Page 12 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 28, 1985

MICHIGA

BA SEBALL

1985


ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER HIGH-RANKED TEAM
'M' looks to improve on '84

By MIKE REDSTONE
If the results of last week's spring trip are any indication of
the caliber of the 1985 Michigan baseball team, then things
have to be looking up for coach Bud Middaugh.
The Wolverines headed north last Sunday after taking the
Texas spring tournament by storm-finishing with a 9-0
record.
DESPITE LOSING only four regular players from his 1984
squad, Middaugh may still find last season a tough one to
beat, unless he considers a Big Ten Championship and a
seventh-place finish at the College World Series easy-which
he doesn't
"We're going to miss them all (the graduates)," said Mid-
daugh, whose team entered the season ranked 18th in the
nation. "Each year you just got to replace people. We have
four seniors and a big junior class that should show some
leadership."
Middaugh should have a strong infield this year led by two
Michigan stalwarts-Ken Hayward and Barry Larkin.
LARKIN, A JUNIOR shortstop from Cincinnati, led the
Wolverines in batting last season with a .363 mark. In ad-
dition, his .946 fielding percentage led all Big Ten shortstops,
helping him earn All-America honors.. from the College
Baseball Coaches Association. The 5-11, 175 pounder also bat-
ted .311 for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.
Michigan's hopes at first base will rest with Hayward, one
of four seniors on the young club. The Pontiac native was
voted team MVP last season after leading the Wolverines
with 12 homers and 64 RBIs while compiling a .342 average.
The right-hander also was effective from the mound,
coming out of the bullpen 23 times to finish the 1984 campaign
with an 8-2 record, five saves, and a team-leading 1.96 ERA.
ROUNDING OUT the Michigan infield are C.J. Beshke and
Matt Siuda. Beshke, a 5-11, 155 pounder should see regular
action at second base in his final season as a Wolverines.

Siuda, a sophomore, played 62 games at third base last year
while batting .284.
The 1985 pitching staff should be bolstered by the presence
of two strong freshman starters to complement Hayward and
starting ace Scott Kamieniecki. Kamieniecki is coming off a
season in which he earned All-Big Ten honors with a 8-4
overall record.
The newcomers to the Michigan staff are Mike Ignasiak
and Jim Agemy. The pair of righthanders each picked up $o.
wins while compiling ERA's of less than one during tl)e
spring trip.
EVEN WITH THESE additions to the team, Middaugh is
concerned about a pitching staff which he feels was a
weakness late last season.
"I'm concerned about the pitching, but I always say that"
said the fifth-year coach who has a 214-77-1 record with
Michigan. "Pitching was our downfall last year... and our
bullpen was not good down south (this year)."
Middaugh should have no shortage of talent in the outfield
this season with the return of senior Jeff Minick and juntogs 4
Casey Close and Kurt Zimmerman, each of whom batted
over .325 last year.
THE ONLY BIG question mark this year for Middaughies
behind the plate. With the graduation of Rick Bair, a four-
year starter, Randy Wolfe appears to have the inside trek
on a starting role in 1985. Wolfe, a 6-2, 190 pound senior, 'w
action in 17 games last year while compiling a .263 batting
average.
One disappointment for Middaugh involves the Big Ten's
decision to nix the re-entry rule. The rule allowed Big Ten
coaches to take players out of a game and then put them back
in later.
"I think they made a mistake with the re-entry rule," said
Middaugh. "The reason for re-entry is so a lot of youngsters
can get into the lineup. Now we can't get them in."

Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Michigan baseball coach Bud Middaugh (center) with the four seniors who will lead the Wolverines in 1985: (from left)
first baseman-pitcher Ken Hayward, catcher Randy Wolfe, outfielder Jeff Minick and second baseman C. J. Beshke.
All four will see considerable playing time as Michigan hopes to return again to the College World Series.

" ;

Middaugh key factor in success

By DAVE ARETHA
It is rather ironic that Michigan baseball
coach Bud Middaugh must work each day in a
stadium named after former coach Ray
Fisher. It's ironic because Fisher seems like a
bush league coach compared to the incredibly
successful Middaugh.
Fisher may have won 637 games in his 38-
year Michigan career, but unlike Middaugh he
never won four Big Ten championships and
never made four College World Series trips in
his first five years at the University.
LIKEWISE, FISHER accumulated a .687
winning percentage at Michigan, but even that
figure falls short of Middaugh's .735 mark. And
Fisher never matched Middaugh by breaking
the Wolverine season record for wins in his first
year (36), then smashing the record again the
next season (41), breaking it again his third
year (44), and crushing it one more time in his
fourth season by going 50-9. No, Fisher, never
did any of that.
So if the former coach were alive today, he
might wonder how Middaugh, with his 214-77
record at Michigan and his 570-250 career
record at Miami of Ohio and Michigan, could be
more successful than even his immortal self.
For Fisher at least, a brief explanation of Mid-
daugh's mind-boggling success is needed.
Success reason #1: Middaugh wins
because he demands discipline and solid
play.
"More than anything, he teaches you to play

