Maki's March to the Majors

Maki’s March to the Majors

(Chief Advocate/Google Maps)

A Long and Winding Road

Pete Maki, a 2000 Nonnewaug graduate who helped lead the Chiefs to the 1999 Class M baseball state championship game as a pitcher, is entering his second year as the pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins.

His career didn't go straight from Woodbury to Minneapolis -- there were many stops and plenty of uncertainty along the way. Here are some of Maki's most notable places he's called home over the past 25 years in baseball.
Nonnewaug’s sports complex (Courtesy of O&G Industries)

Home of the Chiefs

Maki moved from Pennsylvania to Woodbury in March 1998, late in his sophomore year. Joining the baseball team helped him adjust to his new hometown, and he eventually helped Nonnewaug to unprecedented success.

As a junior left-handed pitcher, he tallied a 6-1 record to help lead the Chiefs to their first appearance in the Class M state championship, and as a senior, he earned Academic All-State honors while graduating as the class of 2000's salutatorian.
Franklin and Marshall’s Caplan Field (Courtesy of Franklin and Marshall Athletics)

Dealing as a Diplomat

Maki returned to Pennsylvania to pitch for Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster from 2001-04. His best season at Caplan Field came during his senior year, when he recorded six saves and a team-best 3.42 ERA to earn the Diplomats' Cy Young Award as the squad's most outstanding pitcher.

He also spent summers pitching in the high-level Cape Cod Baseball League and New England Collegiate Baseball League. Maki graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology.
New Haven’s Frank Vieira Field (Courtesy of New Haven Athletics)

Coaching Starts as a Charger

After a brief hiatus from baseball, Maki first spent part of the 2006 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Nonnewaug before becoming an assistant coach at the University of New Haven.

While with the Chargers, who call West Haven's Frank Vieira Field home, oversaw a pitching staff that led the East Coast Conference in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio in both 2006 and 2007.
Columbia’s Robertson Field at Satow Stadium (Courtesy of Columbia Athletics)

Improving in the Ivy League

The longest tenured stop in Maki's coaching career came at prestigious Columbia University in New York City. There, he coached under Brett Borretti, who had been Maki's own coach at Franklin and Marshall. Maki spent four years as the Lions' assistant coach and was associate head coach from 2012-15.

Maki's pitchers at iconic Robertson Field at Satow Stadium helped Columbia win four Ivy League titles. Two of his pitchers were named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, and he had a pitcher selected in the MLB draft in each of his last four years in Manhattan.
Duke’s Jack Coombs Field (Courtesy of Duke Athletics)

Developing at Duke

Maki continued to climb the coaching ladder when he became the pitching coach at Duke University in July 2015. His impact was immediate as the 2016 Blue Devils reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 55 years.

His 2016 pitching staff at Jack Coombs Field in Durham, N.C. ranked fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 3.79 ERA, and three of those pitchers were selected in the MLB draft.
The Minnesota Twins’ Hammond Stadium at the Lee Health Sports Complex (Courtesy of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau)

Maki Moves to the Minors

Maki's first taste of professional baseball came in 2018, when the Minnesota Twins made him their minor league pitching coordinator. His spring training home became Fort Myers, Florida and the Lee Health Sports Complex, whose centerpiece is the 9,300-seat Hammond Stadium.

He was responsible for Minnesota's farm system, including two rookie-league teams, the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, the A-Advanced Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (and later Pensacola Blue Wahoos), and the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.
The Minnesota Twins’ Target Field (Courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

Major League Maki

The Twins, whose home is Target Field in Minneapolis, promoted Maki to the major-league squad's interim bullpen coach in 2020 before making his title permanent in 2021. When the club's pitching coach left in the middle of the 2022 season, Minnesota elevated Maki to pitching coach.

In 2023, the Twins' pitching staff was among the best in baseball, leading the majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.52) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.67) while finishing among the top 10 in many other categories. Minnesota reached the American League Division Series.

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Maki Makes History

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