squeeze play – college baseball foundation notebook 1/8/07

P.O. Box 6507 • Lubbock, Texas 79493-6507 • www.CollegeBaseballFoundation.org The College Baseball Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit educational, charitable organization (Tax ID#20-1600248)

Squeeze Play – College Baseball Foundation Notebook 1/8/07

LUBBOCK, Texas--Winter Edition www.collegebaseballfoundation.org

To The Victors, The Spoils…a United States Senate resolution congratulating the Oregon State baseball team on winning the 2006 national championship was presented to OSU President Dr. Edward Ray and Beaver baseball coach Pat Casey earlier this fall by Senator Ron Wyden…the resolution was initially introduced on the floor the day after the Beavers wrapped up the College World Series title. “I had a lot of senators come up to me and tell me ‘That was some Beaver victory,’” Wyden said of the response he got on Capitol Hill after OSU won the national title by beating North Carolina…Wyden gave Ray and Casey framed copies of the resolution; they responded by presenting Wyden with a championship banner, a signed baseball and a CD of OSU baseball highlights…the national champs will also install a FieldTurf surface on the infield at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in time for the 2007 season…the announcement was made jointly by FieldTurf CEO John Gilman and Beavers Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis…completion of the project is scheduled for Feb. 1, and the Beavers will play their first home game on their new surface on March 8 against Evansville…it’s the third installation at Corvallis; the school already has FieldTurf at Reser Stadium and in the Merritt Truax Indoor Center… this will be the first artificial surface at Coleman Field, which has been the Beavers’ home since varsity baseball began at the school in 1907…the 2,300-seat facility received a major remodeling in 1999 and lights were installed in 2002 to allow for night baseball. Fresh off a trip to the semifinals of the College World Series, defending Conference USA regular season and tournament champion Rice is ranked number one in both the Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America preseason polls…that’s the second time Wayne Graham’s Owls have topped the BA list in the past three years. Just days away from the beginning of preseason workouts, the Spring of 2007 will be the last to operate under the old NCAA timetable…2008 marks the beginning of the common practice and season start dates…in the Crescent City, phase one of the Turchin Stadium renovation has been completed as Tulane has moved into the renovated Milton “Mickey” Retif Memorial Baseball Clubhouse at the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center…following a formal re-dedication ceremony, the Green Wave moved in to a clubhouse which now features 40 wooden lockers, nine flat-screen television sets, DVD and VCR players, a CD/Stereo system…the clubhouse also features three separate areas: a locker room/dressing area, coaches’ locker room and a players’ lounge equipped with surround sound…“I believe we have one of, if not the, finest clubhouse in the country right now,” Tulane head baseball coach Rick Jones said. “This is the first phase of the new stadium and we can now provide our players with a state-of-the-art facility that is second to none…“It has already had a positive impact on the recruiting process and continues to honor the memory of Mickey Retif. It also provides a reward to the guys from last year’s club, who in the face of unprecedented adversity, fought hard and had the type of season that keeps the momentum of this program going in the right direction.” The facility is named in the memory of Mickey Retif, a former TU player and assistant coach who was a standout baseball player for the Wave from 1975-78, when he helped Tulane go a combined 105-53-2 during his career, including a then-record 32-10 season in 1977…at the conclusion of his playing career, Retif received his law degree and passed the bar in 1981…he remained active with the Green Wave as a part-time assistant coach, however, where he served from 1979-83…he died of cancer in 1986.


Former Nebraska consensus All-American, and current Kansas City Royals minor leaguer, Alex Gordon won the 2006 J.G. Taylor Spink Award as the Topps/Minor League Player of the Year…the 2004 Brooks Wallace Award winner ranked in the top five in 10 offensive categories in the Double-A Texas League…the Royals selected Gordon second overall in the 2005 June Draft after his junior season with the Huskers…he won all four collegiate baseball player of the year awards that year, hitting .372 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs…on his way to the league MVP award, Gordon hit .325 with 111 runs, 39 doubles, 29 homers, 101 RBIs and 22 stolen bases…he joined recent winners such as Major League stars Josh Beckett (2001 winner); Eric Chavez (1999); Paul Konerko (1997); Andruw Jones (1996); and Derek Jeter (1994)…former Dallas Baptist Patriot player, Freddy Sanchez (1999), who plays third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates, won the National League Batting Title for the 2006 season… former Kentucky standout pitcher Brandon Webb, who earlier this season became the first former UK star to be named a MLB All-Star, was the National League Cy-Young winner…the current Arizona Diamondback’s star finished the season tied for the league lead in wins with a career-high 16, as well as finishing second in the league in innings pitched (235) and third in ERA (3.10). Other awards were earned over the summer…Vanderbilt’s David Price was tabbed Baseball America’s College Summer Player of the Year…Price was dominant as the ace of the USA Baseball National Team’s pitching staff as he helped lead the squad to a gold medal at the FISU (International University Sports Federation) World University Championships in Havana, Cuba…he went (5-1) over the summer with a 0.20 ERA, and struck out 61 batters with just seven walks in 44.0 innings…Price closed out the campaign with a complete game five-hit shutout of Nicaragua in the quarterfinals of the FISU tourney, the only complete game effort by an individual on the team all summer…this year was his second tour of duty with the USA Baseball National Team, as he led the 2005 team with 39 strikeouts in 29 innings…fresh off of earning MVP honors in the Cape Cod League, South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak added to his accolades from the summer, being named the top prospect out of the CCL in a recent list put together by Baseball America…Smoak, a sophomore for the Gamecocks played for the Cotuit Kettleers this summer and was the regular season league leader in home runs with 11 to go along with 27 RBI as well as a .286 batting average…the native of Goose Creek, S.C. earned freshman All-America honors this past year in his first season at Carolina, when he was the only USC player to start all 66 games this past year, while batting .303, with 17 HR and 63 RBI…former Tennessee pitcher Luke Hochevar must have felt like he won the lottery after spending a season in Purgatory…in his second go round, Hochevar was the top overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft…the hard-throwing right-hander from Fowler and Wray, Colorado, lettered for the Volunteers from 2003-05 and helped lead UT to a berth in the 2005 NCAA College World Series…he was previously drafted by the Los Angeles in the 39th round of the 2002 draft, and again by the Dodgers in the supplemental first round of the 2005 draft (40th overall), but settled on pitching for the Ft. Worth Cats in the independent American Association last spring…he becomes the highest-drafted player in the history of Tennessee baseball…current Houston Astros manager Phil Garner previously held the UT record after being selected third overall by the Oakland Athletics in 1971…Stanford continued its record winning streak in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup competition for the NCAA Division I…the Cardinal won its 12th consecutive award, presented annually by NACDA, the United States Sports Academy and USA Today to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country…the Cardinal completed the year with 1,197.375 points, surpassing runner-up UCLA by 126 points. Electronic Arts Inc., has put former Long Beach State pitcher and present Major Leaguer Jered Weaver on the cover of MVP 07 NCAA Baseball, scheduled for release in February under the EA SPORTS(TM) brand…he won the Roger Clemens Award (2004) as the top pitcher in NCAA baseball, and he was also recognized that year as a consensus First-Team All-American and the Golden Spikes award winner, given annually to the top player in college baseball…Weaver, who now plays for the Los Angeles-Anaheim-OC-Azusa Angels, tied a 56-year-old MLB record in his rookie year for most wins to start a career when he won his first nine consecutive starts in the Major Leagues equaling the record set by Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees in 1950…the six-foot-seven right-handed pitcher finished his rookie season with an (11-2) record and an ERA of 2.56…it was a good year for the Weaver clan, as brother Jeff, a former All American at Fresno State, helped pitch the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2006 World Series title…screenshots of MVP 07 NCAA Baseball can be found at http://info.ea.com


By the way, ESPN announcers Mike Patrick and two-time Stanford All-American Kyle Peterson are back behind the microphone calling the action for this year's MVP 07 NCAA Baseball…no Harold Reynolds, though, as the long-time commentator was swiftly shown the door after the College World Series when he was accused of sexual harassment, the New York Post reported…the newspaper, quoting sources, reported that the woman is an ESPN employee…network spokesman Mike Soltys said the Walt Disney-owned network would not comment further on the reasons behind Reynolds' sudden departure…in an interview with USA Today, Reynolds said he was fired by ESPN while still in the first year of a six-year employment pact…he declined to discuss the reasons behind his termination, but he said he's already received several job offers and his attorneys will be working out the financial details of his contract…the two-time MLB All-Star started his TV career with ESPN in 1996 after 12 seasons with Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and California Angels…in addition to his work on Baseball Tonight, he also covered the NCAA College World Series and the Little League World Series for the network. The University of South Carolina baseball’s incoming recruiting class earned the mythical national championship, and was named No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s annual top recruiting class rankings…it’s the third time in the last four years that the Carolina Baseball program has earned the top honor…Miami, Florida, Oklahoma and Southern Cal filled out the top five…this year’s 14 newcomers at Carolina include four players selected in this year’s MLB Draft; Nick Fuller (3rd Round/Tampa Bay/RHP), Lonnie Chisenhall (11th round/Pittsburgh/INF), Jay Brown (18thround/Tampa Bay/RHP) and Sam Dyson (19th round/Washington/RHP). As the carousel turns…when last we spoke, as the 2006 collegiate season concluded, several big name schools changed coaches, which started the dominoes and press releases flying at other institutions… here’s a brief recap…the opening stunner was Mike Gillespie’s resignation at Southern California…he had guided USC to the 1998 College World Series championship and 15 NCAA Regional appearances in his 20 years as the Trojans' head coach but USC quickly moved to hire former Pepperdine and MLB catcher Chad Krueter as his replacement, becoming just the fourth head baseball coach at Southern Cal in the past 77 years…after LSU did not receive a bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Tiger skipper Smoke Laval was dismissed, sending SID’s from other schools into overdrive…Alabama’s Jim Wells issued a statement saying, “My heart belongs to the Alabama Crimson Tide. We are staying here.” Miami head coach Jim Morris received a four-year contract extension. "It is a great honor to be at Miami and to coach at Miami," Morris said…in the end, LSU got its’ man when Notre Dame’s Paul Mainieri, who directed the Irish to 533 wins and nine NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons, was introduced as the Bayou Bengal’s 25th head baseball coach by athletics director Skip Bertman… Mainieri paid a buyout of $513,000 to Notre Dame for the remaining three years of his contract…with the South Bend job open, Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart announced baseball coach John Cohen, who led the Wildcats to the school’s first Southeastern Conference championship last season, had signed a new five-year contract worth approximately $295,000 annually…Oregon State’s Pat Casey, who guided Oregon State to the national championship, two College World Series appearances and a pair of Pacific-10 championships in the past two seasons, and who was named 2006 National Coach of The Year by the ABCA and Collegiate Baseball, became a leading candidate for both LSU and Notre Dame jobs…but OSU Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced that Casey had reached agreement with the school on a new contract and would remain head coach at Corvallis…Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall, who led the Yellow Jackets to the 2006 College World Series, was awarded a one-year extension of his contract through 2011, Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich announced…he had just completed the first year of a new five-year deal that he received following the 2005 season…“Danny Hall is one of the top baseball coaches in the country,” said Radakovich. “He did an outstanding job this season to take his team to the World Series despite some significant injuries. He wins consistently, and he does it with players who are good students and great representatives of Georgia Tech.” Later the Irish secured Dave Schrage of Evansville to take over in South Bend…he had just completed his fourth year at UE while guiding the Purple Aces to the most successful season in the program's history, highlighted by winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles, reaching the NCAA regional championship round and earning a final national ranking of 19th in the Collegiate Baseball poll.


All of the preceding led Evansville Director of Athletics Bill McGillis to name David Seifert, who helped engineer the Aces’ run, as the new head coach at UE…he becomes the 11th head coach in Purple Aces’ baseball history…said McGillis, “Having worked with David over the past year and seeing the job that he has done throughout his coaching career, I am confident that he will continue to build upon our recent success on the diamond.” Clemson’s Jack Leggett also signed a new five-year contract…he has been the head coach at Clemson for 13 years and has taken the program to the NCAA Tournament all 13 seasons…five times he has brought the Tigers to the College World Series, including last year and in 1996 and 2002, when he guided the program to the Final Four of the event. Lelo Prado, at Louisville for the past 11 years, resigned to accept a similar position at the University of South Florida…he exited as the winningest coach in U of L history with a 320-302-1 record in his 11 seasons, which included seven years with over 30 victories…the 2002 USA Baseball Coach of the Year guided the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid that year when U of L won a school-record 39 games…the Redbirds closed this past season with a 12-game winning streak before falling in the championship game of the Big East tournament in their initial year in the league…Dan McDonnell was named to replace Prado…the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for Mike Bianco at Ole Miss for the last six seasons, McDonnell and the Rebels have enjoyed four top-20 recruiting classes, three groups that ranked in the top ten nationally and have been one win away for two years from advancing to Omaha…Ron Atkins, Richmond’s head coach since 1985, announced he will retire following the 2007 season…in 22 years at the helm, Atkins owns a 685-512-4 record…he has guided the Spiders to seven NCAA appearances, including a regional championship and Super Regional berth in 2002….in related notes, Mark McQueen, a former Richmond assistant coach from 1989-2000, was named the Spiders' associate head coach…next season McQueen will assume the role of head coach…earlier, VMI’s Marlin Ikenberry announced that he had withdrawn from consideration for that job. Indiana State head baseball coach Bob Warn announced his retirement after 31 years at the helm of the Sycamores, finishing with an overall record of 1,070-745-9 (.587), which ranks in the top ten among active Division I baseball coaches for total victories, and among the top 30 all-time among Division I coaches…the Sycamores posted a winning record in 25 of his 31 seasons at ISU and finished with at least 40 wins on nine different occasions…Warn, a three-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1979, 1983, 1984), was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 2003…he is a member of the Indiana Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (1990) and the Iowa Western College Hall of Fame (2000)…later, Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced that Lindsay Meggs had been hired as head coach of the Sycamore program…Meggs comes to ISU after spending the past 13 seasons as head coach at California State-Chico where he guided the Wildcats to two NCAA Division II National Championships and compiled an overall record of 538-228-4. At Buffalo, AD Warde Manuel reassigned head coach Bill Breene and named Ron Torgalski interim coach for the 2007 season…Torgalski has been an assistant coach since the program's reinstatement in 2000…he also previously served as an assistant coach in the UB men's basketball program from 1994-2000…Marshall AD Bob Marcum announced the hiring of Jeff Waggoner, 30, as the Thundering Herd's new head coach…he had spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with NC State…while with the Wolfpack, Waggoner was a part of two NCSU teams that had a combined record of 81-41 and played in two NCAA Tournaments…in 2006, State finished second in the ACC Tournament and was runner up in the NCAA Austin Regional…at New Orleans, AD Jim Miller announced Tom Walter agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at UNO through 2010…“There is no doubt that Tom Walter is the right person to run this program,” said Miller, who hired Walter in July of 2004…the Privateer head coach will enter his third year in the upcoming season and has compiled a 50-67 record – including a 30-28 mark in 2006…a head coach for the past 10 seasons, Walter came to UNO after an eight-year stint at George Washington, where he was 275-184 including a trip to the 2002 NCAA Tournament…San Francisco AD Debra Gore-Mann announced a new contract for head baseball coach Nino Giarratano, who guided the Dons to the most successful back-to-back seasons in program history, capped by the first West Coast Conference Championship and first NCAA Regional berth in school history in 2006.


Jacksonville State head baseball coach Jim Case, who has won three straight Ohio Valley Conference championships, has agreed to a long-range contract, JSU Athletic Director Jim Fuller announced…Case, who was named the 2005 OVC Coach of the Year, has led the Gamecocks to four consecutive 30-win seasons and three straight league Championships…he has posted a 156-135 record, including a 54-27 league record, during his five years of guiding the Gamecocks…after leading Wright State to the Horizon League Championship and a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament, head baseball coach Robb Cooper had his contract extended through the 2012 season, WSU Athletics Director Dr. Michael Cusack announced…Cooper, who’s entering his third season at the helm, led the Raiders to a 32-27 record in 2006 and guided WSU to their first league title since 1995…the 32 wins are the most since 2001 and only the third time the Raiders have topped the 30-win mark since 1996… Steve Rodriguez, who has guided Pepperdine to three consecutive NCAA appearances, signed a five-year contract extension that will run through the 2012 season, Director of Athletics John Watson announced…terms of the deal were not disclosed…in three seasons as head coach, Rodriguez has compiled an overall record of 113-76 (.598), including a 55-26 (.679) mark in West Coast Conference (WCC) play, while guiding the Waves to three straight conference titles. Less than three months after signing an extension that will keep him as the Sun Devils’ head baseball coach through at least 2011, Pat Murphy announced that he donated $100,000 back to the Arizona State baseball program to help fund facility improvements. “I’m very honored and privileged to be the head baseball coach at Arizona State University,” said Murphy. “I’m fortunate to be a part of a program that touches so many people. The rich history and tradition of Sun Devil baseball includes all of the former student-athletes, coaches, fans and our incredible group of supporters. I realize how fortunate I am every day.” The donation will be used to fund the “Tillman Room” in honor of brothers Pat and Kevin Tillman. Kevin was a member of the Sun Devil baseball team from 1997-99…during those years, Murphy and Pat became close, as Pat would frequently attend baseball games and practices in support of his younger brother, Kevin…the sports medicine room inside the baseball clubhouse will carry the theme of the “Tillman Room” and serve as an area to inspire and pay tribute to these American heroes. “Pat and Kevin Tillman exemplify teamwork, discipline, sacrifice and hard work,” said Murphy. “I’m very proud of our connection with these men and hope that the Tillman Room will serve as a source of inspiration for our student-athletes for years to come. Their story is very close to our program and I felt this was a fitting way to pay tribute and say ‘Thank You’.” Coach Murphy approached Pat and Kevin’s mother, Mary, with the idea earlier this spring. “I think this is a wonderful idea by Coach Murphy and our family is very appreciative of his gesture,” said Tillman. “Pat and Kevin were very close and shared some wonderful memories together at ASU. I know this room will mean a great deal to Kevin and Pat would certainly appreciate it as well. I’m touched that both will be represented together in the Tillman Room.” Coach Murphy’s donation is the latest in a series of significant gifts geared towards completing the renovation of Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark…this past spring, the family of the late Dr. Jim Brock made a significant contribution that will also be used for facility improvements. The final phase of renovations to the ballpark will include a shade canopy, press box expansion, installation of chair back seats throughout the stadium and several alumni tribute areas throughout the concourse area. “This is an unprecedented gesture from Coach Murphy,” said Vice President of University Athletics Lisa Love. “When he first approached me with this idea, I was very excited. It really shows his strong commitment to Arizona State University and the Sun Devil baseball program. I hope others will follow suit and help us put the funding in place to complete the renovation of our ballpark.” ASU plans to have the Tillman Room completed by this month…a formal capital campaign to complete the fundraising for the final phase of ballpark renovations will be announced in the coming months.


Last spring, citing financial disappointments, the board of trustees at Birmingham-Southern College voted to drop its athletic program from NCAA Division I to Division III, affecting 193 athletes at the small liberal arts school…the decision came after the school's first internal review since 1999, when the school began a transition from the NAIA to Division I…the current move will take four years, as Birmingham-Southern will still compete in the Big South Conference in 2007, after which it will begin a gradual three-year transition to Division III…the sad part is that no sport at BSC had been as successful as its baseball program, a team that won the Big South regular-season conference title in two of the three seasons in which it competed…head coach Brian Shoop, who left for the same job at UAB, leaves as the school's all-time winningest coach with 656 wins…in 2004, he led the program to an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after regular season wins against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama… Shoop was forced to tell the players the news shortly after a disappointing performance in the Big South tournament. "It was one of the saddest scenes I've ever seen," Shoop said. "Lots of tears, and a lot of heartache. They're hurt, they're disappointed." The school promised to honor all scholarships for the next two seasons, but also gave each athlete a blanket release and the exodus began immediately…Jordan Alvis, a righthanded pitcher is transferring to Middle Tennessee for the 2007 season…Alvis will have three years of eligibility remaining after redshirting a season and pitching during the 2006 campaign …LSU grabbed left-hander Blake Martin, who pitched at BSC the past two seasons and has two seasons of eligibility remaining…small consolation that Birmingham-Southern College was awarded the Big South Conference’s Team Sportsmanship Award for baseball by Commissioner Kyle Kallander. Rob Butcher, Director of Media Relations for the Cincinnati Reds, has been named the 2006 winner of the Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence…Butcher is in his 18th year of professional baseball and his 10th with the Reds…the Ohio native has worked for the MLB at each of the last nine All-Star Games and World Series…in March 2006, he served as the press officer for Team USA at the inaugural World Baseball Classic…he received a degree in broadcasting and journalism from the University of Dayton in 1985 and a master’s in sports management from The Ohio State University in 1989…a selection committee consisting of past winners, current PR directors, Major League Baseball officials and the Baseball Writers Association of America chose the winner…Notre Dame’s Baseball Media Guide was judged Division I “Best In Nation”, as part of the annual CoSIDA Publications Contest…the ND media guide has also been rated best in the SID’s District V during eight of the past nine years, including three other years ranked among the top four in the nation…kudos to Irish baseball media contact Pete LaFleur. Former Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela and his son, Fernando Jr., who played his college baseball at UNLV, were reunited as teammates with the Mexicali Aguilas of the Mexican Pacific League…the elder Valenzuela, who just turned 46, is beginning his 14th season trying not to pull a hamstring in winter ball…his son spent last year with the Mobile Bay Bears, the Double-A farm club of the San Diego Padres…Fernando Jr. is 24. Sad Notes to Report…during the summer, Keith LeClair, East Carolina’s head baseball coach from 1997 to 2002, died at his home…LeClair, 40, had been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, for the past five years…during his collegiate baseball career as a player, assistant coach and head coach at Western Carolina and ECU, LeClair was a part of 13 NCAA Tournament teams and earned five conference coach-of-the-year awards…he officially relinquished his coaching duties June 19, 2002, two weeks after leading the Pirates to their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance before finishing with a 43-20-1 record…he remained with the ECU Department of Athletics as a special assistant to the director of athletics until the time of his death…said Clemson’s Jack Leggett, “Keith was like a son, brother, and best friend to me. He's a person who I learned a lot more from than he ever learned from me. He's a tremendous credit to coaching, and all those that he had a chance to touch are better off for it…He touched me, and so many others, in countless ways. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and hope they can find strength in the fact that he was a great husband, father, and son. He will be missed by us all." Also over the summer, the Cal State Fullerton baseball program lost a member of its family as Joe Horton, father of head coach George Horton, passed away at his home in Fullerton…he was 86 years old…a huge Titan baseball fan, the elder Horton was seen less and less around Goodwin Field last


season due to declining health, but kept up with the team's trek to Omaha via the internet, television and phoned in scoring updates. Eddie Pellagrini, who coached baseball at Boston College for more than 30 years, died in October at the age of 88…he played 11 years in the major leagues for the Red Sox, St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles), Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates prior to his post at Boston College and was hired by long-time Director of Athletics Bill Flynn in 1957…thirty-one years, and a school-record 359 victories later, he retired after the 1988 season after three appearances in the College World Series - 1960, 1961 and 1967…Pellagrini was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1994 and remains the only BC representative there…he is one of only three players in Red Sox history to hit a home run in their first at-bat…this past April, he joined other surviving members of the Red Sox' 1946 World Series team for a special Opening Day tribute to the legendary squad held at Fenway Park. Eddie Malone, a former major league and Pacific Coast League baseball player who designed one of the sport's most popular bats, has died at age 85…a scrappy 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound catcher, Malone played for the Chicago White Sox in 1949 and 1950…he is credited with helping to design Hillerich & Bradsby's Louisville Slugger M110 model baseball bat…the M stands for Malone…the number indicates he was the 110th player whose last name begins with M to develop his own model…the bat, which has a medium-size handle and barrel, and a fairly large knob, was used by New York Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle and remains one of the company's most popular models with major league players, said Chuck Schupp, who runs Hillerich & Bradsby's pro bat division…Patrick Hubert, a former Texas A&M professor and Athletic Department Hall of Fame inductee, died at age 79…Hubert served as the pitcher for the Aggie baseball team in 1949 through 1951 and was named All-Southwest Conference in 1950…the following year he retained the designation and earned new ones: All-American Pitcher and Most Valuable Player for the Southwest Conference champions…the 1951 Aggie baseball team was the first to go to the College World Series…the legendary Owen W. "Bud" Nangle, patriarch of the award-winning Northern Illinois Sports Information office, and instrumental in the Huskies' elevation to major-college status in football, has died at age 87 in suburban San Diego…he played basketball and baseball at NIU before enlisting in the Navy during World War II…is was voted into 5 Halls of Honor, including the CoSIDA Hall of Fame (1993). Baylor is mourning the death of the current president of the Baylor Bear Foundation, Paul Edwin Gartner, Jr. For the last 15 years, he had been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas and had served as a Deputy Criminal Chief…he was an avid Bear sports fan and had season tickets to all home football, men's and women's basketball and baseball games for the past 30 years…Former University of Texas standout and Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Ernie Koy, who hit a home run in his first major league at bat, died last week at age 97…the university said in a release that Koy helped change the face of football and baseball for the Longhorns in the early 1930s…known as "Big Ernie," Koy was named all-Southwest Conference three times in both football, where he was a running back, and baseball…he chose pro baseball over football and played for 10 years, including five in the majors…he played with the Dodgers from 1938 to 1940 and also spent time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies before joining the Navy in 1942…he hit a three-run homer in his first big league at-bat and finished his career with a .279 batting average, 36 homers and 260 RBIs…Koy once beat Olympian Jesse Owens in a promotional race…"Of course, I had an 8-yard head start. But he was wearing his track suit and I was wearing my baseball uniform and I still won the race," Koy said in 2000 in a news story…he was chosen as one of the 25 most significant figures in Longhorns baseball history and also is a member of UT's Hall of Honor and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1986…his two sons, Ted and Ernie Jr., played on national championship football teams at Texas in 1963 and 1969. Walt McAlexander, a longtime Lubbock Avalanche-Journal sports writer and later sports information director at both Lubbock Christian University and Texas Tech, died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease at age 62. As an A-J sports writer from 1964-76, McAlexander earned a reputation as a stickler for details and as someone who loved to compile and maintain statistics. Those qualities came in handy when he served as the first fulltime sports information director at then-Lubbock Christian College (now LCU) and Texas Tech, where he earned numerous awards both as a writer and an SID.


"He was just a great friend," said Tech baseball coach Larry Hays, who worked with McAlexander at both schools. "He was someone who really cared for other people, and I don't think I ever heard him be unkind to anyone at any time. I always enjoyed my association with him and especially working together." McAlexander was the primary publicist for two national championship teams - LCC's NAIA World Series champion in 1983 and the Texas Tech Lady Raiders' NCAA Tournament winner in 1993. He assembled media guides with exhaustive information on LCC teams comparable to those put together by major-college programs. While at the A-J he won national writing awards from the American Association of College Baseball Coaches in 1972 and 1973, was nominated for Texas Sports Writer of the Year in 1970 and was named Texas Bowling Writer of the Year in 1977. His LCU media guides received 24 national awards, including two National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics-Sports Information Directors Association (NAIA-SIDA) All-Sports competition awards. He conducted the preseason NAIA baseball poll for 12 years and was honored in 1988 with the Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award given to the NAIA sports information director of the year. He also served a lengthy term as the NAIA District VIII information director and as president of the NAIA-SIDA from 1985-86. He also received three NAIA Awards of Merit. In 1990, he was inducted into the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame for meritorious service, and later that year served as the publicist for the United States Baseball Federation's Junior Olympic Baseball Super Series. The NAIA-SIDA in 2006 passed a resolution renaming the annual NAIA baseball brochure contest in McAlexander's honor, a resolution that could be passed as early as this summer. Sam Suplizio, who helped bring major league baseball to Colorado and who made the National Junior College World Series a community institution on the Western Slope, died last week at his home in South Carolina of heart failure at 74…he lived in Grand Junction for more than 40 years and maintained a home there. "Sam was a dynamic, charismatic and enthusiastic leader with a great passion for whatever he set out to do,'' said Jamie Hamilton, who succeeded him at the helm of the junior college tournament, held in Grand Junction the past 49 years. His own career ended with a badly broken arm when he was a star prospect for the New York Yankees. He had signed with New York after graduating from the University of New Mexico, where he played football and baseball and was the school's first All-American baseball player. Suplizio then came to Grand Junction to play for and manage the semipro Grand Junction Eagles. By the late 1950s, he and others were lobbying for the National JUCO Tournament, which debuted in 1959. "We made many, many trips to Kansas to promote our town because there were a lot of places bidding to get it,'' recalled Hurst Otto, who served on the local JUCO committee. "But we succeeded in keeping it here." Finally, former University of Georgia pitcher Jody Friedman, a member of the 2001 SEC Championship team that advanced to the College World Series, died in a weekend boating accident over the summer in Florida…a native of Bradenton, he earned a speech communications degree from Georgia in 2003…he spent three years playing professional baseball following his Bulldog career. For the 15th year, BYU Coach Vance Law attended weekend seminars last week for Major League Baseball in Washington, D.C. This past weekend Law participated in the annual Rookie Career Development Program, which lasted two and a half days…Law, who also played 14 years of professional baseball with six different teams, is one of a couple former Major Leaguers who helped instruct the prospects…Former Citadel first baseman Chip Cannon was named the 2006 Arizona Fall League Joe Black Most Valuable Player at MLB’s Winter Meetings…Cannon was an eighth round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004 and played for the Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League in 2006…Cannon, a 2004 graduate of The Citadel, nearly became the first player to win the AFL Triple Crown, leading the league in home runs (11), RBI (29), total bases (75), slugging percentage (.714) and OPS (1.188). He was second in on-base percentage (.474), tied for second in hits (37) and finished fourth with a .357 batting average.


Gary Lambrecht of the Baltimore Sun reports that when Navy made its fourth consecutive postseason appearance last week in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Boston College, the school in one sense couldn’t lose. The academy expects to reap a seven-figure payday, due in part to its ability to sell more than 20,000 tickets to the event and to its status as an independent school that is not required to share the wealth with members of a conference. And that is just one more phase of a windfall that has Navy administrators smiling. It's also one more example of how the resurgence of the football program under five-year coach Paul Johnson continues to keep the cash registers in Annapolis humming. From record home attendance, season-ticket and merchandising sales, to bowl-game payments, to unprecedented television and radio contracts, the academy's athletic association has never enjoyed the financial boost it is realizing in the wake of Navy's football success. In the fundraising arena, the Naval Academy Foundation is riding the wave of winning football like never before. In the fall of 2005, a five-year campaign concluded with nearly $250 million raised. That record sum of private donations is evidenced already in areas such as the $42 million renovation of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, one of numerous projects either completed or ongoing. George Watt, the head of the alumni association, said donations were coming in at a good clip three years into the campaign. But after Navy reversed five straight losing seasons - including a 3-30 slide from 2000 through 2002 - by going 8-5 and landing its first postseason berth in seven years by going to the Houston Bowl in 2003, the amount of giving spiked dramatically. Besides paying for the football stadium project, the foundation has spent $12.4 million to renovate the academy's baseball stadium and build a soccer facility and sailing center. "I don't think you can say it was a coincidence," Watt said of the jump in donations. "No one wants to admit it, but there is a direct correlation between winning on the gridiron and raising money. The football team has taken the Naval Academy to the nation. Football doesn't drive everything at the academy, but people like winners." Kickoff events for baseball season begin this month around the nation, here’s a sampling…University of Illinois baseball and the Fighting Illini Dugout Club will host the annual Hot Stove Banquet to kick off the 2007 season, and this year a Major League executive will be joining the festivities…Chicago White Sox Executive Advisor to the General Manager Roland Hemond will be the featured guest at the banquet, which will be held Saturday, February 17, at 4 p.m. at the Round Barn Banquet Center…the Boston College Diamond Club will hold its 15th annual "Baseball Night in Boston" on Monday, January 29, 2007…the event was originally scheduled for Thursday, January 25…it will be held in the Yawkey Athletics Center and Peter Gammons will be the featured speaker…proceeds from the dinner and auction support scholarships and program needs for the baseball team. Former Oklahoma baseball greats and current Major League Baseball players will return to OU to help the Sooners kick off the 2007 season at the Diamond Dinner on Friday, Jan. 26…current Sooner players and coaches will also be in attendance to join the former OU greats for an autograph session…future MLB Hall of Famer and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens will be the keynote speaker for the St. John's baseball program's Bullpen Club Banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 31…the first annual fundraising dinner will be held at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan…former Yellow Jacket All-American Mark Teixeira, a two-time Gold Glove first baseman for the Texas Rangers, will be the featured speaker at Georgia Tech's annual Baseball Benefit Dinner on Friday, Jan. 19…as part of the dinner, Teixeira will have his Georgia Tech jersey honored…a consensus first team All-American in 2000, he became just the second Yellow Jacket to ever win the Dick Howser Trophy, joining current Boston Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, who also won the award in 1994, as well as the Smith Award which recognized the National College Player of the Year…he was also named a first-team Academic All-American in 2000…"I believe that Mark is one of the best players to ever play at Georgia Tech, " said Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall. "On top of being a great player, Mark was an Academic All-American at Georgia Tech, so he really was a poster-child for the word 'student-athlete.'


We are very excited to have Mark and his wife Leigh, who is also a Tech alum, back with us this month." Teixeira will also keynote TCU’s First Pitch Banquet on Feb. 2 at Ridglea Country Club in Ft. Worth…the banquet will provide fans the opportunity to meet the 2007 Horned Frogs…with spring drills set to begin later this month, the Nebraska Husker Home Run Club is sponsoring a free preseason preview in Omaha on Saturday, Jan. 13…the event will take place at the Scarlet and Cream Letter Club…East Carolina fans will get their first chance to meet the 2007 Pirates on Saturday, Jan. 27, as ECU hosts its seventh annual baseball luncheon at the Murphy Center's Harvey Banquet Hall. UCF has announced plans to host the Central Florida Celebrity Softball Classic Jan. 26-27…the two-day event features the Celebrity Gala & Roast honoring head baseball coach Jay Bergman and Celebrity Softball Game highlighted by numerous professional athletes and former UCF alumni from the National Football League and Major League Baseball…proceeds from the weekend benefit UCF baseball, The Miracle League and the Florida Hospital Diabetes Center…the LSU Baseball Coaches Committee will play host to a series of special events February 1-3 to herald the beginning of the 2007 season beginning with the First Pitch Banquet on Thursday, February 1 in the Maravich Center, featuring LSU’s 1996 and 1997 national championship teams…the festivities will continue with the LSU Baseball Alumni golf tournament, tentatively scheduled to be held on Friday, February 2…the YMCA Baton Rouge Kids' Baseball Clinic will be held on Saturday, February 3 from 9-11 a.m. in Alex Box Stadium…the event is a free instructional clinic conducted by an All-Star list of current and former professional players, scouts and coaches…the 2007 Virginia Baseball Team will hold its fifth annual "Step Up To The Plate!" on Fri., Jan. 26 at Memorial Gymnasium…former Chicago Cub Ryne Sandberg will serve as the guest speaker at the event. The Astros Minute Maid College Classic and FanFest event, which will take place on Feb. 9-11, will wrap up its Winter Caravan…the tour is made up of several Astros players, coaches and front-office personnel with stops in 16 cities, including a visit to Monterrey, Mexico…participating in this year's College Classic are baseball teams from Rice University, Texas A&M, the University of Houston, Vanderbilt University, Baylor University and Arizona State University. At the just completed ABCA Convention, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the MLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in 2007, the company announced it will establish the first ever Rawlings Gold Glove Awards® for collegiate and high school baseball players…awards will be issued to NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Division I and high school players…also, Rawlings® and the ABCA have partnered with EA Sports® to provide a special Gold Glove feature to the MVP™ 07 NCAA® Baseball game…former Blue Raider Michael McKenry and 20th-year Middle Tennessee State head coach Steve Peterson will both be honored at the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association annual awards banquet and clinic on January 26-28 in Nashville…at the awards luncheon on Saturday, Peterson will be inducted into the TBCA Hall of Fame and McKenry will receive the Division I Player of the Year award…Peterson is 604-474-2 in 19 seasons at the helm of the Blue Raider program and 757-568-2 overall as a head coach…McKenry batted .390 with 13 home runs and 60 RBIs for MTSU in 2006, catching all but one game…he also garnered First Team All-America honors, just the second player in program history named to the first team…former Oregon State outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, Jr. was selected as the Boston Red Sox’s top minor leaguer for 2006 by the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America…he will receive the award at the 68th Boston BBWAA Awards Dinner, which will be held on Jan. 11, 2007 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center… Ellsbury earned All-America honors while playing for OSU from 2003-05 and was the 23rd overall player selected in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, Boston’s first selection in that year’s draft…earlier in 2005, he had helped Oregon State to the Pacific-10 championship and a berth in the College World Series…former Wichita State baseball player Mike Lansing will be inducted into the Shocker Sports Hall of Fame next week…fans voted Lansing to the WSU Baseball 25-Year Anniversary Team at shortstop, as he played on WSU's 1989 College World Series championship team, and was an All-MVC and second-team All-American that season…he led the NCAA in runs (101) in 1989 and led WSU in stolen bases as a sophomore, junior and senior…he hit .325 as a senior in 1990 and led WSU with 16 doubles and 51 RBIs…Lansing played 10 seasons in the major leagues…the induction ceremony is scheduled for halftime of WSU's men's basketball game against Evansville on Jan. 13, with a reception and dinner following at Koch Arena.


The University of Texas-Pan American announced the inaugural class to be inducted into the UTPA Athletics Hall of Fame will include former baseball coach Al Olgetree, the figure-head for the UTPA baseball program for almost 30 seasons as he served as the head coach from 1968 through the 1997 season…he is the program's all-time leader in career wins with 1,084 and posted an all-time career wins total of 1,217 during his career…Ogletree guided the Broncs to their first-ever College World Series appearance during the 1971 season where UTPA finished fourth overall…Ogletree was selected as The Sporting News National Coach of the Year that season and also collected Coach of the Year honors by the NCAA District VI, Texas Sports Writers' Association and South Plains Professional Scouts Association…he has already been inducted into eight halls of fame including the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and Texas Sports Hall of Fame…UTPA holds their event on February 9th…last fall Baylor coach Steve Smith was honored by the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame… his .617 career winning percentage is the best in the history of the baseball program…"I remember the first (Baylor) Hall of Fame induction I attended was when I was a player and coach (Mickey) Sullivan was inducted. I thought it was a great honor for him, and I never imagined that same honor would come to me." He also laughed at the idea that his induction was “based on anything I did as an athlete.” His lasting mark at Baylor has come as a coach, leading the Bears to a 12-year record of 455-284-1, two Big 12 championships, eight NCAA regional berths, three Super Regionals and the 2005 College World Series. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame has officially announced its 2007 Enshrinement Class, which includes former Mizzou baseball coach Gene McArtor, the winningest coach in Tiger baseball history, compiling a record of 733-430-3 over 21 years as head coach…the ceremony is Sunday, Feb. 11 in Springfield, Mo. As a player at Missouri, McArtor won all-conference and all-district honors as a first baseman from 1961-63…he played on two Big Eight Conference Championship teams and two squads which advanced to the College World Series, serving as team captain as a senior…he returned to MU as assistant baseball coach in 1969 and served in that role until 1974 when he succeeded John "Hi" Simmons as the Tigers' head coach…during his 21 years at the helm, McArtor won league championships in 1976 and 1980 and guided six teams to the NCAA Tournament, coached 13 All-Americans and 41 all-conference players…McArtor also served on the NCAA Baseball Committee from 1987-92, including two years as chairman, during a period of unprecedented growth for the CWS…a former president of the American Baseball Coaches Association, McArtor is a member of the ABCA Hall of Fame…since retiring as baseball coach, he has continued to serve MU first at the Senior Associate Director of Athletics and now as Director of Project Management. Former baseball hitting star Eddy Furniss has been elected to the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame…a 2000 graduate, he won the Dick Howser Award in 1998 and was a two-time first-team All-American, helping lead LSU to two national championships, as the Tigers claimed College World Series titles in 1996 and 1997…he was also named to the Academic All-American team three times…the 1996 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, Furniss is the SEC’s all-time leader in hits, home runs, RBI, doubles and total bases, and he finished his career as the fourth-leading home run hitter in the history of college baseball…he was also active in many community service activities as a student-athlete and is now a fourth-year student physician at the University of Texas Health Science Center. New LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri, who left Notre Dame for the Bayou Bengals over the summer, likes to say he's pulling for the school that signs his checks, meaning LSU. But what about the school to which he signs checks, meaning Notre Dame? Shortly after taking the Baton Rouge job last June, Mainieri wrote a check for $446,000 to the Irish to settle the buyout within his contract at the school… he'll be writing tuition checks of $33,000 for at least two more years for his daughter Samantha, who is a sophomore at Notre Dame and a cheerleader. LSU is writing Mainieri's paychecks these days, but he will only be breaking even financially for about two years in the job switch. The Tiger Athletic Foundation presented Mainieri with a gift of $200,000 to offset his payment to Notre Dame, but he will have to pay taxes on that. "I really wanted to be the coach at LSU," Mainieri deadpanned. "I thought about it, particularly because of the buyout, but I knew if I didn't take it that I would regret it for the rest of my life. And I rooted for LSU in the Sugar Bowl. I love both schools, but I love LSU the most. I'm loyal to the people that I'm in the trenches with."


Sarah Rohrs of the Vallejo Times-Herald recently caught up with the Texas Longhorn’s Augie Garrido last month in his old hometown of Vallejo, California and penned the following article… Augie Garrido has knocked it out of the park repeatedly in his 37 years of coaching college baseball. The coaching legend is also a Texas Sports Hall of Fame member and buddies with movie star Kevin Costner.

During a rare visit to his hometown of Vallejo on Friday, the well-known coach said it all began on the playground and baseball fields of Federal Terrace Elementary. Garrido, 67, recently signed on for five more years as head coach with the University of Texas Longhorns, a perennial college power.

With an ESPN film crew in tow, Garrido spent several hours at Federal Terrace where he reminisced about his boyhood years, gave a short, inspirational talk to more than 100 excited fourth- and fifth-graders, and also visited classrooms.

Federal Terrace footage will be part of a full-length television film ESPN is making on Garrido's life. ESPN producer Brian Franklin said the film would be on the sports network during this year's college baseball playoffs.

Garrido recalled how an old Vallejo friend Dave Beronio, a former Times-Herald sports columnist and artist, described him as "the most famous Vallejoan no one knows about." Named August Edmund Garrido, Jr., the man some call the "King of College Baseball" was born Feb. 6, 1939. He attended Vallejo Middle School and graduated from Vallejo High School.

Garrido's sister Cathy Clark, who still lives in Vallejo, plus three boyhood friends, Clyde Huyck, Clark Millholland and Bobby Campo, may be part of the film.

Friends with Garrido since the second grade, Huyck said the two still keep in touch. "Even though he's a big shot, he's always right there for you," he said.

While Augie Sr. wanted his son to follow his footsteps at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Garrido said he wanted to go to college and play baseball. His family grew up on Sears Point Road and then on Benson Avenue. As a boy, Garrido delivered the Times-Herald to Navy families living near his elementary school.

Garrido has coached three college baseball teams in his career, and remains the all-time "winningest" coach in Division I athletics with 1,542 wins.

He has an uncommon approach to success, in which the focus is not on winning, but on solving problems and realizing personal triumphs.

In his talk to Federal Terrace youngsters, he encouraged them to find their passion and reach for the stars.

"When I look at you I'm looking into the eyes of my friends at the same age. We had a lot of hopes and dreams. Go after those dreams with knowledge," he told the boys and girls.

"Choose what you want with heart. Find the passion and what you care about and don't be afraid to go out and find it. It belongs to you," he said.


Besides Vallejo, Garrido and the film crew were also at Fresno State University where Garrido was a student athlete, graduating in 1961. They also visited California State University at Fullerton where his teams compiled a stellar 875-341-5 record.

Much of the film will center on Garrido's job as head coach of Texas Longhorns, a position he's held since 1997. He's taken the team to the College World Series the last six seasons, including winning two National Championship rings.

The film's director is Rick Linklater who recently directed "Fast Food Nation," "Bad News Bears," and "School of Rock."

Producer Franklin said the film is meant to be a "portrait of an incredible teacher who happens to be a baseball coach. Everything he teaches is about life. It just happens you can apply it to baseball."

Garrido said most coaches are controlling, but his intention is to build relationships with his players and draw out their talents through more positive approaches.

"My message is that you don't have to be negative or harp on them about doing poorly or ridicule them. Quite the opposite. You need to support their failures," he said.

"I'm not driven by winning. I'm driven by solving the problem and being a teacher," he said.

Besides his baseball and coaching successes, Garrido has also been in several Hollywood movies, including "For Love of the Game" with his friend Costner. "It all began here," he said while looking around the Federal Terrace playground.

Garrido said he is surprised the school looks nearly the same as it did more than 50 years ago. He pointed out poles he climbed to get balls off of roofs, and baseball fields where he played.

He recalled getting into trouble repeatedly for not eating his lunch in the gym, but on the playground where he stood a better chance of getting into neighborhood baseball games. "I'm not sure it's important for me to put a finger on it, but it must have been the right thing," he said of his years at the school. He added that while at Federal Terrace, he learned to make choices and take risks.

He told the youngsters he went into coaching because he didn't want to pick fruit in the Napa Valley or work at Mare Island. "I followed by heart and went to college and then into baseball," he said. "You have to be the best at whatever you want to be."

With the 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship ringing in the ears of the Kentucky baseball program this off season, UK has decided to give Cliff Hagan Stadium a face lift in the form of some exterior moderations for the 2007 season, including a new deck in right field and a state-of-the-art scoreboard in left field which will contribute to a fan-friendly atmosphere…“We have a new deck that is going to be in right field that will be able to house 100-150 people,” head coach John Cohen said. “The entire parking area behind our right-field fence will have a much better view of the ballpark, because we have lowered the fence and put up a padded wall. We’re adding kind of a semi-green monster effect to our right field side because it plays so small. We have a brand new video board for our fans, which will be tremendous. It will make the games much more fan-friendly, much more educational, and more inviting to our fans.”


Kentucky baseball experienced unprecedented growth a season ago, as they experienced the most successful season in the 102-year history of the program…that success was not limited to on the field, as Wildcat fans began filling the stands in record numbers…a school-record 3,529 fans packed Cliff Hagan in June as the ‘Cats hosted Ball State in the school’s first NCAA Regional…that excitement translated into a staggering 453-percent total increase in attendance from the 2005 to 2006 seasons. Tennessee head baseball coach Rod Delmonico announced that former Volunteers catcher Mike DiFelice will be the 2007 inductee into the Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame at the 2007 Leadoff Banquet, which takes place at the Knoxville Marriott Monday, Jan. 29 and will be headlined by Tommy Lasorda…he becomes the first inductee to have played during the coaching tenure of the current Vols skipper (1990-present)…the Third Annual Pepperdine Baseball Big League Golf Experience is scheduled for Monday, January 22 at Sherwood Country Club in nearby Thousand Oaks…all proceeds from the event will benefit the Pepperdine baseball program…this year's event also will include guest appearances by Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock…at Long Beach State, the Bob Wuesthoff Endowment is close to reaching its initial goal of $150,000, for a baseball scholarship named after the former head coach (1964-69), who wore No. 24 and won the program's first conference title…after launching in late 2005, the eight-man committee spearheaded by LBSU's first baseball coach, John McConnell, has received pledges of $121,000 and collected close to $58,000…Wuesthoff took over the program in 1964 and won the California Collegiate Athletic Association title that same year…in six years, he compiled a .615 winning percentage, going 161-101-4 from 1964 to 1969…the 49ers hold an annual alumni baseball game, this year on January 28, coinciding with the Leadoff Dinner on January 26, and a golf tournament on January 27. Also in SoCal this month, after beginning with a gathering of print media five years ago, the Southern California College Baseball Media Day hits its fifth birthday on January 17 starting at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, when thirteen Southern California-affiliated coaches and players gathering at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach to kick off the collegiate season…for the second-straight year the proceedings will be broadcast live on College Sports Television (Direct TV 610) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pacific time, and this year sponsored by the College Baseball Foundation and Hall of Fame. In addition to the Birmingham-Southern transfers, several interesting relocations caught our attention…Rice’s Wayne Graham announced Juan "J.P." Padron has enrolled in school for the 2007 Spring semester and will join the Owls for the upcoming season…Padron played in the infield last season at San Jacinto College and helped lead the Gators to a third place finish at the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction…he batted .303 with four home runs, 11 doubles and 20 RBI in 56 games and was an 11th round major league draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004 after a stellar prep career at Clear Creek High School near Houston…he played one season at LSU in 2005 before transferring to San Jac…"J.P. has the right physical qualities to be an impact player," Graham said. "We hope he can realize his full potential. He's very strong and we’re glad he’s here.” Matt Mangini, a transfer from North Carolina State, will now start for Oklahoma State at third base…he starred for the Wolfpack in 2006, hitting .343, with seven homers and 60 RBIs, and followed that by capturing the Cape Cod League batting title over the summer…Mangini, who will be a junior for the Cowboys in 2007, moves returning Big 12 Player of the Year, Tyler Mach, from third to second base…both Mach and Mangini, as well as OSU junior outfielder Corey Brown, have also been named to the preseason Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. Jeremy Jones, who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies, has decided to return to North Carolina A&T and play the 2007 baseball season…he was selected in the 2006 MLB Draft despite sitting out nearly all of that season with a broken hand… before the start of the 2006 season, Jones was added to the Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Watch List…he was trying to follow up a 2005 season in which he earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors, batted .402, broke the school record for hits in a season, led the Aggies to the MEAC Championship and helped the school earn its first-ever bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament…he has career batting average of .368, a .528 slugging percentage, with 73 RBI, nine home runs, 28 doubles in 104 games played…he’ll join 2007 Brooks Wallace Award nominee Charlie Gamble in the lineup to give the Aggies a potent offensive attack…Lamar, who lost three of its top four pitchers from last year, received a boost to their pitching staff


with the addition of hurlers Matt Morgal and Brad DePoy who will be able to pitch for the Cardinals this spring...a 6-5, 210-pound right-hander, Morgal posted a (5-1) record with a 3.10 earned run average and 60 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched for Seminole Junior College last season…he has been drafted twice, first in the 18th round by the Atlanta Braves in the 2005 MLB Draft and last year by the Minnesota Twins in the 34th round…his father, Mike, was an outstanding pitcher for the Cardinals from 1976-79, posting a (26-10) record for Lamar earning All-Southland Conference honors in 1978…Cardinal head coach Jim Gilligan also added DePoy, a 6-1, 215-pound right-hander, who pitched the last two seasons at San Jacinto Junior College…he was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs after a standout prep career at The Woodlands HS near Houston…Matt Ray, a three-year starter at Central Florida, is transferring to Middle Tennessee for the 2007 season…he will have one year of eligibility remaining in his collegiate career…Ray played in 161 of a possible 180 games in his career at UCF, batting .300 with 134 runs scored and .405 on-base percentage…he also has 76 career stolen bases, tying for third on the Golden Knights all-time list…Austin Peay State has added Ryne Mantooth, a transfer from Louisville, to its 2007 roster…the 6-4, 178-pound right-handed pitcher/third baseman, will join the Govs as a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining…NC State’s Andrew Brackman announced that he’s “decided that it’s in my best interests to play baseball only this year and to concentrate on getting ready for the [Major League Baseball] draft in June. I’ve been told by scouts that I have a chance to be selected very high in this year’s draft.” Tennessee’s Bryan Morgado will redshirt this season after undergoing successful left elbow surgery to repair an injury suffered this past summer before his arrival in Knoxville…the freshman left-handed pitcher from Miami, Fla., had surgery and is expected to make a full recovery…Clemson’s Andy D'Alessio and Marquez Smith both returned to the Tigers after mulling MLB contracts, as did Matt LaPorta at Florida. Senior left-handed pitcher Dan DeLucia, senior outfielder Jacob Howell, junior outfielder Matt Angle and junior catcher Eric Fryer have been named captains of the 2007 Ohio State baseball team by head coach Bob Todd…Buckeye rookie captains are Ryan Dew and Brian DeLucia…Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway has named seniors Aaron Ivey and Jimmy Rollins and juniors Ryan Mottern, Aaron Reza and Jackson Williams the captains of the 2007 squad…"These five young men have earned the honor of being named the captains of this team," said Golloway. "The coaching staff has the utmost confidence in them and their ability to lead the team on and off the field in 2007." Seniors Kevin Koski and Jordan Powell will represent Southern Illinois University baseball as captains in 2007…they were overwhelming favorites in a team vote…senior outfielder Tony Wells, junior pitcher McKenzie Willoughby, sophomore pitcher Chris Grider and sophomore pitcher Christian Friedrich have been named captains of the Eastern Kentucky baseball team for the 2007 season head coach Elvis Dominguez announced…Wells is the Colonels’ leading returning hitter after finishing second on the team, behind Phillies seventh-round pick and Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Charlie Yarbrough with a .363 batting average…a 2006 Freshman All-American and 2007 preseason All-American and Brooks Wallace Award candidate, Friedrich went (10-2) in his first year at Eastern and led the conference in ERA (1.98) and strike outs per game (13), with the latter mark ranking second in the nation…the 2006 OVC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-OVC selection struck out 118 batters in 82.0 innings and held opponents to a .204 batting average…he also hurled the fifth no-hitter in school history and first since 1992 last March against Morehead State…senior walk-on Tom Murray was elected captain of NY Tech’s baseball team for the 2007 season by his teammates and coaches… Murray joins Robert Benenati and Jim Whitman as the only walk-ons to earn the distinction at NYIT…Bowling Green has named seniors Eric Lawson, Tyler Johnson and Josh Dietz the team captains for the 2007 campaign…Lawson served as a captain last season as well, leading the team in batting average (.355), on-base percentage (.469), homeruns (five), slugging percentage (.511) and walks (32)…he sports a .355 career batting average and a .455 OBP through his first three seasons as a Falcon…Stephen Perry and Russell Young will serve as the 2007 Dartmouth captains. Note to Baseball SID’s--a delegation of some CoSIDA officers recently visited the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, the site of the 2007 CoSIDA Workshop and President Doug Dull reported the need to change the dates of the upcoming workshop in order to most effectively handle meeting and program needs…for that reason, the 2007 Workshop will move ahead one day and will now run from Saturday, June 30 through Tuesday, July 3…Registration will still occur on the first day of the Workshop, which will now be on Saturday.


In honor of the West Coast Conference celebrating its 40th season of sponsoring the sport of baseball, the conference office is proud to announce the selection of the WCC/Rawlings 40th Anniversary Baseball Team. The ceremonial team consists of 40 of the top players that have graced West Coast Conference baseball diamonds over the past four decades. Only individuals from the league's current membership were eligible for selection, with primary focus placed on each player's collegiate accomplishments. A 30-member voting panel comprised of WCC administrators, league institutions, national collegiate baseball writers, and local media members selected the WCC/Rawlings 40th Anniversary Baseball Team. "The West Coast Conference is proud to announce the selection of the WCC/Rawlings 40th Anniversary Baseball Team," said Commissioner Michael Gilleran. "The west is traditionally one of the strongest regions in the nation for baseball, and our conference has competed successfully at a national level since 1968, which is a testament to the league's baseball coaches and the administrations that support our eight programs. I would like to recognize and commend the 40 individuals that were selected, and would like to thank Rawlings for their role in honoring these outstanding student athletes."

Patrick Ahearne, Pepperdine Jason Bay, Gonzaga Billy Bean, LMU Taggert Bozied, San Francisco Miah Bradbury, LMU Troy Buckley, Santa Clara Tom Candiotti, Saint Mary’s Kory Casto, Portland Joe Ciccarella, LMU Jermaine Clark, San Francisco Scott Cousins, San Francisco Chris Donnels, LMU Steve Duda, Pepperdine Mike Fetters, Pepperdine Mike Frank, Santa Clara Nate Gold, Gonzaga Dan Haren, Pepperdine Von Hayes, Saint Mary’s Dana Hendershott, San Francisco Kevin Herde, San Diego Rick Hirtensteiner, Pepperdine Tim Layana, LMU Mark Lee, Pepperdine Noah Lowry, Pepperdine Barry Matthews, Gonzaga Steve Montgomery, Pepperdine James Mouton, Saint Mary’s Russ Noah, LMU Bob Pailthorpe, Santa Clara Jeff Peterson, Saint Mary’s Kevin Reese, San Diego Steve Rodgriguez, Pepperdine Arnie Sambel, San Francisco Dane Sardinha, Pepperdine Mike Scott, Pepperdine Mark Teahen, Saint Mary’s Billy Traber, LMU Rich Troedson, Santa Clara David Uribes, Pepperdine Randy Wolf, Pepperdine


The first of many upcoming conference predictions was released this week as St. John’s was chosen by the league head coaches to win the 2007 Big East baseball title…Rutgers junior shortstop Todd Frazier was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year, while the Preseason Pitcher of the Year was awarded to Notre Dame sophomore Kyle Weiland…the selections were made by the league’s head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams or players. The Red Storm received seven of the 11 possible first place votes and enter the 2007 campaign following impressive 2006 season that was highlighted by a 40-19 overall record, a fourth-place finish in league play and a spot in Big East Tournament…SJU is led by sophomore pitcher Scott Barnes, senior outfielder Chris Joachim and junior designated hitter Anthony Smith all of whom were selected to the 2007 Preseason All-Big East Team…last season, Barnes made 11 starts and posted a 3-2 record with an earned run average of 3.66…offensively for the Red Storm, Joachim and Smith combined for nine home runs and 102 runs batted in, the two also hit over .350 for the year. Notre Dame received four of the 11 possible first-place votes to finish second in the preseason poll. The Fighting Irish, who won the 2006 Big East Tournament and regular season title, earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Baseball Championship…ND will be led in 2007 by two preseason All-Big East Team selections - including sophomore Weiland and junior pitcher Wade Korpi…last season, the two ND pitchers helped provide the Irish with a team ERA of 3.52, which ranked third among all league teams…Weiland led the league with a school-record 16 saves, while posting an ERA of 2.37 in 30 appearances, while Korpi led the conference with an ERA of 2.00 and had a record of (7-2)… Louisville was chosen third and received one first place vote…in their first Big East season a year ago, the Cardinals finished with a 17-10 league mark en route to a third-place finish during the regular season…U of L also staged an impressive performance in the Big East Tournament as it advanced to the title game against Notre Dame. Place Team (1st Place Votes/Pts.) 2006 Overall Record 2006 BIG EAST 1. St. John’s (7) 116 40-19 16-10/4th 2. Notre Dame (4) 110 45-17-1 21-5-1/1st 3. Louisville (1) 95 31-29 17-10/3rd 4. Rutgers 78 29-28-1 13-14/t-6th 5. Connecticut 75 39-18-1 18-6-1/2nd 6. USF 71 23-35 12-15/8th 7. Cincinnati 68 32-26 13-14/t-6th 8. West Virginia 53 36-22 14-13/5th 9. Pittsburgh 43 23-29 10-17/t-9th 10. Seton Hall 42 17-34 7-20/12th 11. Villanova 24 27-27 8-18/11th 12. Georgetown 17 24-32 10-17/t-9th NCAA President Myles Brand’s goal of an 80 percent Graduation Success Rate for Division I is a percentage point closer to fruition with the release of recent NCAA data showing the overall GSR for the division at 77 percent, up from 76 percent last year…the data is from the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 1996 through 1999, for which the NCAA has compiled sport-by-sport GSR and the comparable graduation rate using the federally mandated methodology…the NCAA developed the Graduation Success Rate two years ago because the federal graduation rate does not credit institutions with student-athletes who leave in good academic standing or for transfers into the school who graduate…the federal rate includes neither cohort…the GSR accounts for both of those transfer groups, which has resulted in a more accurate depiction of student-athlete academic success, since it captures about 35 percent more students than the federal methodology…the NCAA continues to provide the federally mandated graduation rate, however, since there is no comparable rate to the GSR for the student population…the GSR data for the 1996-99 four-class aggregate show that in addition to the increase for the entire division, the GSR for male student-athletes has risen from 69 percent to 70 percent…the GSR for female student-athletes remains steady at 86 percent…“The goal of 80 percent GSR is not an ‘official’ NCAA goal, but one that I think stretches us but can be accomplished,” Brand said. “Division I is close to that goal now at 77 percent, and these data do not reflect the current academic


reforms Division I has adopted in the last three years. The entering class of 2003 is the first subject to enhanced initial-eligibility and progress-toward-degree requirements, and the introduction of the Academic Progress Rate also has prompted institutions to redouble their efforts toward ensuring student-athlete academic success. I believe the 80-percent target for the entire division is attainable in the near future.” The lowest-ranking sports for each gender in the GSR were basketball (59 percent), baseball (65 percent) and football (65 percent) for men, and bowling (70 percent), rifle (78 percent) and basketball (82 percent) for women…the data shows that the GSR for men has increased from 68 percent to 71 percent and from 85 percent to 88 percent for women…Division I student-athletes continue to outpace their student-body counterparts in the classroom according to graduation-rates data released by the NCAA….in addition, research from the federal graduation-rate methodology required through the Student Right-to-Know Act shows student-athletes in the entering class of 1999 graduated at a rate of 63 percent, two percentage points higher than the student-body rate…each percentage are one point higher than the previous year…every class since 1986 has demonstrated that student-athletes have graduated at rates higher than those of the general student body. Illinois State baseball player Matt Bolt has been named the recipient of the 2006-07 Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship, named after the former Redbird coach, who won 713 games in his coaching career from 1963 to 1988, making him the winningest coach in Illinois State history…the award is presented to a junior or senior baseball player who demonstrates the competitive spirit exemplified by coach Bass during his time at Illinois State as a student-athlete, teacher and coach… “Matt has been with this program for three years now and has proven that he is a leader in this program,” said ISU head coach Jim Brownlee. “He works hard in everything he does and approaches the game, school and life the way all student-athletes should. Matt is truly deserving of this scholarship and I am looking forward to him having a great senior season.” Teamate Ryan Anetsberger was also named the Fairchild Memorial Scholarship recipient for the 2006-07 school year, a scholarship named for former ISU president Raymond W. Fairchild…it is presented to a junior baseball player each school year. While Rice enters the 2007 season picked to win the Conference USA baseball title, and a possible national championship, the Owls already are reigning champions of Conference USA's Brain Bowl…RU, with an overall GPA of 3.096 on a 4.0 scale swept the past year’s trophy which includes all 17 sports…Rice ranked highest in nine, including 2.809 in football, 3.069 in baseball, 2.947 in men's basketball and 3.323 in volleyball, the best in all sports…they also placed the highest number of student-athletes on the Commissioner's Honor Roll , producing 174 members…Oklahoma State also received good news regarding academics as the Cowboys baseball team set a record in the classroom…with the finalization of the grades of the 39 players on the OSU roster, their overall team grade point average was 3.15, a school record for baseball…of those 39 players on OSU’s roster, 23 earned a 3.0 G.P.A. or higher, which is also a record for the fall…and for the second-straight semester, 10 players were named to the President¹s or Dean¹s honor rolls (one shy of the team record set last fall). As long as we’re talking about the value of the college experience, it also seems to matter on the playing field…BaseballProspectus.com has noted that statistics show college players are roughly 50 percent more likely to reach the major leagues than high-school players of equal draft caliber… this advantage has not changed over time…among players taken in the first 100 picks between 1984 and 1991, 60 percent of college players drafted reached the majors, compared to 41 percent of high school players…between 1992 and 1999, college players had a roughly equal edge, 57 percent to 39 percent…during the last decade, however, continued collegiate budget cuts and the massive increase in MLB signing bonuses which have occurred since the early 1990s meant that virtually all of the top high school players in any given year signed pro contracts, bolstering the crop of high school signees, while simultaneously depleting the college ranks…this appears to be the primary reason why college players no longer enjoy as large as an advantage they once did…college hitters enjoy a sizeable advantage over every other class of draft pick, in both eras, and in every round…even from 1992 to 1999, collegiate hitters were anywhere from 51 percent to 62 percent more valuable than any other draft group… collegiate first basemen were the most valuable group of draft picks by an enormous margin…first sackers selected in the first round have gone on to have Hall of Fame-caliber careers approximately one-third of the time…over the course of the entire draft study, college first basemen have returned a ridiculous +144 percent in draft value.


The Arizona athletic department booked a profit for the 19th consecutive season last year, a remarkable bit of business inasmuch as the Wildcats do not receive state funding as part of their $39 million budget and have now gone through eight consecutive non-winning football seasons…still, the school has begun self-funded facility improvements and expansions for swimming, soccer, track, gymnastics, softball, baseball and track…all are expected to be completed by next summer…the total cost for the remake of Arizona's athletic facilities in that period — including the Hall of Fame, strength and conditioning center, locker rooms, coaches' offices, academic center and media relations facilities — is close to $40 million…supporters say UA's athletic plant compares favorably to any in college sports and has been done with private funding and without being excessive…meanwhile, the University of Phoenix will pay $154.5 million over the next 20 years for the naming rights to the Arizona Cardinals' new stadium…it’s good to see a college resist pressure to spend its money on frivolous academic pursuits and instead invest in something everyone can enjoy, like a big sign. USA Baseball has officially retired the uniform number 20 belonging to alumnus Steve Reich…one of the finest pitchers to ever pass through the U.S. Military Academy, during the summer of 1993 he was a member of the USA Baseball National Team that competed in the World University Games…his time with USA Baseball was highlighted by his selection to carry the flag for the entire USA delegation at the Games…during his lone season of international competition for Team USA, Reich authored a (2-1) record with a 2.48 ERA in 17 appearances, fanning 38 while walking only three…in June 2005, Reich and 15 other service members were killed in Afghanistan when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by enemy fire while on a rescue mission…Reich’s military awards included the Bronze Star (awarded twice), Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medial, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Senior Aviator, Airborne and Air Assault Badges…he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, a third Bronze Star, and the Air Medal with Valor device…Army standout Nick Hill earned a spot on the 2006 USA Baseball National Team last summer, becoming the first West Pointer to represent America on the baseball diamond since Reich in 1993…the National Team captured its second straight FISU (International University Sports Federation) World Championship with an, 18-9, win over Chinese Taipei and finished its summer campaign with a 28-2-1 mark…the .919 win percentage is the best ever by a USA Baseball collegiate team and the tournament win was the first ever for a USA Baseball National Team in Cuba. Former MLB executive Syd Thrift passed away this fall, but most forget that he was collegiate product from Randolph-Macon…in a 1946 game between the University of Richmond and R-MC the state championship was on the line…hyped as a showdown between the Spiders' veteran pitcher, Lew Burdette and 17-year-old freshman sensation Thrift, scouts and fans packed the stands as he bested Burdette that day, and the Jackets prevailed, 4-2…in his pro career he was instrumental in signing Bobby Bonilla, Donn Clendenon, Al Oliver, Bob Robertson and Woody Fryman and gained national notoriety as the founding director of the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy in 1969…it later sent 14 players to the major leagues…he was 77. For the first time in New Mexico baseball history, Albuquerque radio station 1310 The Ticket will supply exclusive broadcasts of Lobo baseball on the air and throughout the world at www.SportsTicket1310.com. All of the team's 26 home games and the Mountain West Conference Tournament will be broadcast live. Dan Rivera will call the play-by-play for the Lobos, while Mike Foote will provide analysis…it marks the fourth straight season for the duo will call Lobo baseball…speaking of broadcasters, for years, the quotation "The opera ain't over until the fat lady sings" was attributed to San Antonio sportscaster Dan Cook…then Fred Shapiro, associate librarian for collections and access services at the Yale Law School, came on the scene, and - using extensive online databases and newspaper archives - traced the saying back to Ralph Carpenter, the late sports information director at Texas Tech University in the 1970s…Carpenter, Shapiro found, had used the phrase at a basketball game against Texas A & M two years before Cook said it in a television broadcast.

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The Southeastern Conference reached the goal of its baseball attendance promotional campaign last year, which aimed at drawing more than 1.5 million fans to the 12 SEC ballparks during the 2006 season…“Pack the Parks - The Drive for 1.5”, eclipsed the mark over the conference tournament weekend…the SEC has drawn over one million in paid attendance for five straight seasons…no other conference has ever drawn a million or more fans to its baseball stadiums during a single season…the SEC reached the one-million mark in 2006 in early April, a full week earlier than it had ever reached that figure…the league’s baseball attendance in 2005 was over 600,000 that of the next closest conference, the Big 12, who totaled 844,000 a year ago…three of the top five and eight of the top 25 schools in NCAA baseball attendance in 2005 were SEC schools. 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Home Attendance Leaders Average Home Attendance Team Dates Total Average 1. LSU 36 263,534 7,320 2. Arkansas 28 199,450 7,123 3. Mississippi State 28 193,703 6,918 4. Texas 30 161,392 5,380 5. Nebraska 24 122,216 5,092 6. Mississippi 36 174,756 4,854 7. Clemson 39 184,946 4,742 8. Alabama 38 173,450 4,564 9. Texas A&M 31 138,805 4,478 10. Florida State 36 158,055 4,390 11. Rice 43 180,306 4,193 12. South Carolina 35 133,652 3,819 13. Wichita State 35 131,279 3,751 14. Florida 35 123,022 3,515 15. Southern Mississippi 33 109,200 3,309 16. Baylor 32 96,427 3,013 17. Tulane 37 106,862 2,888 18. East Carolina 36 102,475 2,847 19. Houston 29 79,246 2,733 20. Hawai’i 31 82,744 2,669 Total Home Attendance Team Dates Attendance 1. LSU 36 263,534 2. Arkansas 28 199,450 3. Mississippi State 28 193,703 4. Clemson 39 184,946 5. Rice 43 180,306 6. Mississippi 36 174,756 7. Alabama 38 173,450 8. Texas 30 161,392 9. Florida State 36 158,055 10. Texas A&M 31 138,805 11. South Carolina 35 133,652 12. Wichita State 35 131,279 13. Florida 35 123,022 14. Nebraska 24 122,216 15. Southern Mississippi 33 109,200 16. Tulane 37 106,862 17. East Carolina 36 102,475 18. Baylor 32 96,427 19. Hawai’i 31 82,744 20. Texas Tech 31 80,786


2006 was a year of incredible highs and lows for the Kainer family in Tomball, Texas…son Carson starred as an outfielder for the Texas Longhorns…the 21-year old hit .364 and led the team in RBIs (66), doubles (25), and hits (84)…he was drafted in the 14th round of the major league draft by the Cincinnati Reds but announced he was returning to Texas for his senior season after the need for a kidney transplant was discovered in June…in July came testing and looking for a donor…Ron, his dad, was identified as a match…August was supposed to be the month for the transplant but it had to be postponed until September…doctors

decided to move the Aug. 24 surgery date because Ron (who was donating the kidney) was recovering from a viral infection…"They thought it would be too big a risk to do it,'' Carson said. "We wanted to make sure my dad was completely healthy. There was no rush.'' But Sept. 12th came and everything went very well…Cincinnati came back into the picture and signed Carson in October and in November he moved back to Austin to get ready for Spring Training in March 2007…Happy New Year to the Kainers! The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) hired William Gardner as the new skipper of the Hawks' baseball program and Jerry Augustine stepped aside as the head baseball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, allowing assistant head coach Scott Doffek to take over the head coaching duties of the program…Augustine spent the past 12 years as the head coach at UWM with Doffek at his side as the assistant head coach, running the day-to-day operations of the program…his coaching record of 347-297-1 gives him the most victories by any coach in Milwaukee's Division I athletics history…he won 30 or more games six times while collecting three league coach of the year awards and five conference regular season or tournament championships…Baylor assistant coach Mitch Thompson was named American Baseball Coaches Association/Baseball America National Assistant Coach of Year, the award’s eighth year…In his 13th season in Waco, Thompson oversees recruiting and helped the Bears land Baseball America’s top-ranked signing class in 2006…Baylor’s signing classes have ranked in the top 25 nationally six times in the last eight years…elsewhere on the assistant level you needed a scorecard to keep up with the changes…here are just a few, contact us if someone was left out…Jerry Weinstein, pitching coach for Cal Poly the last five seasons, has resigned in order to accept a position as manager of the Modesto Nuts…former ETSU pitcher Reid Casey has accepted the Buccaneers' pitching coach position under head coach Tony Skole…former Aggie Mark Aranda will rejoin New Mexico State as assistant coach, along with former Northeast Texas Community College head coach and athletic director Chad Tidwell…former Aggie and OSU great Gary Ward will serve as pitching coach, under son Rocky Ward…former Pirate standout Ben Sanderson has been named Director of Baseball Operations, and Bill Jarman pitching coach, at East Carolina by head coach Billy Godwin… Dartmouth has hired George Roig as its new top assistant coach for the 2007 season…Tim Dixon was hired as the new pitching coach at Southern Illinois by head coach Dan Callahan…Mount St. Mary's head coach Scott Thomson announced the hiring of Tim Brown as an assistant coach. Long Beach State completed its coaching staff with the hiring of Nick Walsh as the team's second assistant, the return of former Dirtbag TJ Bruce as the volunteer assistant and the creation of the a new position, Director of Baseball Operations, which was filled by Mike Callin…NC State’s Elliott Avent hired UT’s Tom Holliday to be the Wolfpack’s associate head coach and recruiting coordinator and Augie Garrido hired Skip Johnson as the Longhorn's pitching coach…former Wildcat Jeff Casper has been hired as an assistant by Arizona head coach Andy Lopez…he’ll work with the outfielders and hitters, as well as assist with recruiting and the Andy Lopez Baseball Academy...Tom Walter, who recently signed a four-year contract extension at New Orleans, has named former Shippensburg University head coach Bruce Peddie as associate head coach and former Major League pitcher Kirk Bullinger as assistant coach…Miami (OH)University baseball coach Dan Simonds announced that Nick Otte has been added to the RedHawk coaching staff as a volunteer assistant…first-year Buffalo head coach Ron Torgalski completed his coaching staff by naming Jim Koerner assistant coach and the most recognizable name in the school’s diamond history, former 11-year major leaguer Joe Hesketh, as the Bulls’ pitching coach…Hesketh, who starred for UB from 1978-80, is a member of both the Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of ’86) as well as the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame (2002).


TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle announced the addition of Randy Mazey as an assistant coach to the baseball staff…he was previously the head coach at former Conference USA-foe East Carolina for three seasons and, prior to that time, spent six seasons as the recruiting coordinator at Tennessee, East Carolina and Georgia…Flint Wallace has been added as TCU’s Director of Baseball Operations and Ryan Shotzberger also comes to Ft. Worth as the volunteer assistant after one season as an assistant coach at Duke…Wright State head coach Rob Cooper announced that Mike Stover has been added to his staff…he comes to WSU after three seasons at Wichita State as the volunteer assistant coach… Dayton head coach Tony Vittorio announced longtime assistant coach Todd Linklater has been promoted to Associate Head Coach of the Flyer baseball program…Michigan’s Rich Maloney also announced the addition of Aaron Hepner to his coaching staff filling the volunteer coaching position for the Wolverines. Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole has announced the hiring of Ted Silva as the team's pitching coach for the 2007 season…Silva joins the Bulldogs after spending the last two years as a volunteer assistant in charge of pitching with Cal State Fullerton, where he led a staff that had a national best 2.73 ERA, the only team in the country under 3.00 in 2006…Cal State Fullerton then announced the return of Bill Kernen to the Titan family…Kernen, 58, returns to the staff after a 19-year absence…he coached for the Titans from 1978-82 and again in 1987 University of Delaware assistant coach Greg Mamula was named interim head coach at West Chester University after spending five seasons as an assistant with the Blue Hens…with Mamula’s departure, newly hired assistant Brian Walker will assume the role of second assistant and pitching coach… Virginia's Kevin McMullan has been promoted to the position of associate head baseball coach, following three seasons as the Cavalier hitting coach and recruiting coordinator…his duties will remain the same on head coach Brian O'Connor's staff…Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos and his coaching staff has announced the addition of Buddy Custer as a volunteer assistant coach… UALR head coach Jim Lawler announced the addition of two assistant coaches to his staff adding the services of Brian Grunzke and Tyler Herbst…Grunzke comes to Little Rock after 16 seasons as head coach at Waldorf College, while Herbst joins the Trojans after coaching stints at Evansville, Northern Illinois and Wabash Valley College…the duo fill the void left by the departure of associate head coach Scott Lawler and assistant coach Bobby Pierce…Lawler was named primary assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame, while Pierce was named head coach at Metropolitan State College in Denver. Former Clemson and College of Charleston pitcher Mike Rhue has been named the pitching coach with the University of Northern Colorado baseball program…Creighton has added Jason Shockey to its baseball staff…his younger brother, Colin, was the starting center fielder for the Jays when they captured the Missouri Valley Conference title in 2005…Georgia State head baseball coach Greg Frady has announced the hiring of Brad Stromdahl, Blaine McFerrin, and Bobby Perez to assistant coaching positions with the Panthers program…Florida head coach Pat McMahon announced the appointment of Don Norris as the program's volunteer assistant baseball coach replacing Brian Fleetwood, who was named an assistant coach at the University of North Florida, where he was a four-year letter winner for the Ospreys…Longwood University head coach Buddy Bolding announced the appointment of Spencer Schmitz as an assistant…Monmouth’s Dean Ehehalt announced the addition of Mike Campagna as assistant coach to the staff…Campagna, a former team captain at the University of Virginia, joins the Blue and White following his career with the Cavaliers. Lazaro "Lazer" Collazo and Bryant Ward were named to the South Florida baseball staff by head coach Lelo Prado…Collazo will serve as the Bulls’ pitching coach, while Ward will be in charge of hitting and infield play…both will be heavily involved in recruiting. “Both of them come from great programs,” said Prado. “Miami and Cal State Fullerton are a mainstay in Omaha. That’s one of the big reasons that both of them are here. Because that is where we want to go.” Wes Rynders, a member of Georgia Tech's 2002 College World Series team, has been named the volunteer assistant coach for baseball, head coach Danny Hall...an outstanding defensive player for the Yellow Jackets, Rynders was a four-year letter winner under Hall from 1999-2002.


