FOX Sports South writer Jay Clemons recently spent three days with
the Georgia Tech baseball team, as the club traveled to Columbus, Ohio
for a two-game series against Big Ten member Ohio State (May 7/8). The
following diary, broken into two parts, chronicles that time with the Yellow Jackets, who are vying for their 27th NCAA tournament berth in the last 29 seasons.
The cupboard was hardly bare when Coach Danny Hall took over Georgia Tech before the 1994 season.
His predecessor, Jim Morris (now the head coach at Miami), posted a 92-33 overall record for 1992 and '93, guiding the Jackets to NCAA tourney berths in both seasons.
Morris also was a tremendous recruiter, as evidenced by the names on Hall's first-ever lineup card (right) with the Jackets — with future MLB products Nomar Garciaparra (Round 1 pick in MLB draft, 1994), Jason Varitek (Round 1, '94), Jay Payton (Round 1, '94) and pitcher Brad Rigby (supplemental first-rounder, '94).
That '94 squad went on to win 50 games and reach the College World Series, losing to Oklahoma in the title game.
Fast forward to the present, as Hall and the Jackets staff have reeled in blue-chippers like pitchers Cole Pitts, Dusty Isaacs and Buck Farmer (8-3, 2.27 ERA, 92/23 K-BB) and hitters Brandon Thomas (.375 batting), Kyle Wren (.364 batting), Zane Evans (.362 batting, 13 HR, 54 RBI), Matt Gonzalez (.304 batting), Mott Hyde and Daniel Palka (.361 batting, 14 HR, 57 RBI), who could be a prominent pick in next month's Major League Baseball draft.
It must be surreal for draft-eligible assets — graduating seniors from high school, some college sophomores and all juniors and seniors — to sit through five, 10, 20, 30 or even 40 rounds of a draft, without having any communication with MLB teams ... and then, boom, they're drafted!
That was the case for Wren, who was taken as a draft-eligible sophomore by the Cincinnati Reds last season in the 30th round.
"The funny thing about that, I fully expected not to be drafted," said Wren, the son of Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren, and brother of Colby Wren, Georgia Tech's video manager. While hanging out with his brother at home in Peachtree City, Colby's girlfriend noticed that Kyle was getting traction on Twitter.
Ten minutes later ... Wren got a welcoming call from the Reds.
All this begs the question: Would Wren welcome an official phone call from his dad, saying the Braves had selected him in the upcoming draft or in 2014?
In previous years, "no," Wren admits. "But now it's different, because I kind of feel like I've proven myself again."
On the flip side, Kyle sees the benefits of getting a call from a new MLB team — whenever that day comes — just to avoid the level-jumping whispers in the minor leagues of, "Yeah ... but he's the GM's kid."
Plenty of talented individuals make Georgia Tech baseball operate smoothly, but there are five daily constants in Coach Hall's world:
Mike DeGeorge (assistant director of sports information), longtime trainer Walter Smith (28 seasons of running a tight clubhouse ship), strength and conditioning coach Steve Tamborra (the purveyor of intense workouts and proper nutrition), pitching coach Jason Howell and hitting coach/recruiting coordinator Bryan Prince.
Each man has clearly defined roles within the organization, especially for road trips, when a skeleton crew must handle many tasks in a short window of time.
"A lot of the preparation comes before we get on the road trip," said the 34-year-old Prince, who played for and now coaches under Hall at Tech. That process involves organizing travel plans, lodging plans, meal preparation and distribution, compiling scouting reports and providing explicit schedules to the players for game times (batting practice, infield, etc.).
Prince loves the structural aspect of the job, even if everything looks so informal to the untrained eye.
"Yes, I like being in a routine in a baseball sense," he said. "It's no different for me as a coach, compared to when I played."
Regarding his double life as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator — both full-time jobs during the baseball season, Prince playfully declared he's "a man of many hats!"
He then added, "You're always recruiting."
On a typical work day (excluding "dead" periods), Prince can be found breaking down video, talking to hitters, tracking down information on future prospects and, of course, traveling to see the potential recruits in areas that cover the eastern half of the country — if not farther.
"It's a lot of work, but it's fun work," Prince said. "It's a lot of time, working on the phone, on the computer, or traveling ... but it's something I really enjoy."
The pitching coach Howell, who turns 34 in two weeks, agrees with Prince's assertions.
"(Coaching) is a 24/7 thing that, at some point, is always on your mind," said Howell, a former Tar Heels pitcher who experienced coaching success at North Carolina-Wilmington before making the Tech-driven trek to Atlanta. "But that's how our brains work; we'd be bored if we were idle."
