Diamond Notes

Having taken a bit of a break to catch our collective breaths (and watch CS-Fullerton fail to make it back to Omaha after all), here's a look at some Harvard baseball news and notes:

• Ben Crockett '02 was called-up to Double A Tulsa about the same time the Crimson met their Game 1 fate, after extended spring training / injury rehab:
  

  Ben Crockett is back on the mound after spending rehabilitation time for a shoulder injury in Tucson, Ariz. But the 25-year-old power pitcher from Topsfield, Masconomet Regional and Harvard University is not in a familiar role with the Tulsa Drillers of the Double A Texas League.
  
  Crockett is now pitching in relief.
  
  Professionally, he's been a fixture as a starting pitcher since signing with the Colorado Rockies in 2002, a third-round draft choice who was highly coveted coming out of Harvard.
  
  However, the power-pitching right-hander suffered an impingement of a shoulder nerve in spring training. He spent almost two months in Tucson in extended spring training for players who are on the mend.
  
  "If it's going to get me to the majors quicker, all the better. I have no problem with it," Crockett said. "I'm 100 percent healthy and anxious for the opportunity just to pitch.
  
  "I haven't done relief in some time, but I did close at times at Harvard and I relieved some that summer I pitched in Alaska after my freshman year at Harvard. It was a mixture of starting and relieving."

  
  
  Congratulations, Ben. Immediately after Crockett and the Crimson lost to Washington in the 2002 NCAA Regionals, I met Ben after his final press conference, shook has hand and thanked him for the memories. Ben Crockett starts in senior year were incredibly thrilling experiences, including a number of performances that felt even more dominant than the no-hitter he hurled against Dartmouth in 2001. I felt pretty confident it wouldn't be the last I saw of him on the mound. Here's hoping.
  
  And now, some more draft fallout:
  
  
• Steffan Wilson grew up on a diet of pretty good backyard pitching. His big brother and Winthrop pitcher was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 27th round. The younger Wilson gets a mention in this article.
  
  
• Nick Pulos, Penn catcher and new Oakland A's draftee, had some awfully interesting things to say about being drafted out of Penn in this oddly written article:
  
  

  The sole Penn player selected in the draft is disillusioned with the way Penn prepares its players for the possibility of being drafted. He said Penn does little to expose the varsity players to current Major Leaguers. For example, former Penn players and major leaguers Mark DeRosa and Doug Glanville, seldom, if ever, meet with current Penn players.
  
  The player claims that the draft is a tremendously political process, and the Ivy League and Penn are often overlooked by scouts. He claims that the outgoing Penn coaching staff did little to pressure players to be drafted and equally little to encourage Major League teams to draft Penn players.
  
  His case-in-point was the example of Nick Italiano. Italiano, a 2003 graduate was Penn's all time hit leader yet did not get drafted. However, Italiano's story was not complete disappointment, as he later signed with the Phillies as a rookie free agent.

  
  
  
• Summer-watch: Lance Salsgiver and Shawn Haviland in a Cranberry-Cape League showcase.
  
  
• Frosh-watch: Chris Stevens ("plans to walk on as an outfielder"), Jared Wortzman.

Thanks To All

It’s been a fantastic season to cover. While the ending was disappointing, the voyage was not. Another Ivy Championship under the belt, a whole host of All-Ivy Leaguers, tons of great performances (both individual and team) and plenty of days under the sun to remember. To the class of 2005, from my experience, I can tell you that your Harvard baseball experience only gets better with age.

Congratulations to the senior class. Two Ivy Championships will stay with you for a lifetime. On a special note, good luck to Rob Wheeler who will go on to serve something larger than himself. As noted by The Crimson previously, Doggie will be shipping out on June 23^rd to Fort Jackson, SC, where he will undergo nine weeks of the Army’s basic training and another 14 weeks of Officer Candidate School. Best wishes – our thoughts and prayers are with you.

