2000 Collegiate Baseball Division I Preseason Poll The 2000 Collegiate Baseball Division I Preseason Top 40 poll, with 1999 record and total points: TEAM PTS ---- --- 1. Stanford (50-15) 480 2. Cal St. Fullerton (50-14) 477 3. Alabama (53-16) 474 4. UCLA (31-31) 470 5. Miami Fla. (50-13) 469 6. Florida St. (57-14) 467 7. Rice (59-15) 463 8. LSU (41-24-1) 460 9. Georgia Tech (38-20) 459 10. Houston (40-24) 455 11. Clemson (42-27) 452 12. Texas (36-26) 450 13. Tulane (48-17) 447 14. Wichita St (59-14) 442 15. Southern California (36-26) 439 16. Baylor (50-15) 438 17. Auburn (46-19) 435 18. Texas Tech (42-17) 433 19. Arizona (33-23) 430 20. North Carolina (41-18) 426 21. Texas A&M (52-18) 425 22. Long Beach St (35-25) 422 23. Oklahoma St (46-21) 419 24. Florida (31-25) 415 25. Notre Dame (43-18) 413 26. Pepperdine (46-16) 410 27. Minnesota (46-18) 406 28. Arizona St (39-21) 403 29. South Alabama (39-20) 398 30. Oral Roberts (46-15) 396 31. Wake Forest (47-16) 394 32. Arkansas (42-23) 390 33. Nevada (38-20) 388 34. South Carolina (35-23) 385 35. Illinois (34-22) 381 36. Florida Atlantic (54-9) 379 37. Ohio St (50-14) 373 38. California (27-31) 370 39. Nebraska (42-18) 365 40. Mississippi (34-28) 362

You will notice that there is no Penn State, no Hawaii, no UHHilo OOps...I missed emboldening 6. Florida State They are going to televise locally the Games UHHilo plays against Rice 3/10 game time 6 pm CDT, and TCU 3/18 at 1pm CDT I shall let you know more when I know more.

Wow, Cal is 38th with a losing record, glad to see the Horns getting back to their former baseball glory. I have never made it over to Disch Faulk field, I'll have to catch a game sometime. I wonder what this year's schedule is like? Auggie Garido, couch of the Horns, is a good buddy with Kevin Costner and attended the world premiere of Costner's new baseball movie recently.

I shall post it for you, Terry! I hope you don't mind my creating this while you were so busy elsewhere! John Burnett and I have been discussing our UHHilo upcoming baseball games against the likes of Tennessee, Rice and TCU. I considered just their being on the same field as our little team would be more than daunting. His comments follow: Most of the best baseball programs come from warm-weather climates. The best cold weather team in the country is Wichita State, despite their despicable, win at ALL costs coach, Gene Stephenson, who sanctioned his pitcher beaning that unfortunate fool in the on-deck circle who dared to try to "time pitches" while warming up for his turn at bat. The name of the pitcher (it just came to me) is Ben Christensen. It has been joked that going to the Cubs is his punishment for the bulleye on Molina's face, but intentionally maiming another human being who has done nothing to you is, of course, not a joking manner. Mr. Christensen, Mr. Stephenson, and the Wichita St. pitching coach, who Christensen said told him to throw the ball at Molina (although he probably meant when Molina was at bat, which is bad enough), should all do at least five years for felonious battery (bad baseball pun) and accessory to it. It took me a while to find it (thanks Terry and google.com). I found a lot of glowing PR crap about Christensen, Stephenson, and pitching coach Brent Kemnitz--that's the real miscreant's name. Not a single mention of the beaning in the Wichita State baseball website. I only found it through a boxscore that mentioned the ejection. It happened April 23, 1999 while Christensen was taking his PRE-GAME warmups. He was tossed prior to the game and was suspended for the rest of the season. He already had a 9-1 record...many teams who had wanted him passed on him, but my desperate Cubbies snapped him up with the 26th pick in the first round. With my Cubbies record of not being able to pick them, either he will languish in the minors, or they will give up on him, trade him, and then he will become a huge star for somebody else, probably the hated St. Louis Cardinals (see Lou Brock). Click on link below. There is more and I will send them. http://www.jerkoftheweek.com/baseball/jerks/ben_christensen.html