DeGeorge, who handles sports information for Tech baseball, swimming/diving and football, doesn't have many lazy or even quiet days at the office. "I don't know how this profession existed before email," he said, half-joking.
But that's a good thing for the Buffalo native, who balances his tortured-soul appreciation for the NFL's Bills with an expect-the-playoffs-every-year mentality cheering on his other favorite pro team — the New York Yankees.
"Working at (the University of) Richmond, and being from Dayton, I always wanted to know what it's like to work for a (big program), and that was part of coming to (Georgia Tech)," DeGeorge said. Coach Hall's long-standing presence at The Flats "also attracted me to the position."
It didn't take DeGeorge long to be in awe of the highly competitive ACC.
"It's a grind every time we play, every weekend, there's so much riding on every series."
Roughly six hours before Wednesday's first pitch, Zane Evans earnestly answers a reporter's questions in a hotel lobby, even though his mind occasionally wanders to a pressing matter upstairs:
"There are five or six guys in my room playing Minecraft, as we speak," said Evans, with a smile.
For those out of the loop, including yours truly, Minecraft is a popular computer game that (according to a Web site) hinges on "breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters; but as the game grows, players work together to create wonderful, imaginative things."
As a roundabout follow-up, Evans was asked if he brings an XBox to road trips, especially ones featuring night games.
"No, but I'll go mooch off others that brought one."
Nolan Alexander is the rare upperclassman who absolutely knows what he wants to do after graduation, but has no plans to leave college anytime soon. Life is good for Alexander, the Yellow Jackets' radio announcer for three seasons. So much so that he can't picture himself occupying any other broadcasting position.
"I'm extremely blessed, extremely lucky to have this job," said Alexander, who can be heard on all 57 Georgia Tech games during the regular season on 91.1 FM in Atlanta (WREK, student-run station). "I've grown to love this school and this team."
Alexander leads a charmed life, following the Yellow Jackets to every home and away game, although traveling separately from the club (IMG College covers the cost).
With Tech baseball no longer on 790 AM — one of three all-sports radio stations in Atlanta — Alexander and radio partner Wade Rogers have become the de facto eyes and ears of Georgia Tech baseball ... at least to those not inside Russ Chandler Stadium or watching the occasional Jackets broadcast on Fox Sports South.
How many college kids end up being the longtime voice of a major athletics program? With that large responsibility, though, Alexander has to be more organized and accountable than most juniors, solidifying academic commitments with Tech professors long before the assignments are due.
Plus on weekends, there isn't a lot of leisure time with friends on the couch doing things that, uh, typical college kids do.
But how bad can life be, talking baseball every day and wearing shorts on the job?
Initially, the story of how Alexander became the play-by-play voice of Tech baseball wasn't a fruitful one. The Buford High School grad's inaugural audition (fall of 2010) couldn't have gone worse. Or so he believed.
"I thought I bombed it, thought I did terrible."
Time passed and Alexander didn't get any emails, texts or phone calls about his screen test.
"I didn't hear from (the hiring manager) for two to three months," Alexander said. "I figured, 'Well, I'm not really interested in any other sports, so I guess I'm done (with broadcasting).'"
But a chance on-campus encounter with the manager changed everything, and Alexander was soon actualizing a dream that few freshmen at other colleges can achieve.
Fast forward to Wednesday, the second game of the Georgia Tech-Ohio State series. Moments after the smooth-talking Alexander offered detailed descriptions of the teams' uniforms on the 100,000-watt WREK, while also acknowledging other on-field incidentals, he didn't break stride when a long foul ball — that went directly over the stadium crowd between home plate and first base — prompted the following joke.
"And once again, Wade and I have chosen wisely when parking our cars."
I had a 90-minute lag time between checking out of the Hilton Garden Inn and heading over to the ballpark for the OSU-Georgia Tech finale. As a means of killing time, I sat in my car dutifully transcribed all the conversations from the previous 32 hours.
At 2:11 p.m., on a warm and hazy day, the serenity of the Hilton parking lot was quickly replaced by the eerie sight and cacophonous sound of a helicopter circling the hotel — roughly 100 feet off the ground. During that time, two Columbus-area police cars sped into the lot, parking in the back.
(Continue transcribing)
Five minutes later, the helicopter returned for more circling, but this time, there seemed to be a spotter on board, pointing things out to the ground police. That spurred on three more police cars cruising into the lot and parking in the rear.