Tennessee head coach Rod Delmonico announced that Joe Wingate has joined the UT coaching staff as a volunteer assistant…Wingate, who held a similar position last season at Arkansas State, will work with the Vols’ outfielders and serve as first-base coach during games…head coach Kevin Cooney has announced the hiring of Noberto Lopez as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic University… Justin Gordon, a former professional pitcher with six years of minor league experience, has been named an assistant baseball coach at Temple by head coach Rob Valli…Kentucky pitching coach Gary Henderson has been named associate head coach of the UK baseball program by head coach John Cohen…Henderson, entering his fourth year with the program, helped guide the Wildcats to the 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship…UK reeled off a school-record 44 wins en route to hosting the school's first NCAA Lexington Regional…former major league baseball pitcher Larry Casian has joined the Portland Pilots baseball coaching staff under head coach Chris Sperry…Casian, who spent all or parts of nine seasons pitching in the majors, will coach the pitchers and catchers for the Pilots. Duke associate head coach Dave Turgeon resigned his post with the Blue Devils and was named as the associate head coach at Virginia Tech…he joins newly hired head coach Pete Hughes…prior to his stint at Duke, Turgeon spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons as the pitching coach at Connecticut and served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator under Hughes at Boston College…Tom Mackor, a former infielder at Boston College, is also the new volunteer coach on the new staff at VaTech…Fort Hays State hired former University of Kansas assistant baseball coach Rick Sabath as the head coach of the FHSU baseball program…he is a 1994 graduate…Ohio baseball head coach Joe Carbone announced the hiring of former Bobcat standout Andrew See as the program's full-time pitching coach and recruiting coordinator…Troy University head baseball coach Bobby Pierce added Jeff Crane to the Trojans coaching staff…Dan McDonnell hired Chris Lemonis as his top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisville…he will also work with the hitters and the outfielders. Andy Stankiewicz was named an assistant coach for Arizona State by head coach Pat Murphy…he joins Turtle Thomas as the newest members of the baseball staff…Thomas comes to ASU after serving at LSU for the previous seven seasons…he is no stranger to big-time college baseball, having coached for perennial powers Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami in addition to LSU…Thomas has been a part of two national championship teams and 13 College World Series teams over his 29-year collegiate coaching career…Tim Esmay will be the Assistant head coach and Jeff Mousser will also remain on the staff as a Graduate Manager…Stankiewicz comes to ASU after serving as the Southwest scout for the New York Yankees. Bill Mosiello has been named assistant coach for the USC baseball program and Tim Burton has been added as a volunteer assistant, new head baseball coach Chad Kreuter announced…Sherard Clinkscales was named assistant coach at Notre Dame…the former Purdue standout pitcher and 10-year veteran of major league scouting joins Dave Schrage’s Irish staff…former Illinois Tech head coach John Fitzgerald also has been added to staff as volunteer assistant…LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri welcomed pitching coach Terry Rooney and hitting coach Cliff Godwin, who both worked for him at Notre Dame, to Baton Rouge…they join volunteer coach Blair Barbier on the LSU staff. Southeastern Louisiana baseball coach Jay Artigues announced that Louisiana native Keith Vorhoff has been added to the staff as a volunteer assistant for the 2007 season…Tracy Woodson has announced the addition of Brian Schmack to his Valpo staff as an assistant coach…he will serve as the Crusaders’ pitching coach for the upcoming season…Niagara head coach Chris Chernisky has added Rob McCoy to serve as an top assistant coach…Joe Hastings, former assistant baseball coach at the Virginia Military Institute, has been named an assistant at Boston College by head baseball coach Mikio Aoki…Bryan Prince, who spent the 2006 season as a volunteer coach with Georgia Tech, has been named an assistant coach at Indiana by head coach Tracy Smith…Bryan Peters, who has 10 years of coaching experience at USF and Stetson, has been named an assistant at UCF by Jay Bergman…Citadel head coach Fred Jordan announced the hiring of Stuart Lake to take over the duties of outfield and hitting instructor.


Georgia head coach David Perno announced that hitting coach Doug Sisson has been promoted to associate head coach…Perno now will handle the pitching staff and he also announced Jason Eller has been promoted to full-time assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, while Brady Wiederhold has been added to the staff as a volunteer assistant to direct the pitching staff…the Bulldogs are one of only five teams to reach the College World Series twice in the past three seasons…Roger Williams, who left UGa, became the newest member of the Louisville's coaching staff as pitching coach…Duke coach Sean McNally announced the hiring of Sean Snedeker as the team’s new pitching coach…the Bowling Green State University baseball team has added former major-leaguer Chris Hoiles to the coaching staff … Hoiles, a volunteer assistant coach for the Falcons in 2002-2004, will reassume that role for the 2007 season after coaching at his alma mater Eastern Michigan for the past two seasons. Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway named former Sooner and major leaguer Damon Minor a volunteer coach for the 2007 season…"I felt like I was at the end of my playing career and going back to my Alma Mater was a great opportunity," said Minor…he played at Norman from 1993-1996 and helped OU win the 1994 National Championship and make a return trip to the College World Series in 1995 and was a 1996 All-America Honorable Mention…Barry Shelton has been named an assistant coach at VMI baseball team by head coach Marlin Ikenberry…Shelton has spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Ferrum College in Rocky Mount, Va.(alma mater of Billy Wagner)…Ikenberry also announced 2003 William & Mary graduate Matt McGuire will become the program's volunteer assistant coach…Matt Markovich and Jon Strauss have been named assistant coaches for the San Jose State University Spartans by head coach Sam Piraro…Markovich makes the short trip south after serving as the head coach at San Francisco State University for the past five seasons…Strauss comes to San Jose after serving the second of two stints as an assistant coach at Long Beach State last season, helping with recruiting and coaching third base…the Pacific baseball program has announced the hiring of Brian Wilkinson as the coordinator of baseball operations…he comes to Pacific from Cal, where he was the coordinator of softball operations during the 2005-06 season. A new era of Penn State baseball began with the completion of the state-of-the-art Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the new home of Robbie Wine's Nittany Lions…the brand new facility -- completed in June of 2006 -- is arguably one of the best collegiate stadiums in the country…Penn State’s home opener and the first Nittany Lion game at the new at the new stadium will be a midweek March contest against traditional rival Pittsburgh in the annual Keystone Classic…the baseball program, which is PSU’s oldest intercollegiate sport, will begin its 133rd season with four games against two different opponents in Shreveport, La. the weekend of February 16-18…the ballpark's signature is the breathtaking view of legendary Mt. Nittany, a local landmark that is near and dear to the heart of every Penn Stater…with the stadium opening to the east, spectators can peer unencumbered down the Nittany Valley for miles and on a clear day Tussey Mountain Ski Resort can be seen from 10 miles away. Seating capacity for Medlar Field is 5,406 and 20 luxury suites allow area companies to treat clients and friends to an unmatched baseball experience…a party deck along the right field line provides a good place for friends to gather and the picnic pavilion beyond the left field fence is perfect for birthday parties and group outings…much like the rest of the park, the dimensions of the playing field are unique as well…a relatively short 325 feet to the left field pole stretches out to the deepest part of the park, the 410 foot nook in left center field…straightaway center is 399 feet and the 320 foot right field fence is made more daunting with an 18.55 feet high wall, which commemorates the year Penn State was founded… A 2,500 square foot press box can accommodate traveling and local media and has private broadcast booths for up to three radio teams…a large video scoreboard towers above the left field wall capable of providing up to the minute stats and video replays…the stadium is named for 1982 Penn State graduate Anthony Lubrano and former Nittany Lion Head Coach Charles "Chuck" Medlar…Lubrano, a Nittany Lion baseball letterman, chose to honor his college coach with a generous financial gift toward the realization of the long-discussed project…Medlar served at the helm of the Penn State program for 19 years and guided the Lions to two College World Series appearances…a spacious clubhouse welcomes the players with roomy wooden lockers, an expanded training room, a weight room and team lounge…just a few steps away from the locker room door is the entrance to what may be the most important room in the stadium when practice starts in early spring: the indoor batting cage.


Who ever thought about a Hall of Fame and Museum for College Baseball?

We did. That’s the 1 reason why we started the College Baseball Foundation. Officially, here’s why we started the College Baseball Foundation in 2004:

1) To foster an appreciation of the historical development of college baseball and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a universal audience, as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to the collegiate game; and

2) To increase public awareness, exposure and generating additional opportunities for college baseball.

Here’s what we’ve done: Established the National College Baseball Hall of Fame by partnering with the world renowned

Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University to serve as the official archivist. The collection process began in September 2004 to create the first comprehensive history of the sport! The 2006 Inaugural Hall of Fame Class -- The greatest individuals in the history of the college

game finally enshrined and honored for their contributions! The first Hall of Fame class was voted on and introduced in July of 2006. Winfield, Ventura, Clark, Horner and Kieschnick joined Dedeaux, Fraser, Bertman, Gustafson and Winkles in the star-studded inaugural class! Established the Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award, continuing where the former

Smith Award ended…Kurt Suzuki was the 2004 winner, Alex Gordon in 2005, joining 2006 winner Brad Sullivan of the University of Houston during our program televised on Fox Sports Net and Fox College Sports. Check us out at: www.CollegeBaseballFoundation.org.

What’s next?

A building – Planning is under way in Lubbock, Texas, on a privately funded multi-million dollar venue, which will house a 20,000 sq. ft. National College Baseball Hall of Fame Museum.

How can you help? Become an Official Member of the College Baseball Foundation with a membership! While your financial support is needed, it is doubly important to show administrators and corporate leaders the impact of the collegiate game. Please clip, fill out information, mail it to the address below, or Fax credit card data to: (713) 864-4506

__D-I Institutional Level $100 (Schools have Ability to Nominate Candidates) __ Individual Level $35

Select One: Payment Information: ___ Check (payable to: College Baseball Foundation) ___ Visa/MasterCard

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Visa/MasterCard Number 3-Digit Security V-Code on back of card Expiration Date

______________________________________ __________________________________________ Name of Institution/Individual Exact Name on Card

______________________________________ __________________________________________ Address City State Zip

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Check out Squeeze Play–The College Baseball Foundation Notebook every Thursday

and the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll every Tuesday during the season at: www.collegebaseballfoundation.org

squeeze play – college baseball foundation notebook 1/8/07

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