More about the Christenses-Stephenson-Kemnitz beaning affair: Armed with the 15th and 22nd picks in the first round of last week's amateur draft, the team decided to add as much quality pitching as possible. The White Sox did take a long look at Wichita State's Ben Christensen, but they took a pass on the controversial righthander. In an April 23 game against Evansville, Christensen beaned Anthony Molina in the left eye with a warmup itch and was immediately suspended. The cross-town Cubs wound up taking Christensen with the 26th pick of the first round and they've been taking heat ever since. General manager Ron Schueler said the team liked its first two picks, righthanded pitchers Jason Stumm and Matt Ginter, better than Christensen, but don't be fooled. After employing problematic players like Albert Belle, Wil Cordero and Tony Phillips and having a boob like Terry Bevington as manager in recent years, the team wanted no part of the negative baggage Christensen is carrying.

And, for the what-goes-around-comes-around story, John says,"You'll love this link. And note who nominated Christensen." http://members.tripod.com/kepshire/hos/college_baseball.html

Here is the heart-breaker: Evansville Player Not Ready to Forgive Pitcher for Beaning Christensen said he threw near Molina to keep him from timing pitches June 11, 1999 Associated Press EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Anthony Molina still doesn't know whether he'll play baseball again, or whether he can forgive the person responsible for his situation. Molina, a University of Evansville junior, sustained fractures to three bones around his left eye when he was struck in the face by a pitch as he waited about 30 feet away from home plate before a game against Wichita State seven weeks ago. Pitcher Ben Christensen, a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs, said he threw toward Molina to keep him from timing pitches while on deck, but that he never intended to hit him. Christensen sent Molina a letter of apology last week. "He said he hopes I get better and like any other opponent, he has the greatest respect for me. But my thought is that if you respect somebody, you're not going to do what he did," said Molina, who has two blind spots in the eye. As for whether he's ready to accept the apology, he said, "Not now, no. I don't know if I ever will be." Molina, who lives in Moline, Ill., returned to Evansville this week to take the final exams he missed because of the beaning on April 23. The biggest test will come after his scheduled eye surgery on June 22. "When my vision improved to 20/80 from 20/125, that made me optimistic," Molina told the Evansville Courier & Press. "But doctors still can't give me any guarantees that the surgery will fix things. I've lost 20 pounds because of some of the medication I've been on. I know there's a long way to go. "I'm not looking for the attention," Molina added. "But at the same time, this incident in itself deserves to be publicized. So many people have told me that it's the worst thing they've ever seen in sports, even worse than Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear." (I agree. You at least expect violent behavior in boxing. J.B.) Christensen, considered one of the nation's top prospects before the season started and 21-1 in his three-year career with the Shockers, was suspended by the Missouri Valley Conference for the rest of the season after the beaning. An appeal of the suspension was denied by the conference and the NCAA. (Can you believe the gall of Stephenson, Kemnitz--who was also suspended for a year--and Wichita State for even filing an appeal? J.B.) He was allowed to practice with the team and work out for pro scouts, however, and the Cubs last week drafted the junior right-hander in the first round, the 26th overall pick. Christensen has declined to comment on the beaning. "I've told people all along, I can't really tell my side of the story yet because of a possible lawsuit," Christensen said after the draft. "So everybody's hearing kind of a one-sided story. That's expected. ... People have a right to their opinion. But I don't want anybody to think I did it intentionally." Molina has started working out again and swings a bat once in a while. He also watches baseball on television. "I knew he was going to get drafted," Molina said of Christensen. "Once you get to the professional level, none of that stuff matters. You look at pro sports and some of the things they've got going on, and you can see that. When you get to that level, you're a commodity, not a person. "The worst thing is that he can still play whenever he feels like it, and I can't," he said. "It's frustrating, but I've just accepted that this is how it has to be for a while. ...I still wonder sometimes how someone could do this to another person. You wouldn't do it to an animal, so how do you do it to a person? It is still unbelievable to me." ______________________________________________________

When I asked John for permission to post all of this he replied with a splendid little item which wraps up the entire incident and brings it back on-topic: Sure, but understand that Christensen is gone...now with Cubs organization. Kemnitz is supposed to be suspended for a year, but his picture and sanitized (glowing actually) bio is on the Shockers Baseball website, calling him one of the "most respected" pitching coaches in the collegiate ranks. By whom? Opthamologists? Wichita State has the best won-loss record in baseball since 1978 (Stephenson's first year) and has 40 All-Americans named since that time (including Christensen). It is the most successful cold weather baseball program ever, and the most successful baseball program period over the last 20 seasons. They won the NCAA national championship in 1989. UHH beat them in their last game last season however, in Kona. It was the only game in the series we won. Stephenson, like Bobby Knight, is basically untouchable. Jerk that he is, Knight does not order his players to injure others as Kemnitz, and by way of tacit approval, Stephenson, did.

John's final rhetorical comment: Stephenson was not punished at all and is still coaching. Kemnitz, who was supposed to be suspended for a year is listed as the pitching coach on the WSU Baseball website. I guess it was just the remainder of the last season, same as Christensen. Christensen is a millionaire. Doesn't seem right, does it?

John: The NCAA has no power to fire coaches. Some coaches are too clever for them, even though they try to destroy them otherwise (Tarkanian, Knight, Jimmy Johnson while at U. of Miami, Stephenson, Barry Switzer--funny the Dallas Cowboys hired two of those criminals). And, of course, Stephenson denied it. The kid who threw the pitch was banned for life from college competition (the Chicago Cubs drafted him in the first round and made him a millionaire--for the life of me, I can't remember the asshole's name, even though it is my team that made him rich--I'm sure if I go to one of many Cubs' websites, my memory will be refreshed)...the kid who was beaned, Anthony (I think) Molina of Evansville U., will never play ball again. His eyesight is only partially recovered and his facial bones were shattered. His lawsuit against the kid, and Wichita State has not been settled or gone to court as of yet. The incident happened about two years ago. It's bad enough to throw at someone who is in the batter's box and is expecting a pitch. But Molina was in the on-deck circle on one knee and was totally defenseless. *************** Marcia's comment: I posted this just as he sent it. He cares passionately about Baseball and anything which sullies its reputation wounds him deeply. I am proud of his commitment to the honor and integrity of all sports!

USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN College Coaches Top 25 Poll The USA Today Baseball Weekly/ESPN Top 25 College Coaches Poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and records, as selected by 40 Division I head baseball coaches representing the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA): (Records through February 13) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. Florida St (30) (7-2) 1,024 5 2. Stanford (4) (6-3) 974 1 3. Alabama (2) (2-1) 933 3 4. LSU (4) (3-0) 897 16 5. UCLA (2) (6-1) 826 10 6. Georgia Tech (2-0) 741 8 7. Auburn (1) (7-0) 727 13 8. Houston (5-2) 641 9 9. Cal St Fullerton (2-4) 591 2 10. Miami Fla. (4-5) 554 4 11. Texas (7-2) 552 17 12. Wichita St (0-0) 500 12 13. Arizona St (11-2) 480 22 14. North Carolina (6-0) 474 NR 15. Southern California (5-3) 471 11 16. Texas Tech (6-2) 467 20 17. Baylor (4-2) 438 14 18. Clemson (2-1) 399 15 19. Florida (5-3) 370 18 20. Tulane (2-1) 331 16 21. Rice (3-4) 255 7 22. South Carolina (5-0) 232 NR 23. Central Fla (5-2) 224 NR 24. Long Beach St (3-3) 102 23 25. Florida Int'l (8-0) 96 NR Dropped Out: No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Arizona, No. 24 Wake Forest, No. 25 Oklahoma St. Others Receiving Votes: Nevada 82, Notre Dame 65, Loyola Marymount 65, Fresno St 60, Wake Forest 49, Arkansas 48, Arizona 42, Oklahoma St 31, Ohio St 27, Minnesota 26, Jacksonville 25, Lamar 24, Tennessee 21, East Carolina 19, Mississippi St 15, Va Commonwealth 13, Kentucky 12,Texas A&M 9, Ball St 9, Southwestern La 7, Rutgers 6, North Carolina St 5, Citadel 5, South Alabama 3, Michigan 3, Mississippi 2, Illinois 2, UNC Greensboro 1.

ly, or a loss by Miami, FL. They had a no hitter at the Dish last week, and I drove right by the stadium during the 2nd inning.

They are HOT! And have quite a competition going with the Rainbow Wahine of Manoa UH.

