the man they called “Diamond Jim” – legendary former Edison baseball coach Jim Muldowney – has touched the entire community, his influence was far and wide across the state, especially in Middlesex County.
The man simply touched so many lives, whether it was as a coach or a friend, or – in many cases – both.
When baseball was done, he wasn’t done with you. Sometimes it would just be a call to see how the family was doing, or an invite to come watch a game with him, as he was fond of doing whether or not he had a vested interest.
We talked with two more people from the area on whom Muldowney had a huge influence.
CJ Mooney is the current baseball coach at Middlesex College. Muldowney led that program before becoming the head coach at Edison, where he went 275-75 in 13 seasons, winning ten GMC Tournament titles and a pair of state Group 4 crowns, finishing as the No. 4 team in the nation according to USA Today in 1993. Almost two decades later, in 2019, he was hired to resurrect the Colts’ softball program, and he and Mooney shared much more than just an office together.
The two also have one other connection. They were both part of the only two GMC teams to complete a single-season “trifecta”: winning their division, the county title, and a state group title in the same year. Muldowney’s Eagles did it in 1993, and Spotswood did it in 2007. Mooney played on that Charger team.
Click below to hear CJ Mooney talk about the legacy of Jim Mudowney:
We also talked with an Edison legend in his own right, Bobby Brownlie, who had a stellar, dominating career as a pitcher for the Eagles, then went on to star at Rutgers. Brownlie, who now resides in Monroe, works with minor leaguers in client development for Scott Boras, and shared his recollections while on the road in Bowie, Maryland, on Wednesday.
Brownlie said he always wanted to be a catcher, but Muldowney threw him into the fire as a sophomore, and never looked back.
Click below to hear Bobby Brownlie talk about his relationship with Jim Muldowney: