10A - Thursday, April 12, 2007
Soph
swaps
for bat
ByANDY REID
Daily Sports Writer
Sophomore third baseman
Adam Abraham had a serious
problem.
He was just too good at too
many things.
When he was 16, Abraham,
who excelled in both baseball
and hockey at Grosse Pointe
South High School, was courted
by both collegiate baseball and
minor league hockey teams.
In fact, when Michigan coach
Rich Maloney was asked when he
first noticed Abraham as a poten-
tial recruit, the usually mellow,
easy-going manager interjected,
"10th grade. We noticed him in
tenth grade," before the question
was fully asked.
With a hint of excitement
growing in his voice, Maloney
knew it would be difficult to
get Abraham to sign a letter of
intent with the Wolverines.
"I knew that if Adam wanted
to play baseball, Michigan could
be a great place for him," Malo-
ney said. "I told his coach, 'If
Adam ever decides if he wants to
play just baseball, he's welcome
here.' "
The problem for Maloney
wasn't whether Abraham could
play baseball at Michigan, it was
whether Abraham wanted to
play baseball at all.
After his sophomore year of
high school,Abraham decided to
take his talent to the next level,
but unfortunately for Maloney
and the Wolverines, Abraham's
decision didn't involve baseball.
Mississuaga IceDogs, a Major
Junior "A" Tier I hockey team,
became his new team. And with
that, Abraham packed up and
moved away from his cozy home
in the Detroit suburbs to Missis-
sauga, Ontario.
He officially became an Ice-
Dog in time for the 2003 season,
leaving his friends, family and
baseballbehind.
The move had an immediate
payoff.Abraham quickly showed

n. _

A

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Notable women

PETER SCHOTTENFELS/D
Sophomore third baseman Adam Abraham excelled in both baseball and
hockey from a young age, but now is focused on just playing baseball.

why he belonged in the league.
As a defenseman, the Grosse
Pointe Park native earned a spot
on the All-Rookie second team,
recording 24 points in just 64
games.
And that was just for starters.
Abraham scorched through his
second season with the IceDogs
and soon found himself on the
shortlist of candidates vying for
positions in the upcoming 2005
NHL Draft.
Abraham said most draft
boards projected him to be
picked in the fifth or sixth
round. That is, until he had a
change of heart.
"I spent two years there,
played hockey and was look-
ing to play hockey in the NHL,"
Abraham said. "But then some
things happened, and I decided
after a while that I wanted to
play baseball at Michigan."
Although Abraham didn't
delve into what caused his
change of heart, but his decision
to enter the world of collegiate
baseball came in the heat of the
2004-2005 NHL lockout.
After a two-year hiatus from
the game, could he still play
baseball at a high level of com-
petition?
"We were throwing every
day," Abraham said. "And I was
expected to do some stuff in the

field and pitch, during that first
fall-ball season here. For that
whole year I could feel it in my
arm, especially in the fall and
winter."
Once 2006 spring season
came, Abraham was again
used to the rigors of the game.
Although he admitted he was a
little behind some of his team-
mates in training, you couldn't
tell once the regular season
began.
Abraham hit his full stride
just when the team needed him
to, taking matters into his own
hands when Michigan found'
itself in the loser's bracket of the
Big Ten Tournament. With his
hot bat and ferocious pitching,
Abraham collected the Tourna-
ment MVP award and a Big Ten
Championship ring.
"He's just cool as nails," Malo-
ney said. "I think that hockey
experience really helped him,
because he has no fear."
Who knows where Abraham
could be if he would have con-
tinued to play hockey? For him,
the answer doesn't matter.
"I had a great time when I
was playing hockey," Abraham
said. "I don't regret going there
or coming here. ... In the end I,
decided that getting a good edu-
cation and playing baseball here
was a better idea."

deserve,
It's one of the highest compli-
ments to pay in Ann Arbor.
When Bo Schembechler and
Gerald Ford passed away last year, the
praises couldn't
stop flowing about
the compassion-
ate, intelligent
and dedicated
people they were..
But one phrase
on everyone's lips Y
resounded louder
than any adjective AMBER
could: They were COLVIN
Michigan Men. CLI
Kevin Borseth A Touch of
was hired as the Dutch
next women's bas-
ketball coach this
week,.and as soon as the ink was on
the contract, the athletic department
mouthpieces chirped about our next
great Michigan Man.
In more than a century of athletic
competition, the University has been
popping out Wolverine after Wolver-
ine worthy of this title - on the field,
behind the bench and beyond. Get
named a Michigan Man and you join
an elite, almost legendary group that
spans many sports eras.
But as we admire that rich history,
do we ever talk about a woman who
deserves our most-esteemed label?
I know we've had more than a
handful of spectacular female ath-
letes don the block 'M.' I had the
privilege of watching and interview-
ing one lastyear, the consistently
amazing pitcher Jennie Ritter. Mich-
igan's all-time strikeout leader had
heart, and that's a big reason why the
Wolverines won a National Cham-
pionship in 2005. She was a strange
mix of confidence - demonstrated by
her celebratory fist pumps and finger
points - and modesty, always doing
her duty for the good of the team. Not
to mention the girl could throw a kill-
er pitch, and she could do it hundreds
of times in a row.
And then there's the woman who
coached her, Carol Hutchins.
Sure, she hooped it up at Michigan
State during her undergrad years, but
after 23 years of leading the Wolver-
ines, what colors could Hutch bleed
but maize and blue? She's Michigan's
winningest coach and hit the 1,000-
win plateau earlier this season. Her
style is Schembechler-esque: brash
at times, buta leader who can inspire
players to great heights.
Those are two powerful women,
and that's just looking back one year
into one sport. I'm sure iaiinyiore
lie deeper in Michigan's past.
The problem is, how can we find

title, too
them and fully celebrate them if they
can't be propped up into this nifty
category we created for the men?
They could be heroes - if only they
had a name.
So, what's the response to a Michi-
gan Man - a Wolverine Woman?
That just sounds silly. Keeping the
alliteration is nice, but somehow that
title doesn't have the same tinge of
respect and honor.
We need a moniker that could span
more than just sports. Obviously
Ford's campaign as a Michigan Man
came more from his stint in the oval
office - and how he kept his Michi-
gan ties throughout - than on the
gridiron.
Then maybe one day we'd have
something to call Mary Sue Cole-
man. (Even though, in my opinion,
she's got a long way to go, but that's
another column.)
This is Michigan, and bragging is
our specialty. We're the victors val-
iant, conqu'ring heroes and all that
jazz. Some call us arrogant, but really
we just have a history of winning
- and that comes from the remark-
able people who have comprised our
programs.
I don't want to eliminate an entire
gender's worth of bragging rights.
I'm proud of our Michigan Men, and
I want to spout off the merits of their
female counterparts as well. It's so
easy to celebrate when you have a
distinct merit to award. Shouldn't
we cherish everyone who made the
Michigan family great?
Somehow, I don't think we can
fully do that when the men are ina
club of their own. -
- Any ideas? Colvin can be
reached at ambermco@umich.edu.
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