You can listen to college ball today on boradcast.com - What's On Today - Arkansas vs. Washington St. - 1 pm ET UALR vs. Missouri - 1:45 pm ET Baylor at TCU - 3 pm ET Oklahoma vs. Sam Houston St. - 4 pm ET Arizona at Texas A&M - 4 pm ET New Orleans at Alabama - 4:55 pm ET Cal at Pepperdine - 5 pm ET South Florida at Miami - 6:45 pm ET Mid. Tenn. St. at SE Louisiana - 7:30 pm ET North Carolina at UCLA - 8 pm ET Texas at Stanford - 9 pm ET UNLV at Cal St.-Fullerton - 10 pm ET Oregon St. at Fresno St. - 10 pm ET Santa Clara at Hawaii - 11:20 pm ET

Our Men's Baseball team is now in Texas playing TCU TCU WINS SERIES OPENER Fort Worth, Texas � Mark Hamilton continued to chew up University of Hawaii at Hilo pitching in leading Texas Christian to a 11-5 victory in the first of three Western Athletic Conference baseball games between the teams. Hamilton went 4 for 4 with a triple and a homerun to drive in five runs. On the year, the senior first baseman is batting .416 but .526 against the Vulcans. He is 10 of 19 with a double, two triples, two home runs and 10 RBI. The Horned Frogs (15-25, 6-9) got off to a 5-0 lead before the Vulcans (14-24, 5-14) responded with two runs in the seventh. Dana McCracken's triple drove in two. But the Frogs responded with six runs on seven hits in their half. The Vulcans came back in the eighth to post three runs on six hits. Besides Hamilton, Levi Groomer and Brad Rogers collected multiple hits against the Vulcans. Jake Ryan and Mike Hobbs led the Vulcans with a pair of hits each. Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Hawaii Hilo 000 000 230 - 5 9 0 TCU 103 010 60 - 11 13 0 ----------------------------------------------

We won on of the three games agains Rice University. Did anyone go up to watch us win in Texas?! Hilo, Hawaii � When Brian Rooke gets on base, the opposing pitcher becomes nervous, infielders antsy, and coaches begin to cringe. �They know I�m going to steal but they just don�t know when,� Rooke said. �They�re kind of waiting for it. But I need to be smart when I do it to put pressure on the opposing team.� As the University of Hawaii at Hilo baseball team�s lead off batter, the junior from Santa Monica, Calif., has been wrecking havoc on the base path with a Western Athletic Conference leading 19 stolen bases. �He�s our catalyst,� UHH baseball coach Joey Estrella said. �He�s the guy who gets our team going. The more times he�s on base, the more runs we score.� Rooke wasn�t highly recruited out of junior college or high school. Admittedly, he say�s he wasn�t a very good high school player and joined the El Camino Junior College team as a walk on. There he earned all-league honors as freshman batting .328 and as a sophomore batting .338 with 25 stolen bases. Despite offers from NAIA and NCAA Division II programs, Rooke had his heart set on playing Division I. �I saw my coach just before signing to play in New Mexico,� Rooke said. �He was on the phone with coach [Estrella] just then. I heard he was looking for infielder/pitchers but by the end of the day I signed with him.� Blessed with good speed, quickness and a very good first step, things you look for in a base stealer, Rooke is fast approaching the Vulcan season record for stolen bases. Vulcan volunteer coach Ken Morimoto set that mark of 25 in 1995. �You get a feel for certain things,� Rooke explained. �You get an understanding of pitchers tendency. You get a count where it�s usually an off-speed count. And if I have [Brandon] Chaves hitting behind me, people know he hits fast balls well so he gets a lot of off-speed pitches. Knowing that, I�m going to run.� Having Chaves hitting behind Rooke has already made its mark on the Vulcan�s victory list. With the game knotted at six all in the ninth against Rice University (March 10), Rooke singled. Chaves came up to bat and Rooke stole second on the first pitch. Two pitches later with a 2-1 count, Rooke broke for third just a Chaves punched a shot into center field. Rooke stumbled before stepping on third base and raced home for the game winner. �I was expecting an off-speed pitch and just went,� Rooke said. �I knew I had a better chance of scoring from third than second.� Estrella, who was dumb-founded by Rooke�s decision but pleased with the result, recognized Rooke�s base stealing talent early and has given him the green light. �He goes a lot on instinct,� Estrella said. �Reading pitchers is an acquired talent. He basically goes on instinct and has been very successful.� Against the University of San Diego, Rooke came within a slide of stealing home. He caught everybody by surprise including the batter and Estrella. As he raced down the line, Rooke began yelling �Kill, Kill, Kill�. �It�s just a natural reaction,� Rooke said. �I stole home a couple of times in junior college and that was the key to let people know don�t swing so I don�t kill myself by getting a ball in my face.� He didn�t steal home but did score as Shaye Miura put down a bunt behind the oncoming Rooke. Being a base stealer, Rooke has also had his share of injuries. So far, he has had a groin pull, a spiked hand and a dislocated finger. But none of those has kept him out of the line up for very long. �I�m learning more and more everyday,� Rooke said. �Trying to find as many keys and clues and hints possible.� Along with his base stealing skills, Rooke has brought along an attitude and desire that Estrella continually looks for in his ball players. �He�s aggressive, hustles and into the game all the time,� Estrella said. �He just plays all out. He adds an aspect to the outfield that we sorely missed last year. He has the ability to read the ball well and get a good jump, and covers a lot more ground that people we�ve had in the past. All that plus a better than average arm.� The Vulcans (13-21, 4-11) are on the road with three-game series at Rice University (17-17, 6-8), April 8-10, and Texas Christian University (13-21, 4-7), April 13-15.

