The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 22, 2000 -15
The boys are back
on South Campus
The weather's getting warmer (slightly), college bas-
ketball is nearly over (or in the minds of Wolverine
fans - long gone) and it's opening day down at
The Fish.
College baseball is back in Ann Arbor, and for the
*Wolverines that doesn't mean just for
the season, but maybe for good.
Michigan returns to the diamond this
season as the defending Big Ten
Tournament champions - the first time
hiey've been able to make that claim
since 1987.
And despite the fact that they are aA
very young team - the winning atti- CHRIS
tude has returned to Ann Arbor. GRANDSTAFF
Five seasons ago the Michigan base- The
ball team was a wreck. The Wolverines Grand Scheme
.were horrible - having failed to com-_._
pose a winning season during the 1990s.
Quite a change for the Michigan who had been one of the
nation's elite teams during the '80s, until an NCAA investi-
gation (not involving Ed Martin) and subsequent probation
sent them into a tail spin they would not soon recover from.
The '80s saw the Wolverines capture all ten regular season
Big Ten Championships, four Big Ten playoff champi-
onships, four trips to the College World Series - and 43
NCAA rules violations, leading to the first athletic probation
in the history of the University of Michigan.
The two-year probation led to the resignation of head
coach Bud Middaugh, and his successor, Bill Freehan, was
never able to out distance himself from the shadow cast by
the violations.
Enter current head coach Geoff Zahn. In five seasons the
Michigan skipper has led the Wolverines to four Big Ten
tournaments, and last season, Zahn guided the team to its
first NCAA appearance in a decade.
With key losses all over the lineup don't expect a repeat of
last season, but don't count out the Wolverines with Zahn at
the helm either.
-Chris Grandstaff can be found chilling in a semi-buzzed
state at Ray Fisher Stadium (or more appropriately, The
Fish) all spring next to the likes offormer Tiger Lance
Parrish, and a shirtless Wolverines'radio announcer Doug
Kasch. He can be reached at cgrandstaumich.edu
PREVIEW
Continued from Page 12
doing the tight things to score runs.
."But if we have runners on with Bobeda, Parrish or
*(Alex) Coleman up, we'll take our chances and let them hit."
Foremost among the freshmen are Brock Koman and
Gino Lollio. Koman won the starting third baseman job out-
right and has responded with a .410 showing - tops among
averages on the team. Lollio continues to vie for the starting
spot at shortstop, while carrying a strong .275 average.
"There's not much experience at the college level in the
lineup," Bobby Korecky said.
Speed, it's been said, is a God-given thing. There are no
true speedsters in the Michigan lineup - but the potential for
quickness exists, according to Zahn.
"We have guys in our lineup that can run for us and do a
pretty good job. We just have to keep working everyday to get
beter."~
Lead-off man Scott Tousa has swiped two bases in the
first 15 games while the rest of the team has combined for
five thefts.
"Tousa doesn't have exceptional speed but he's a smart
base runner and he can get some jumps," Zahn said.
ichigan coach Geoff Zahn, a
13-year Major League veter-
an, has the highest Big Ten
win total through four seasons,
tallying 58.
Zahn led Michigan to the 1997 reg-
ular season Big Ten title - winning
Big Ten Coach of the Year in the
process - and last year, he coached
the Wolverines to the Big Ten
Tournament title.
In 1968, Zahn got his degree from
Michigan before being drafted by the
Chicago White Sox and eventually sign-
ing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
MICHIGAN
BAS EBALL
The Michigan Daily's projected starting nine
hile most have heard of
Branch Rickey, Bill Freehan,
Barry Larkin and even Steve
Fisher, few have heard of Ray Fisher -
the coach that Michigan's baseball
stadium was named after.
s Ray Fisher led Michigan baseball to
15 Big Ten titles, the 1953 national
title and a school-record 637 wins in
his 37 years as the head coach.
In his 10 years in the majors, playing
for both the New York Highlanders -
later the Yankees - and Cincinnati
Reds, he posted 2.38 ERA and 102 wins.
He pitched against the "Black Sox" in
the controversial 1919 World Series.
400 ft.
ake Rutkowski(7th)
42 Rob Bobeda\
14 Eric Esper
330 ft.
330 ft.
A l-.. M!--- lr.J.L%
8 Jay Dines (6th)
3 Jordan Cantalamessa (2nd) 7 Gino Lollio
7 Mike Sokol 17 C.J Ghannam
42 Rob Bobeda
15 Bill LaRosa (8th) 2 Scott Tousa (1st)
4 Kevin Quinn 3 Jordan Cantalamessa
2 Scott Tousa
Coaches
Geoff Zahn - fifth season
Chris Harrisont
Matt Hyde
Andy Hood Probable Starters
24 Vince Pistilli RHPx
30 Bryan Cranson LHP
10 Brock Koman (3rd) 28 Bobby Korecky RHP 22 Jordan French (9th)
4 Kevin Quinn 39 Bobby Wood RHP 8 Jay Dines
21 Tim Leveque RHP 25 Dan Dombos
n 134 years of Michigan baseball, quite a few niners
have gone on to Major League glory. Here's our
All-Star team:
Pos PLAYER LAST PLAYED FOR MAJORS Bullpen
IB Hal Morris Cincinnati Reds 193-? 36 Nick Alexander LHP
2B Ted Sizemore Boston Red Sox 1969-80 29 Nick Bellows RHP
SS Barry Larkin Cincinnati Reds 1986- 26 Phil Lobert RHP
3B Chris Sabo St. Louis Cardinals 1988-96 27 Kirk Taylor LHP
C Bill Freehan Detroit Tigers 1961-76 32 Jeff Trzos LHP
OF Don Lund Detroit Tigers 1945-54 34 Joe Young RHP
OF Rick Leach San Francisco Giants 1981-90 9 2 Rh Hi I IHIP
OF
L HP
RHP
Reliever
GIM
Dick Wakefield
Jim Abbott
Scott Kamieniecki
Stvve Howe
Branch Rickey
New York Giants
Milwaukee Brewers
Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Brooklyn Dodgers
1941-52
1986-99*
1991-?
1980.96**
1942-50
13 David Parrish (4th)
20 Alex Coleman
31 Stephen Penick
R AY FISHER STADIUM
40 MI I d ill L..l I
18 Brad McCloc key RHP
Designated Hitter
42 Rob Bobeda (5th)
8 Jay Dines
*
*
Retired from 1996-1998
Missed time due to suspension
Still active
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