CWS Tickets

What If They All Made It

Very rarely does a preseason ranking predict who will make it to the College World Series at the end of the season.  So I hold a skeptical eye towards the preseason rankings this year that put Arizona at the top of its list.

The Collegiate Baseball Newsletter has released the preseason rankings on its website recently.  If the preseason top eight teams made it all through the season to the CWS you would find Arizona, South Carolina, Arizona State, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rice, San Diego and Texas in Omaha come June.

So who would win the CWS if the top eight teams above made it.  I would predict that North Carolina would take the title.  The Tar Heels have placed second in the last two College World Series and have a history of good tournament play.  The Tar Heels offense will rally behind Sophomore first baseman Dustin Ackley, who won Freshman of the Year honors last season.

Arizona Tops Preseason Poll

The University of Arizona's baseball team has been ranked #1 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll, which includes all eight teams that made it to the College World Series last year.  View the list at Baseball News.

Arizona, who had a 42-17 win-loss record last year, is a surprise pick for the #1 spot in my opinion.  I personally would have put Arizona State or North Carolina in the top spot.  But, Arizona does have three preseason All-Americans on its roster and one of the most impressive veteran pitching rosters in the NCAA.

Last year's CWS winner Oregon State is ranked #19, while the runner up North Carolina is ranked #5.  North Carolina has been ranked in the top seven for the past four years, and placed second in the College World Series for the last two years.  I think the Tar Heels are bound to win this year, getting that close two years in a row has to be a big motivator for them.

Big 10 Looks to Make Splash This Year

The Big 10 looks to prove the naysayers wrong this year and hopefully get some teams into the College World Series, something it failed to do last year.  According to Rivals.com, Michigan looks like the only team with a legitimate chance of making to the CWS, and I would have to agree.

The Big 10 looks strong this year, but let's face it, recently the Big 10 always "looks strong" but at the end of the season the CWS is normally absent of the teams.

Michigan looks like the best chance for the Big 10 to be represented in Omaha at the CWS this year.  The last time the Wolverines made it to a College World Series was in 1984.  But with pitcher/batter Zach Putnam bulking up the pitching and batting ranks, Michigan finally has a star to rally behind.  No pressure Zach!

The Wolverines also have a great coach in Rich Maloney.  Maloney has been with the Wolverines for five seasons.  Each season Maloney impressed me more.  He took his team to the Big 10 conference title in 2006 and 2007 and beat #1 seeded Vanderbilt last year in the first Regional round.  The Wolverines fell just shy of a trip to Omaha with a loss to eventual champion Oregon State in the Super Regionals.

Mitchell Reports Effects on College Baseball

Performance enhancing drugs, or steroids, have been talked about a lot this year, so do they have any effect on College World Series players?

I'm not sure, and I'm not sure I will ever know.  But I do realize that steroid use is apparent in college baseball in some way and that could translate to players reaching their maximum potential in the CWS.

The long awaited Mitchell report that was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was released and details the problems of steroid use in professional baseball.  Some big names were dropped such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in the report saying that they had used.  The Mitchell report basically said that there has been steroid use in the pros for a long time.  Duh!

So are college baseball players the next bunch that should be looked at?  I don't think so.  I think there is some performance enhancing drugs use, but I think it is on a much smaller scale.  I believe that the college athletes that are performing now grew up knowing steroid use was bad and realized the consequences that it can do to you, physically and mentally.

Most steroid tests are done by the individual team for college sports.  The NCAA does oversee these tests and randomly will pick teams to test, but it is done in a very confidential way, because even being accused of steroid use can ruin your reputation.

Legendary coach John Winkin Suffers Stroke

John Winkin, the former coach of the University of Maine, who took teams to the College World Series six times, suffered a stroke on Monday and is in serious condition at a hospital in Maine.  According to the Bangar Daily, the 87 year old coach collapsed during his morning walk and was rushed to a hospital after a fellow jogger saw him.

Winkin was known for being an intense coach who valued competetiveness over all else in a player.  He built tough teams at Maine from 1965-1996.  After his tenure at Maine he moved to Husson College where he has coached since.  Winkin is a legend in college baseball and was a familiar name to all college baseball fans in the 60s and 70s.

Our thoughts go out to John and the Winkin family.

Brooks Wallace Award Watch List Full of CWS Players

The College Baseball Foundation released this year's Brooks Wallace Award watch list and it includes players from almost every team that played in last year's College World Series.

One that I think will have a chance is Jeff Kaplan, the ace pitcher from Cal State Fullerton.  With new coach Dave Serrano at the helm now, it will be interesting to see how he uses Kaplan.  Kaplan is obviously one of the top pitchers in the game and will be a key player to Cal State Fullerton's team if they want to make it back to Omaha for the College World Series.

A player that I thought deserved his name on the list but didn't make it is Oregon State shortstop Joey Wong, who will be expected to lead the Beavers now that Darwin Barney is gone.  Wong is a solid hitter and will move from third base to shortstop for the 2008 season.  It just doesn't seem right to me that there are no OSU players on the list after winning back to back College World Series.  Someone has to be good on the team don't they?

Graham Named Coach of the Year

Rice head coach Wayne Graham, who led the Owls to the College World Series this year, was named the coach of the year by FieldTurf and Cal Ripkin Jr.  Don't get this confused with the Baseball America Coach of the Year award, though it is just as prestigious.

Graham has become a magnet as far as collecting metals goes.  According to CSTV, Graham was the overall coach of the year in 2003 after taking the Rice Owls to Omaha for the CWS and winning the National Championship.

Rice ended up in the #3 position at the end of last season after being knocked out by North Carolina in a hard fought battle.

I'm wondering why Graham got the award when so much attention has been given to the coach of UC Irvine, Dave Serrano.  Serrano took an otherwise unknown team and took them to the College World Series.  I guess his award was being offered a job at Cal State Fullerton.

Another Setback for Save Rosenblatt

You have to hand it to the folks at Save Rosenblatt, a group struggling to keep the College World Series in Rosenblatt stadium, for the effort they have put into their campaign.

Unfortunately for members and supporters of Save Rosenblatt, the mayor of Omaha, Mike Fahey, has denied Omaha city councilman Garry Gernandt's request to put another member on the eight member board that is analyzing the best way to secure a new NCAA contract.  According to the Omaha World Herald, councilman Gernandt wanted more of a balance in the committee.

The eight person committee set up by the mayor is considering three plans that would keep the College World Series in Rosenblatt and four plans that would move the CWS to a new ballpark downtown.

I understand councilman Gernandt's argument for adding another member on the committee that would be more sympathetic toward renovating Rosenblatt as oppose to building a new stadium.  But, I think his argument for a more balanced board is flawed.  David Sokol, who is on the board, has publicly came out and criticized mayor Fahey about his plans to build a new stadium.  Sokol caused a big stir in the city of Omaha with his opposition to a new stadium and gave a voice to those that supported renovating Rosenblatt.