I’d love to know what the rest of senior class has planned. If anyone knows, drop us a line. I’d love to see Sky get a shot in rookie ball. Ian displayed great character this season. He travailed through the early part of the season which saw him getting very little playing time, but he earned his way back into the lineup and was a solid contributor.

As for Lande, I too am going to miss reading her columns. Her almost-maniacal enthusiasm for baseball has shined through her columns for four years. By the way, Lande’s final column didn’t fully detail what a superstar her brother, Chas, is. Keep your eyes out for him next year in a Florida Gators uniform. This year, he led the Key West Conchs to the 3A championship (as a shameless plug, my high school – Melbourne Central Catholic – finished sixth in 3A at the end of the regular season). Anyways, Chas, the 103^rd ranked prospect in the ’05 high school class according to Perfect Game, fired a no-hitter in the state semifinals to get his team to the championship game as she noted. Lande, thank you for your contributions to the Harvard baseball program – but I have to say, in what could have been your biggest contribution, you fell short (getting Chas to Harvard). Best of luck to all.

And lastly, let me thank the creators of Sons of Bart Brush. This blog was the brainchild of Marty Bell. Brian Fallon served as the spark plug, and I was just along for the ride. Thanks to Brian and Marty for your efforts. A special note of thanks to Marty who dedicated literally days upon days to the blog, attended a number of games, met with the coaches, and put up an unceasing flow of insightful commentary. Also, thanks to all those who contributed to and read the blog. I’ve heard lots of positive feedback, and I’m satisfied the blog accomplished what was my personal goal – to reconnect the Harvard baseball alumni community.

Go Crimson! Repeat!

Thanks, Seniors.

Harvard Commencement was Thursday, and with that we give a heartfelt thanks to Schuyler Mann, Ian Wallace, Mike Morgalis, Rob Wheeler, Jeff Friedman and Javi Arteaga. Doggie and Mikey Mo were featured in the Crimson's outstanding commencement issue (which also named Steffan Wilson the Crimson's Male Rookie of the Year and Frank Herrmann its Breakout Athlete of the Year and ran more baseball articles than any commencement issue in memory).





An added note of congratulations and thanks to Lande Spottswood, a superb baseball writer and devoted fan of the cause for four years, whose final column ran on Thursday as well. I'll miss reading her.

Crying... Wolff?

Neither Schuyler Mann nor Zak Farkes was drafted today. However, it appears that John Wolff was. After reading this Pablo Torre story, I'll admit having to check elsewhere to make sure it wasn't an elaborate prank. But it wasn't.

Wolff, a reserve player on the Crimson, was picked in the 47th round—1,407th overall—by the Chicago White Sox. There are 50 rounds total.

The Armonk, N.Y., native out of Byram Hills High School played in just eight games in 2005 and started two of them, registering one hit in 11 plate appearances. He missed his entire freshman year due to injury, and appeared in nine games in 2004, going 4-for-8 on the season.

Wolff’s father, Rick Wolff ’74, was drafted after his junior year at Harvard by the Detroit Tigers, while his grandfather, the famous Bob Wolff, was a Hall of Fame broadcaster most notable for his work with the Washington Senators.

So figure that one out.

Pablo also pointed out in an e-mail that if you go to MLB.com's draftcaster (linked from here and check out the scouting video for St. John's pitcher John Sullivan, it's from his start against us at the Metrodome in the opening weekend this past year. Relive Matt Vance's early OBP tear! See Chris Mackey bat! Good times. He's pick #583 on Day Two.

Day 1 of MLB Draft Passes With No Crimson Taken

No Harvard players were taken in the first day of the MLB Draft. A couple Ivy League draftees: Will Venable (Princeton) – 7^th Round to Padres
Josh Sowers (Yale) – 10^th Round to Toronto

Best of luck to Farkes, Mann, and company tomorrow. We're rooting for you.

Press Post-Mortem

• The Harvard Crimson: RECAP [and a preview that recounts the Depodesta meeting]
  
• GoCrimson.com: RECAP
  
• Mizzou Tigers: RECAP
  
• A sparse AP RECAP
  
• AP Photos, including this very poignant one of Steffan Wilson consoling Ian Wallace as his collegiate career comes to a close.

The Season Ends.

We'll have more in the next few days, with the promise of a McPhillips recap and pre-MLB draft activities as well... As far as this game goes, I think the Crimson can be somewhat more satisfied with this effort. They showed some genuine fight after falling behind early on, although I think one would be hard-pressed to say that we saw the very best of Harvard baseball over the past two days.

That said, congratulations to the Crimson on a very good season, which featured the return of the Ivy and Beanpot championships.

GAME IS ON ESPN NOW -- TUNE IN

Thanks to Bink for the heads-up

Missouri-Harvard Update

Update:
Final: 14-6, Missouri... Every Harvard starter wound up with a hit... Brunnig scoreless ninth...

In-Game Notes:

Live updating scoreboard here... An error and a misjudgment by LF Wallace key a 4-run first for the Tigers... Wilson's RBI groundout ends streak of 10 scoreless tourney innings... Herrmann: 2 2/3 inn, 10 hits, 3 BB, 9 er, 4 K...

Listen to Harvard-Missouri LIVE

Here. A few annoying clicks, but the broadcast is available.

Preview of Tonight’s Game

After watching the Crimson go down hard to Cal State Fullerton, you have to think that Missouri may be looking past the Crimson to a matchup against the loser of 2004 CWS attendees Cal State Fullerton and Arizona -- that game by the way may be the most competitive 1-2 game in the nation (which is why Baseball America’s Will Kimmey called the Fullerton bracket the “bracket of death.”)

If Missouri is indeed looking past the Crimson, they may not pitch their number two tonight – Nathan Culp (9-2, 3.18, 87.2 IP, 57Ks, 29 walks). They may choose instead to go with their number three – Doug Mathis (5-4, 3.27, 77 IP, 67Ks, 17 walks) or Taylor Parker (1-2, 1.90, 42.2 IP, 40Ks, 20 walks). In the Big 12 Tournament, Mathis and Parker combine to squeeze Missouri past Oklahoma, 8-7, in their first round matchup. Mathis is a right-hander and Parker is a lefty. Missouri’s not a team that hits a ton of balls out of the park. In fact, in 15 less games, the Crimson as a team has hit 10 more homeruns than Mizzou (but then again, Cal State Fullerton wasn’t supposed to be a big homerun team, and they dropped four on us last night).

We’ll see how Missouri plays their hand. I also wonder whether Coach Walsh will go with Herrmann or Haviland tonight. It seems a tough call, but given that Herrmann’s been the game 1 starter on weekends this whole year, I’m guessing Coach may go with him to start, and may be quick to turn to Haviland (or vice versa) should the starter get in early trouble. Either way, the Crimson are well-positioned in terms of their starting pitching over the next two games, if they can pull it out tonight. Brunnig and Wilson should still be fresh out of the pen.

Pics From Last Night's Game

Courtesy of the AP, here are some pictures from last night's game

Steffan Wilson (it was the first time I've seen the Crimson's gray caps)

Mike Morgalis

Wes Roemer

Danny Dorn

image that was repeated too often last night

The Day After

THC's Alex McPhillips filed this sobering recap on last night's rout:

FULLERTON, Calif.—It took a three-year postseason drought, a mild California night, and, between the raucous 3,604 in attendance and a nationwide television audience tuning in, throngs of eager spectators to bring Harvard College back to the world of big-time college baseball.
And then reality bit back.

Cal State Fullerton (42-15) looked every bit the defending national champions, sending the Crimson (29-16) to the loser’s bracket with a crushing 19-0 defeat.

Big ups to the Crimson for getting a writer out to these games, especially one as good as Alex.

Also of note, the account from theLA Times opens with mention of Dodger GM/Harvard alum Paul DePodesta's visit to wish the Crimson well prior to the game. Contrary to the reporter's wisecracking, I'm sure the team was thrilled at the chance to meet him.

Also, the write-up from the Crimson's SID office (Kevin Anderson does a great job with these) is here and the version from Fullerton's is here. The latter notes that the crowd last night was the second-largest ever at Goodwin Field, which says something considering this is something like the fourth regional Fullerton has hosted since expanding its seating capacity to its current size in 2001. If it wasn't clear already, it is now: Harvard couldn't be on a bigger stage than it is this weekend.

Impressions from the Blowout

Unfortunately, this game turned into a repeat performance of the Crimson's game 1 match-up against Cal State Fullerton in 1998 down in Baton Rouge. It wasn't pretty.

First, Mike Morgalis pitched a helluva lot better than his line might indicate. He had some good movement and was pitching to spots with a relatively generous umpire behind the plate. The pitch that he made to the guy who hit the grandslam was low-and-in, about 2 inches off the plate inside, and the guy was able to get his bat there and take it out of the yard.

Second, the Crimson played with tons of nervousness. It was evident from the get-go; Farkes, who was stealing, got picked up after getting hit by a pitch in the first (another Crimson baserunner got picked later in the game when he was going which led me to believe that the Titans might have been onto the signs... suspicious that they'd pull their best move over to first at the perfect time... still no excuse to get picked). On defense, it just seemed that everything was being rushed. There was a lot of tension in how infielders approached balls and hurried throws.

Third, Roemer, while good, probably shouldn't have dominated us as he did. Though I didn't see all the pitchers the Crimson faced this year, I can't imagine that Roemer was the best. The bats just weren't as sharp. In addition to the general failure to get hits, there were very few hard-hit balls or even good swings. Roemer, facing an all-right-handed Crimson lineup, was effective in throwing a tight, hard slider that gave fits to the hitters all night long.

Fourth, I talked earlier about how hard it is to stay sharp, and the Crimson proved that difficulty tonight. The defense had a difficult time fielding bunts. Three errors and generally sloppy play. Hitting was hardly consistent. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the nerves, but there's also the simple fact that Cal State Fullerton is no Quinnipiac, Cornell, or Brown. To compete with teams that are abound in talent and playing at the top of their game, you not only have to be playing your best at the right time but also somehow find a way to get better without playing high-level competition (I'm talking about the few games played from the time the Ivy Championship ended until the Regionals began).

Lastly, I'll leave on a positive note by mentioning the '98 Crimson team who got clobbered by Cal State, but went on to turn plenty of heads. The '98 club defeated Nicholls State 6-4 in extra innings the day after its defeat to CSF, and then defeated Tulane 14-11 the day after that. Ultimately, they faced Cal State Fullerton that same evening after having defeated Tulane; they went up early, had Cal State on the ropes for a bit, and then lost 11-7. Regardless of the score tonight, the Crimson face Mizzou tomorrow with a clean slate and an opportunity to show what they've got. With Haviland and Herrmann still in the hole to pitch, the team has a chance to make a bit of a run.

19-0.

Well, this wasn't very good at all. I will defer to SoBB guys who got to see the game on TV for further comment.

The Crimson takes on Missouri tomorrow at 7 pm EST in the loser's bracket. We should have a radio link here tomorrow night.

Harvard-CSF Update

Update:
10-0 CSF... Brown in for Morgalis (110 pitches), gives up a two-run shot to Dorn, Dorn's second homer of the game, and a solo shot later in the inning... Roemer has faced the minimum...

In-Game Notes:

Third inning Danny Dorn grand slam set up by two Harvard errors keys a five-run inning for CSF... Joe Walsh apparently did a live in-game interview on national television... Tommy Lasorda addressed the Crimson before the game... According to Faiz, watching with former tri-captain Erik Binkowski, alums across the country recognized the bunt-for-hit sign given to Matt Vance in the first... Mann breaks up the no-hitter with a single to start the fifth, but Harvard would get no more in the inning...

