Thursday, January 29, 1998
Coach ‘retools’ breed of starting recruits
BASEBALL: Freshmen performance to improve quickly with
experience
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
Gary Adams hopes that later in the season his 15 freshmen will
bark loudly, but for now he just wants to teach them new
tricks.
Last year Adams, the UCLA baseball head coach, recruited what is
considered to be the No. 1 freshman class in the nation.
In the season opener against Cal State Dominguez three freshmen
were in the starting lineup and the core four-man pitching staff
will rely on two more freshmen (one starter and the closer).
Due to their lack of experience, Adams has chosen to identify
them as "puppies" instead of freshmen.
"That’s what I think of them right now," Adams explained. "Maybe
I should call them colts and hope that they turn into stallions at
least halfway through the season. But right now, at least until we
play a few more games, they’re still puppies."
The Bruins lost two offensive threats in All-American Troy Glaus
and Jon Heinrichs. The 1998 squad also lost all of its starting
pitchers and its closer.
But Adams doesn’t believe that the 1998 team is rebuilding.
Instead, he believes that they are retooling.
"I like that," senior first baseman Cassidy Olson agreed. "If
you’re a fifth-year senior you don’t ever want to hear rebuilding.
It’s like a dagger right at you. I agree completely with retooling.
We’re learning new ways to win this year. Instead of scoring
fourteen off five home runs, we’re going to have to do it other
ways."
While leading his team to a College World Series bid in Omaha,
Neb., last season, Adams had to recruit a lot of the players.
Adams knew the great turnover would take place in 1998.
Consequently, a recruiting process that is usually done with before
the end of fall dragged on well into the season.
Most recruiting takes place in the summer between a player’s
junior and senior year, but closer Jon Brandt, outfielder Matt
Pearl, pitcher/outfielder Charles Merricks, and catchers/first
basemen Adam Berry and Forrest Johnson III committed to UCLA very
late in the recruitment process.
This season, Adams already has more than 3/4 of his recruiting
done for next year and no one is happier about that than Adams
himself.
"It’s not fun (to recruit players during the season)," Adams
explained. "We don’t like doing it that way. We prefer to get it
over with in the fall. But knowing that we were going to lose so
many guys, we were forced to recruit throughout our entire season
last year."
The payoff for Adams’ efforts may have to come soon. With all
the hype surrounding players like shortstop Chase Utley, third
baseman Garrett Atkins and starting pitcher Chad Cislak, the 1998
freshmen are now expected to perform right off the bat.
Like the new Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow movie, the 15
freshmen have "great expectations" to fulfill. But Adams warns not
to be quick to judge them, since the most telling statistic is how
they perform in their last year – not their freshman season.
"You weigh the value of the recruiting class that first year not
by what Baseball America ranks you the year you come in, but you
weigh it by the year you go out," Adams said. "Potentially, top to
bottom, you are talking about 15 guys that are pretty stellar. But
they have to prove it. They better take us to the World Series in
three years or they’re not as good as the other class."
Based on their performance Saturday against Cal State Dominguez,
several seniors on the team and Adams all believe that the 15
freshman can contribute immediately to create a successful 1998
campaign.
"I think they’ve got a real good make-up," Olson said. "They
came through today and none of them seemed too nervous. So that’s a
good sign and we’ll see what happens."
The first real test for these "puppies" will come this weekend
at Hawaii. This three-game series will provide Adams with a
measuring tool for both, the progress that has been made by the
freshmen and the aspects of the game that still need work.
Either way, Adams believes every single one of his 15 freshmen
will contribute to the team.
"I’m glad I recruited each and every one of them," Adams
said.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but as long as UCLA’s
puppies can learn to bark, the Bruins could enjoy another
successful season.