Tuesday, May 12, 1998
Season crowned by valiant effort
BASEBALL: With dreams of the draft, Eric Valent reigns as
college’s ‘premier center fielder’
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
It’s hard for Eric Valent to smile. Not because he’s mad all of
the time, but rather because he concentrates so hard on the task at
hand.
He must deal with the pressures of college life. He must deal
with a rebuilding baseball season that has seen the UCLA squad fall
from one of the elite in 1997 (capped off by a College World Series
appearance) to the 24-33 record for the 1998 season. He must deal
with the knowledge that every swing he takes is seen by scouts
judging if this 5-foot-11 athlete is worthy of being a first-round
selection.
Valent, a junior center fielder on the Bruin baseball team, just
completed his third collegiate season this weekend. He is eligible
to be drafted for the first time since the Detroit Tigers selected
him in the 26th round of the 1995 draft.
Will there be a fourth season at UCLA?
Well, after Valent hit his 30th home run in 1998 – extending his
UCLA and Pac-10 record to 69 home runs – Bruin head coach Gary
Adams expects Valent to wear something other than blue and gold
next season.
"He’s history," Adams said. "Better not come back, I gave his
scholarship away. He’s gone."
Valent knew when he signed his letter of intent that after his
junior season he would most likely leave to fulfill his dream of
playing professional baseball.
"When I came here, I planned on staying for three years," Valent
said. "After being drafted out of high school, I wanted to come
here and work as hard as I could to enable myself to be in the top
rounds of the draft."
Scouts have closely looked at Valent since his breakout 1997
season. On a team that included Troy Glaus, a third-round pick by
the Anaheim Angels, Valent slugged 27 home runs and was tied for
the team lead with 91 RBI.
Defensively, Valent dominated center field. He stole several
home runs from his opponents while rarely making any mistakes. His
single error came on probably the easiest play Valent had to make
this season. Valent went to cut off a single driven to left center,
and while trying to hurry the throw to prevent the runner from
reaching third, the ball skipped up and he botched the play. A
perfect defensive season down the drain.
Of course, one error for the entire season is still rather
impressive.
"Eric is a premier center fielder in college baseball," Adams
said. "He’s outstanding. I haven’t seen a better center fielder in
all the games we’ve played this year. I’ll take Eric over the whole
lot. And you can quote me."
Since Valent is hard on himself and a perfectionist, improvement
is never a problem. Recruited by Stanford, USC, Arizona State and
countless other institutions, his potential was undeniable. But
many times, athletes fail to fulfill their potential and level
out.
Not Valent.
His love for the game and his willingness to be more than a
nine-to-five guy are contributing factors to the player Valent has
become today. But his lack of the prototypical 6-foot-4 stature
could probably be the biggest driving factor in Valent’s goal to
reach the majors.
"Being only five-eleven, I always have to prove myself to the
scouts," Valent said. "But it doesn’t matter what your size is –
maybe a little bit – if you heart and dedication are just as
good."
Valent also had to prove himself to his coach. Sure, Adams never
had to worry about Valent in the classroom or at practice, but
Adams never truly believed Valent would be the UCLA and Pac-10 home
run record holder after his junior campaign.
"I didn’t think he was going to hit this many home runs," Adams
said. "Maybe my hitting coach (Vince Beringhele) felt that way, but
I didn’t see Eric as being quite the home run hitter. Hey, he’s
going to hit .300, but I thought there would be more doubles than
home runs."
Valent’s home run swing is a tribute to his brute strength and
his quick bat – especially his quick bat.
Adams and Beringhele believe that Valent’s bat speed could even
exceed that of Glaus.
Last Tuesday the Yankees’ vice president of player development
and scouting watched Valent take batting practice and what
impressed him most, according to Adams, was the quickness of the
bat.
Common belief is that Valent will make the transition from the
aluminum bat used in college baseball to the heavier wood bat
without a problem. Those home runs Valent hit over the trees in
right field and over the batter’s eyes in center field of Jackie
Robinson Stadium may be repeated in the majors.
"(USC head coach) Mike Gillespie said that the one Valent home
run at SC, the one that went over the parking structure in right
field, Mike said, ‘I didn’t even want to look. I didn’t want to
know how far it went,’" Adams said. "The right fielder didn’t even
budge."
Early in the season Valent did not have much success with the
long ball. In fact, during the first 10 games or so, Valent could
not buy a home run.
Beringhele worked with Valent during the fall on the "Hit and
Hole" drill, intended to teach players to keep the bat on the same
plane for a longer amount of time. This way, when the batter is
behind or ahead of the pitch there is a better chance of making
solid contact.