That was enough to pique my curiosity. I sidled over to an idle officer and asked, "What are you guys looking for?"
His reply: "Oh, nothing major."
Just three minutes prior, I was beginning to think the extra police attention was the genesis of another elaborate gamesmanship tactic (mentioned in Part I of this piece), conceived by the crafty officials within the Ohio State athletics department.
But then again, if the sight of five police cars and a helicopter prowling in concentric circles was "nothing major" ... perhaps the fix was all in my head.
Remember that great scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey's character initially figures out the townspeople were systematically operating in a loop around him? Well, not more than 60 seconds after my brief conversation with the police officer, the helicopter and five police cars disappeared from the scene, with no trace of their existence.
Nothing major, indeed.
For the purposes of this stanza, it's a shame Evans, 21, doesn't have vivid memories of John Olerud playing in the majors. Not because Evans is among the finalists for an award that bears Olerud's name — going to the best two-way player in college baseball. It's because Evans isn't old enough to appreciate the following legendary tale, told from a secondhand perspective:
First, some background: While at Washington State, the All-American Olerud had a brain aneurysm that nearly ended his baseball career altogether. As a preventative or even safety-blanket measure afterward, Olerud opted to wear a helmet at all times on the field, as a hitter and first baseman.
Fast forward to the 1999 season, when Olerud and future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson were both playing for the New York Mets. As legend has it, while Olerud and Henderson — one of the most enigmatic baseball personalities of the last 50 years — were shagging fly balls during warmups one day, Henderson noticed Olerud's helmet and said something in the realm of, I once played with a dude in Toronto who also wore a helmet on the field.
Taken aback by Henderson's revelation, an incredulous Olerud playfully shouted, "Rickey, that was me!"
As a catcher/closer at Georgia Tech, Evans can appreciate the notion of wearing a helmet on defense, although he doesn't use one when taking the mound late in games. Asked if he had a preference for catching or closing out potential team victories, Evans declined an answer — sort of.
"I really love hitting, and that goes with catching," said Evans, a junior from Roswell. "Catching is one of the most demanding positions. You've got to expect a wild pitch at any point, especially with runners on base."
From a time-machine standpoint, it would have been interesting to see if Evans could have thrown out his uncle when attempting to steal second. Edmund J. Barney played for the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1915-16, cumulatively racking up 22 RBI, 17 steals and a .324 on-base percentage.
Barney never belted a homer in the majors, but he also gets a free pass for playing in baseball's Dead Ball era, when Yankee teammates like Luke Boone and Roger Peckinpaugh led the club with five homers in 1915.
That's a decent half-season for Evans.
The trainer Smith — whose legacy with
Georgia Tech dates back to All-American pitcher Kevin Brown in the mid-1980s (211 MLB
wins, 2,397 strikeouts) — has been ingrained into the Atlanta sports scene for practically his entire adult life.
Either working with the Braves (in various capacities), or for Georgia Tech down I-85.
One particular note: Without any prep time for our discussion during Georgia Tech's Wednesday batting practice, Smith had a spot-on recollection of a June 26, 1966 game between the
Braves and Dodgers at old Fulton County Stadium (the Braves' first year
in Atlanta).
Smith, who was also standing on the field for Hank
Aaron's 755th career homer in 1974 — breaking Babe Ruth's MLB record of
714 — impressively recalled that Sandy Koufax and Atlanta's Denny LeMaster combined for 20
strikeouts in that '66 game, a 2-1 Dodgers victory.
I guess there's no need for great sites like Baseball-Reference with encyclopedic minds like Smith on hand.
Georgia Tech didn't conclude its trip to Columbus with a series sweep, falling 3-2 to the Buckeyes on Wednesday night. In the grand scheme of things, though, the Yellow Jackets still maintained a No. 25 RPI ranking heading into the big series with North Carolina.
(Note: On Friday night, Mott Hyde belted a walk-off homer to give Georgia Tech, now 31-19 overall and 13-12 in the ACC, a thrilling win over UNC.)
It also couldn't detract from a writer's enjoyment of the whole experience — from the long Monday drive (eight hours in the rain) to the even longer drive back to Atlanta, consuming Wednesday and Thursday (thanks to a blown front tire near Dry Ridge, Ky.)
The three-day access to the program, made possible by Coach Hall (848 wins at Georgia Tech as of May 9) and his friendly, devoted staff, was absolutely top-notch.
And for that, I'm extremely grateful.