Listen to CSF/Harvard LIVE

Here. [EDIT: Also, see your live boxscore here.] Let's go Harvard...

Also, the Crimson's Alex McPhillips filed this from the left coast:

The answer was confirmed today—neither. Titans rookie Wes Roemer (5-3, 3.68), who took home Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors as the team’s third starter, will take on Harvard’s strong lineup. Though Roemer pitched well overall this season, he figured largely in Fullerton’s recent cold spell (two straight losses and just a 6-4 record in the team’s last 10 games).
In his last appearance, Roemer gave up four runs in three innings of relief against UC Riverside.
“Some people might think of it as an insult,” said Harvard junior Frank Herrmann, who lounged in the stands at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field during Friday’s earlier Missouri-Arizona game. “But you have to use it to your advantage. If we can get to [Roemer] early, he might start thinking about it.”
“Hey,” Herrmann added, “if they don’t want to throw their [MLB] top-10 pick tonight, it’s fine with us.”
Early word was that tonight’s game, which will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 11 p.m. EDT, has been sold out. Seating capacity at Goodwin Field tops out at approximately 3,500.

Boston Herald Article on Klim

The Boston Herald writes today about what a great effect having a healthy Klimkiewicz has had on the Crimson lineup this year. Coach Walsh speaks high praise about his power. At least the Herald knows first-team All Ivy talent when they see it.

This Boston Globe article from yesterday gets an impression about the team by interviewing Doggie Wheeler.

Wheeler, one of the six seniors who can remember Harvard's last trip to the NCAA Tournament, called the team chemistry the difference between this team and teams that did not reach this point. He noticed things were different this season when the team dressed up the freshmen in ridiculous outfits during their early-season trip to Florida. As the newbies walked around Daytona Beach in skin-tight denim and hideous DayGlo colors, he noticed the team bonding as never before.

Coach Walsh does his usual psychological analysis on the team:

"When they announced we'd be playing Cal State-Fullerton, you would think we'd just won the lottery," Walsh said. ''You could see it in the look of their eyes the next day in practice. They want to get it on."

And, of course, what would an article about the Crimson baseball program be without Coach Walsh talking about a quest for respect:

''We don't think we belong [at the bottom]," Walsh said. ''We got a little chip on our shoulder. We're constantly fighting for respect. Obviously, Harvard is known for its academics. We're trying to get it known for its baseball, too."

Breaking News: Crimson Likely To Face CSF's #3

According to the program put out by the Cal State Fullerton sports information department, the Crimson are not going to see either of the top two Titan pitchers.

http://sports.fullerton.edu/baseball/2005/headlines/weeklyrelease0602.html

Probable Starters:
CSF - RHP, Wes Roemer
HAR - RHP, Mike Morgalis

Who is he?

FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Wes Roemer earned Big West Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors as he made his presence felt when he was pressed into action by an injury to teammate Ryan Schreppel in March. He made 17 appearances, garnering a 5-3 record, including five consecutive Saturday wins. The freshman right-hander’s 3.68 ERA is good for 11th in the conference.


No disrespect to anyone involved, but I'm loving our chances more and more. Clearly, the Crimson are going to have to put up quite a few runs to win, and throwing Roemer at least gives us the best chance to do it.


UPDATE: Perhaps getting its information from the same source, the OC Register also has Roemer starting tonight.

Sons of Bart Brush Roundtable: Installment One

So we've got something new for you today.

We recently gathered several alums from the championship teams of the late 90s for an e-mail roundtable in anticipation of the NCAAs and because even Faiz and I run out of things to post during lulls like this. Their availability over e-mail is limited because they all have regular jobs, and a couple of them face particularly busy weeks.