fundamental baseball," said first
baseman/pitcher Ken Hayward. "Every
player that comes in here, before they are even
allowed to step on the field in a game situation,
has to be a fundamentally sound baseball
player or they are not going}to play. Coach
makes you first understand how to play the
game the correct way, which makes everyone
who comes here a much better player."
IT IS ]IOT easy, though, to get a large bunch
of rambunctious young athletes to bear down
all the time. So' when Middaugh feels he needs
to get fiery in practice to get a point across, he
doesn't hesitate.
"I get nasty quite often," he admitted. "If
you come, sometimes you would think that
you've got a Jekyll and Hyde there.
"Nice guys don't finish first. And I don't
mean that in the wrong context. I don't mean to
say that you need to be nasty. But I think you
have to have control and you'd like to have
respect from your club. You as a coach have to
be emphatic that you don't accept anything ex-
cept one hundred percent and good technique."
Reason #2: Middaugh wins because he
strives for the most efficient training
possible.
IN A SPORT impeded by a lack of
ingenuity, myths, and old fuddy-duddy
coaches, Middaugh is a refreshing contrast.
Always looking out for a new technique, Mid-
daugh will try anything if it has a chance of im-

proving the skills of his players.
For example, to improve the team's balance
and conditioning this year, Middaugh added
aerobics to the off-season workouts. Aerobics
may be considered a feminine activity, but if
they help star shortsop Barry Larkin reach

even a few more of those grounders in the hole,
then why not try them? Middaugh thought
aerobics were worth trying and now he thinks
they will pay off.
Also among Middaugh's unusual repertoire,
are video-taped practices and a catching
machine. The catching gismo, which is ac-
tually a pint-size pitching machine, spits out
wicked sinker balls that always tend to land a
foot or two short of the catcher's ta'rget. It is an
indulgence for catchers who want to work on
blocking those pitches that get away.
BESIDES ALL the unorthodox techniques,
Middaugh also tries to tailor practice to suit the
team's talents.
"You have to look and see what you have."
Middaugh said. "In team drills (this year) we
might emphasize a little more baserunning and
sprint work-more than if we had more of a
slugging team."
Reason #3: Middaugh wins because he
works as hard in practice as his player do.
When junior Dan Disher needed to regain his
pitching form without reinjuring his tender
elbow, Middaugh, the former Miami of Ohio
relief specialist, worked side by side with him
during a March workout for a good forty
minutes. Before every fastball Disher threw,
Middaugh fired an invisible heater in an
emulative form. Sometimes the coach would
rifle two or three phantom pitches for every
real one that Disher unleashed.
AFTER DISHER, Middaugh went to work

recipe
with his other pitchers. Again he went through..
the proper motion, at times pausing in Mid-
pitch to emphasize an important point. In the
three-hour practice, the 45-year-old Middaugh
must have thrown 17 innings worth of pitches
"I think the guy who is successful will take
the time to do it right," Middaugh said. "Ifit
means spending an extra couple hours with a
kid to help him with his hitting, then I think you
as a coach need to do that, rather than sit aal
complain to the kid because he's not doing it."
Reason #4: Middaugh wins because he
believes somehow, someway, he is going to
beat you.
"I know when I first started coaching, I never
expected to lose," Middaugh said. "You know,
'Why did that happen? That shouldn't happen.'
"I can remember the first (conference)
game I coached in college. I was at Miami
University and there was a kid by the name of
Steve Stone (American League Cy Young
Award winner, 1979) pitching against pie, and
Thurmon Munson (American League MVP,
1976) was the catcher. It was at Kent State and
I had just taken the Miami job after getting out
of high school coaching. We had no players, sp.
we got a basketball player to do the pitching for
us. He ended up beating Stone, 1-0. We:
squeezed with a man on third and an 0-2 count
on the hitter."
If Middaugh's incredible success continues
Ray Fisher Stadium may someday be renamed -
Bud Middaugh Field.

