A Peace River man is living out a lifelong baseball dream as an assistant pitching coach in Major League Baseball.
Robin Lund, who spent much of his childhood in Peace River, began his baseball journey on local diamonds before eventually working his way to the MLB with the Detroit Tigers.
Lund’s path to professional baseball began in Grade 8 when he attended a Baseball Alberta camp. There, he caught the attention of fellow Peace River native Kevin Byers, who represented Team Canada at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup.
After seeing Lund’s potential, Byers helped arrange for him to move to Idaho to play high school baseball while living with a host family.
Following high school, Lund played two seasons at a community college in Spokane before transferring to Whitworth University, where he played another two years. After his second season at Whitworth, he married his high school sweetheart, Susie.
Lund later transitioned into coaching, beginning at Spokane Falls Community College, where he coached for four years.
As he and his wife started a family, Lund decided to make a career shift.
“My wife and I started having children, so we decided to pivot,” Lund said. “I went ahead and got a PhD at the University of Idaho in sports science.”
That decision led Lund into academia, where he spent 18 years as a professor at the University of Northern Iowa.
But baseball eventually called him back.
Lund returned to coaching at the University of Iowa, spending four years with the program before receiving an opportunity from the Detroit Tigers organization in 2023.
“I mean, it’s a dream,” Lund said. “As a young boy, I dreamed of playing in the major leagues just like every young aspiring baseball player does.”
“You know, you’re either good enough or you’re not. I was not, and that was fine. I made peace with it and I did everything I could to be the best that I could.”
“Now, essentially thinking that the dream was over and I’d never have the chance to do that, here I am on staff. I get to be in the trenches with these guys every day. It’s been a dream come true.”
Lund is now in his fourth season with the Tigers as an assistant pitching coach. His role focuses heavily on data analysis and pitcher development.
“Every pitch that is thrown, there are multiple cameras on the pitcher that track his movements, but also the movement of the baseball,” Lund said.
Lund acts as a bridge between the data collected and the pitchers themselves, helping players make adjustments based on the information gathered.
“I keep track of how the pitchers are moving and how the ball itself is moving as they throw it,” he said.
Despite spending most of the baseball season with the Tigers, Lund says he still has strong ties to the Peace Region and tries to return home at least once a year to visit family.