Still, many were able to time to respond, and we'd like to thank Andrew Duffell, David Forst, Mike Marcucci, Brian Ralph, Peter Woodfork and, of course, Bart Brush, for agreeing to participate in a feature we hope will continue.

SoBB: At this time of year, it makes sense to think back to your era's Harvard teams as the ones that were the most successful in the modern history of the program, both in the league and with some impressive showings in the NCAA postseason. What stands out about those teams the most in your memories?

Mike Marcucci: Some thoughts while thinking I could probably shut down the A's for at least a couple innings right now.

* Saving the specific anecdotes for later, I'll make two comments I think one of the biggest things that stands out about those teams is the difference between perception and reality. The perception of the teams, I think, was that they combined deep, quality pitching and good defense with a scrappy offense that scrounged out runs through nifty baserunning and intentional out-making. The first two parts are true. In particular, I was a regular beneficiary of having Forst, Hal, and Woody in the infield. What I think is underrated most about those teams is how good the offense was. We had solid hitters one through nine, guys who worked the count and could hit for power. The power tended toward doubles and long foul balls in New Hampshire but, when needed, we could mash. In that way, this year's team seems to resemble those older squads. In the NCAA, you have to be able to swing the stick because, eventually, everyone runs out of pitching. And, the top teams are so good on defense in many cases that some of the aggressive baserunning we employed to great effect in the league and in the northeast, was neutralized to a certain extent. The other problem, of course, is that small ball helps you score a couple of runs, but you need more than that in the tourney. Take Forst (please!), for example. People usually focus on how good he was on defense and how much time he spent in the training room, but what lots of people forget is that by mid-way through the 1997 season, he was an on-base and doubles machine (sound familiar?) and had successfully moved up from the 11 hole to #9. We were successful because we could win pitchers' duels and slugfests.
* Second was the obvious-- the top teams that be played and beat. When Coach Walsh came in, he came with the attitude that we would play anybody, anywhere and our goal as a team as not just to win the Ivy League, but to be the top team in New England and competitive on a national level. He went out and scheduled the big boys and it paid off, both in post-season success but also success in the Ivy League. We fed off of that attitude and the results speak for themselves. Of course, it also helped that there were two great recruiting classes in a row, and the talent was there to match that attitude. Otherwise, the attitude would just have been annoying.

Bart Brush: Cooch is correct. The 1997 team especially could really swing it by the end of the year.
I also always love to see that 18-2 Ivy record.
On a less serious note, not sure if you guys remember this but I know Ralph was there with me. Do you remember shagging BP one day after we had won the Ivies in 1997 and trying to determine MLB trade-style how we could get one more bat for the NCAAs. I think we were ultimately decided to dangle me (capitalizing on the fact that I had begun to pitch better after an awful start that season), Cooch (always reliable in the pen) and Woodfork (Woody was just coming around after being hurt on and off throughout that year) for Cornell SS Bill Walkenbach with the intention that he would play 3rd base and hit 5th for us in Stillwater.
On yet another different note, if Fullerton elects to save Romero (high
draft pick and ace lefty) on Friday, it would be eerily similar to UCLA
holding back Jimmy Parque (high draft pick and ace lefty) against us back in 1997.

Andrew Duffell: I remember that day... although I believe we also considered shipping Kessler to the Big Red as well, as we didn't think they would bite for pitchers alone (Kalyvas was also in the mix). Harris volunteered himself, uttering something not fit to print about the Cornell females, but we didn't think adding self-nicknamed "Slash" to the equation would sweeten the deal.
Sidenote: Randomly, a friend of an ex-girlfriend of mine married Walkenbach, and I met him a few years back. I told him about the proposed trade and he said he gladly would've packed his bags and headed to Cambridge. I then told him he would've needed to lose the rec specs first, as he looked like a dork on the field.