The small change in the swing, plus the fact Valent was pressing
early on to lead the team to a good start, contributed to the
prolonged slump.
"They pitched to him tougher," Beringhele said. "It wasn’t like
he was hitting behind Troy Glaus where they pitched around Troy to
pitch to Eric. This year they pitched to him very, very fine and
really nibble and painted the corner. While he got strikes, he
didn’t get quality strikes. Everybody knew he was a pre-season
All-American, a premier player in college baseball, and pitchers
took that as a personal challenge and pitched better to him."
Beringhele was willing to take the blame for the start – not
because he was doing a bad job coaching, but because if Valent
could feel more comfortable at the plate blaming the coach, that
would be alright with Beringhele.
Another thing Beringhele tried to do was tell Valent of the
struggles Beringhele himself went through his junior season at UCLA
in 1983. Beringhele, a .338 hitter his first two seasons at UCLA,
finished his junior season with a .282 batting average – a perfect
example of how unpredictable the game of baseball can be.
But although Valent may have been calmed down by Beringhele’s
strategies, two other Valents could not be appeased – Royce, Eric’s
brother who is also a coach at UCLA, and Anthony, his father.
"I felt more sorry for Royce at the beginning of the year than I
did Eric," Adams said. "When Eric was struggling, the guy I felt
sorry was Royce. Then I got a look at their old man, Tony, up there
in the stands and I felt more sorry for him than I did Royce. The
whole family was going through pains because Eric got off to such a
bad start.
"Royce was dying with each at-bat, and he was telling Eric not
to press. And here was Royce pressing like mad. It was funny. Those
are two brothers that love each other and pull for each other."
Royce and Eric were rather inseparable as kids. Royce took Eric
to every street ball game he went to. They would play with tennis
balls, and right around that time, Royce realized his younger
brother had a gift.
Nowadays Eric comes to his brother when he has problems. Royce
chooses to stay away whenever Eric has made an obvious mistake,
trusting his brother with the responsibility of looking for
advice.
"I’m his coach, but I’m also his brother and it’s sort of hard
to separate both sometimes," his brother said. "I want him to do so
well. It’s sometimes hard for me to approach him when I see him
doing something stupid. I just don’t want to see him fail."
Failure is a touchy subject, especially during this season. How
can you smile or enjoy a baseball season where your team finds new
ways to lose every time?
Valent, who is a very intense individual, doesn’t take well to
losing. Therefore, a 24-33 record is not the most glorious way for
Valent to depart as Bruin.
"It kind of sucks," Valent said. "Losing sucks. We’ve got a lot
of young guys, and it’s one of those things that happens. No one
wants to lose. We go out there, and we play our best, but things
just happen."
The team has improved considerably since the beginning of the
season, and the 18 freshmen on the roster remind Valent of when he
came to UCLA in 1995. Valent is one of many who believe the future
looks bright. Hitters like Chase Utley and Bill Scott will be
responsible for replacing Valent’s power in the Bruin lineup.
And with Valent’s exit, maybe it’s time for the Bruins to turn
over a new leaf. There is nothing more for Valent to prove in
college, and he knows this.
"My goal here was to come here and help the team get to the
College World Series," Valent said. "Our best chance, I knew when I
saw what kind of players were going to be here, was going to be
last year. It ended up being the best decision of my life to come
to UCLA."
Valent realizes that without his hard work, he would have never
had the chance to become a No. 1 draft pick for one major league
team.
Royce, though, believes that something more than hard work and
dedication led Eric to this point in life. There is something – an
intangible which cannot be taught – that has allowed Eric to
succeed.
"I remember him when I was first playing tee-ball, and he was
the bat-boy," Royce said. "I knew he was meant to be a baseball
player ever since he was little. There is just something about him
he’s always had. You see guys that are meant to play the game and
guys that aren’t meant to play the game, and he was one of those
gifted ones."
Imagine San Diego’s Steve Finley, Anaheim’s Jim Edmonds or even
Texas’ Rusty Greer. These are all players comparable to Valent –
both in their work ethic and gifted status.
Now, if you’re a major league club searching for talent,
wouldn’t you want Valent on your team?
"Some organization is going to be very happy when they sign
him," Beringhele said.
Valent will be happy too, and maybe then it won’t be so hard for
him to smile any more.
AARON TOUT/Daily Bruin
After playing three stellar seasons with the Bruins, Eric Valent
hopes to be selected in one of the top rounds of the draft.
SUSIE MING HWA CHU
Eric Valent is one of college baseball’s "premier center
fielders".