Middaugh
... the straw that stirs the drink


OUTFIELDERS:,
Overflow in the outfield
By DAVE ARETHA
it Michigan's outfield situation is so jumbled, even Ripley would not believe

1 11 , .0in

INFIELDERS:
Defense never rests
By BRAD MORGAN

N~

fM

Zimmerman

As many as eight Wolverine outfielders deserve serious playing time, and
five of those could make very strong claims for starting spots. Because of the
overload of talent, no Wolverine has an everyday job.
COACH BUD Middaugh is trying his best to find enough playing time for
everyone, but he is finding it awfully difficult.
"If you were sitting with me while I was trying to make a lineup," Mid-
daugh said, "I think you would concur with what I'm going through."
During Michigan's nine-game spring trip in Texas, Middaugh started
seven different players in the outfield. Nobody started more than six games.
EVEN RIGHTFIELDER Jeff Minick, who was second on the team with 44
RBIs last year, could only mange six starts and 24 plate appearances in the
nine games. Minick, however, said the strong competition pushes him to
become a better player.
"I think it definitely does," he said. "If there isn't any competition, I think
you sometimes become complacent. Leaning on the past won't do. I've got to
perform. Right now."
One Wolverine who could easily jump into Minick's position is junior
Casey Close. A starter most of last season, Close began this year by hitting
.526 during the spring trip. He also had five game-winning RBIs in Texas
while splitting time between rightfield, leftfield and designated hitter.
LEFTFIELDER Kurt Zimmerman is another who could rightly claim a
starting job. Zimmerman was only a part-time player during the regular
season last year, but he was a phenom in the playoffs. He accumulated a .526
average and 14 RBIs during the Big Ten playoffs, the Mideast regionals and
the World Series. Still, he is fighting for a position.
Michigan has two strong candidates for centerfield, including Dan Disher,
who hit a dazzling .412 in six starts in Texas.
If Disher continues to hit in the Ty Cobb vicinity, then he will probably
bump last year's regular centerfielder, Mike Watters, to the infield. In
Texas, Watters. started three games in the outfield, four at second base, and
one at third.
CHRISTOPHER Gust and Eddie Woolwine are the other Wolverines who
started during the spring strip. Gust is considered one of the best defensive
Michigan outfielders, and the freshman Woolwine is said to be one of the
fastest.
An outfielder who seems to be forgotten is Rob Huffman, who went two for
three on the spring trip.
"He rea11y didn't do anvthing wrong not to nlav." Middaugh said. "but

Good defense is usually considered a staple for producing a great football
team, but don't tell head baseball coach Bud Middaugh that.
Middaugh stresses defense on his team, and nowhere is that more evident
than in the Wolverine infield. Led by All-American shortstop Barry Larkin
and team MVP Ken Hayward at first, the Michigan infield will again be a
source of confidence for M' pitchers.
LARKIN WON the Ted Sizemore Award as best defensive player last year,
and Hayward led Michigan regulars with a .984 fielding percentage. Joining
the two most often will be third baseman Matt Siuda, who made only eight
errors in 156 chances last year, and second baseman C.J. Beshke, who
finished with a .973 fielding percentage.
Except for Larkin, however, none of these positions are written in stone. In
addition to being a stickler for good D, Middaugh is also well known as a
coach who will juggle the lineup in any way to produce a victory, and
anything could happen at any of the bases.
At third, Siuda will stay there "unless he stops hitting, because he's got
such a good glove over there," said Middaugh. Should Siuda drop off at the
plate, possible replacements could include Kurt Zimmerman or freshman
Jeff Kiel, but don't look for it to happen.
AT SECOND, the situation is a little more clouded. Middaugh has said that
Beshke and junior Mike Watters will alternate, and he has held true to his
word so far this season. Watters is the better offensive player, but because of
Beshke's defensive abilities, Watters may end up seeing more time in the
outfield or at DH than at second.
One would expect first base to be set with All-Big Ten first baseman
Hayward there, but not so. Hayward batted .342 with 12 home runs and 64
RBI's last year in addition to his good defensive play, but he also pitches,
and Middaugh would like to move Hal Morris to first and free Hayward to
play DH more often. This would mean that if Hayward started as DH and
was then brought in to pitch, he wouldn't lose his at-bat, as he would
now that the re-entry rule for players has been dropped.
"Morris is an excellent first baseman, but he's not swinging well right
now," said Middaugh. "He's very good defensively and could allow us to
keep Kenny at DH for a stronger lineup."
At shortstop then, is Larkin. He has already been selected a pre-season -
All-American this year by Collegiate Baseball magazine, and the junior
from Cincinnati is one of the best offensive threats in the Big Ten (.363, 5
HR's, 33 RBI's, 27 stolen bases in 1984). He is Michigan's sparkplug, and
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