Dave Forst: (We're starting our draft meetings today, so I'll try to get in some comments between deciding whether Farkes is a 2nd or 3rd rounder.)
Thanks for starting us off Cooch. I appreciate the kind comments, but my recollections of the 97 team are more of Hogan at Miami, Quinn at Cornell, Cooch vs. Princeton, and Ralph vs. everyone. I think we pitched our way to 34-16, and once that ran out in Stillwater, we got exposed. I seem to remember Ralph's bat carrying us most weekends, with a dose of Hal, Albers, and streaking Kessler mixed in. We went out every weekend thinking we should we win 4 games because our pitchers were going to keep us in the game, and Ralph was going to come up with a big hit at some point (after which, he was probably going to get picked off trying to do too much on the bases).
Bart, I do remember the conversation regarding trading for Walkenbach, mostly because I was flattered that you guys had agreed to move him to 3rd base for me. I thought I might miss Woody's sunny disposition and constant optimism, but I was willing to risk that for a chance at Omaha.
I had the same thought about Fullerton possibly holding out Romero Friday night as an analogy to Parque in '97. (For what it's worth, Kotsay has a call in to the Fullerton coach to see what they're going to do, and then he'll decide how many runs to give me in our gentleman's bet.) The 4 team format makes it a different decision, plus they have 2 other starters who are pretty freaking good.
"Think double," "go for the jugulah," and "stocker's rights" will never cease to be funny reminders of those teams.

Brian Ralph: Cooch, excellent points as usual. We did have solid, deep pitching (even after some injuries to key parts) and the defense was great not good. If I remember we not only finished 6th in the country, but that was on fields not as good as in the Sun Belt. Plus, we regularly mixed in spectacular plays in addition to making the easy ones.
The '97 team had better pitching and defense. Add Albers and Hogan and a Forst that only made like 5 errors (3 in game against Army, I believe). We should have been 20-0 in the Ivy if not for the Princeton collapse which would have been pretty incredible. I think the 18-2 is still the best ever in Ivy play. [Editor's Note: It is.]And I also remember most of those games were not close, lots of 5-1, 6-3, 7-2 scores. And with 1 more SP, Omaha was a real shot (no offense to Bart but I would have loved to have had the 96 Quinn or 97 Jamieson go the first 5) and Hogan against UCLA again. Although that offense was not as good 1-9, scoring 7, 6, 7, and 11 runs in 4 regional games is impressive. That team hit homers, hit 'n run, stole bases, worked counts (remember Jacquez throwing like 60 pitches in the first 2 innings), but didn't hit quite as well as '98.
Giving up pitching (unless it was a Kalyvas/Vail deal) wouldn't have helped win a regional. You need every last decent arm in a 6 teamer.
'98 whacked the ball around against anyone. I think we only lost 1 game to Dartmouth at the end after the 1st weekend series and won every midweek game. Although we lost Albers (and Wilke), Forst was way way better, Kess, Huling, and Keck were way better. We definitely did not just play smallball and we did draw a lot of walks (Forst and Hal the exceptions). With the exception of the Fullerton debacle, 6, 14, and 7 runs again for an avg of 7 runs in 4 reg games. Hard to beat. No pitching other than Cooch, Vail, Birtwell, and Donny.
As for Farkes, where was Moneyball and OBP when I needed it? If I hear another Damon Buford story from Walsh... Is charles thomas still hitting .100? Hitting .330 in the second half of the FSL with a million walks got me a nice warm seat behind the infamous Darrell Dent. You have to retire when a team goes with Darrell Dent over you. No surprise that staff is all out of the game.

[And] speaking of Harris, how about his exit from the program? Remember the dive into first base as a pinch runner getting picked off and the hurt shoulder that led him to the links? We should have packaged him in a prospects deal.

Road to Omaha: Press Clippings

The Boston Herald was with the team as it watched the announcement in Allston. The Crimson also had an article.

The Tucson Citizen, in its regional preview, focuses on this particular regional's wealth of quality arms and speculates about Romero being pushed back, as we all have. (It also very briefly peruses the statistics and declares Shawn Haviland Harvard's staff ace).