CWS Notebook
Versatile Wilkerson wins player of the year honors
Posted: Saturday May 30, 1998 05:28 PM
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- Florida pitcher and outfielder Brad Wilkerson
on Saturday was named college baseball's Division I player of the
year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association.
Wilkerson, a junior left-hander from Owensboro, Kentucky, became the
first player to hit 20 home runs, win 10 games and steal 20 bases
in a season.
Previous pitchers who won the award before succeeding in the
major leagues include Evansville's Andy Benes (1988), LSU's Ben
McDonald (1989) and Wichita State's Darren Dreifort (1993).
Wilkerson, a reliever in his first two seasons, became the
Gators' No. 1 starter this spring. In 18 starts, when he was 10-4 with
a 4.45 ERA entering the game Saturday night against Mississippi
State.
He also hit .413 with 56 RBIs and 23 home runs. His versatility
helped the Gators secure the top seed at the College World Series
for the first time.
The other finalists were LSU first baseman Eddy Furniss, who hit
.413 with 27 homers, and Rice shortstop Damon Thames, who hit 26
homers and was the NCAA leader with 115 RBIs.
Don’t trip on the turf
Before Friday's Florida State-Arizona
State game, Seminoles coach Mike Martin jokingly asked Rosenblatt
Stadium's head groundskeeper, Jesse Cuevas, if he ever cuts the
grass.
Cuevas told the Omaha World Herald the length of grass has
increasingly been an issue in recent years as teams from the South
have dominated the College World Series.
Fields in the South are predominantly short Bermuda. The turf at
Rosenblatt is bluegrass, cut to 11/2 inches -- longer than Bermuda.
“The thing that shocks [participants] is the thickness of it,”
Cuevas said. “I'm not bragging, but you walk out in the outfield
and it's just like carpet.”
Superstitious seating
Before Arizona State's players sat down
for the news conference after the Sun Devils' 11-10 victory over
Florida State on Friday, they rearranged the name cards in place on
the table.
“We've got to change this,” coach Pat Murphy said.
The Sun Devils wanted to duplicate the setup used at the Midwest
regional in Wichita, Kansas, where they won to advance to Omaha. So
right fielder Mikel Moreno placed the cards on either side of
Murphy, who sat in the middle of the table with players on either
side.
Normally, the coach sits at the end of the table, with players
sitting to his left.
Testing effort
The NCAA announced Friday that it would join a
research program aimed at improving the safety of baseball
equipment.
The program, to be coordinated by the Sporting Goods
Manufacturing Association, will measure bat and ball performance
and try to select a testing standard for all manufacturers.
It's a hot topic because of concerns about bat safety. The ball
comes off the aluminum bats used in the college game with much
greater velocity than traditional wooden bats.
Bill Rowe, athletics director at Southwest Missouri State and
chairman of the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee, said the NCAA would
wait for test results before legislating additional equipment
standards.
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