DIVISION I BASEBALL AMERICA'S TOP 25 - April 17, 2000 Team W-L Last Week Previous 1. South Carolina 36-4 4-0 2 2. Florida State 37-7 2-2 1 3. Arizona State 33-9 3-0 4 4. Stanford 29-9 4-0 5 5. Texas 33-9 1-2 3 6. Louisiana State 29-11 3-1 6 7. Baylor 31-11 3-0 9 8. Georgia Tech 31-8 5-0 13 9. Clemson 31-9 3-2 7 10. Auburn 34-10 4-0 14 11. Wake Forest 32-11 3-2 12 12. North Carolina 33-9 5-0 15 13. Houston 26-13 2-2 10 14. Miami 26-13 2-1 20 15. Mississippi State 26-9 2-1 16 16. Rutgers 27-11 5-1 21 17. Louisiana-Lafayette 30-8 0-4 8 18. Fresno State 29-11 2-1 18 19. Nebraska 26-11 4-0 NR 20. Long Beach State 25-13 2-2 22 21. UCLA 24-15 2-2 17 22. Cal State Fullerton 22-13 1-3 11 23. Wichita State 25-10 5-1 NR 24. East Carolina 32-10 3-2 23 25. Illinois 27-11 4-2 NR Dropped Out: Southern California (No. 19), Tulane (No. 24), Florida Atlantic (No. 25).

Note that number 18 is the one who just clobbered us two in a row but we managed to beat in extra innings yesterday - Fresno State Yippee!!!!

Wow Florida State is developing into an all around powerhouse in basketball, football and baseball. Stanford is usually up there.

Yes, and I am working at getting a 'nole fan and alum to get her okole in here and post...*sigh* She is justifiably proud of the athletics at FSU.

Um....Texas is not bad, either, come to think about it...

Hope springs eternal around here, anyway.

At least you stand to do the ultimate hat trick for college sports - being champions in three sports. Don't think Penn State will in my life time, and for sure UHHilo won't...*sigh* However, I am also a eternal optimist, so it springs eternal here, as well.

The Horns are at a crucial junction in their baseball season, they're riding high in the standings but they've lost their last two series. So winning or losing now will be the test of whether they're a great team or not. Let's see if they can come back.

Rice is doing well, I see. I guess the only reason we beat them is because we were playing better than we can and they were not playing up to their usual standards. Just like our Fresno State win. We finish off the season with local teams of strength - Hawaii Pacific University and our Big Brothers at U of Hawaii Manoa (the 'main' campus)

* S I G H * Vulcans ousted by WAC. Honolulu Star-Bulletin The Western Athletic Conference athletic directors voted last weekend in Monterey, Calif., to end the University of Hawaii-Hilo's baseball affiliation with the league following the 2001 season. The conference athletic directors admitted the Vulcans last year so the league would have six teams, the minimum necessary to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA baseball tournament. "The coaches took a vote and only two coaches supported keeping Hilo in the conference," said University of Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida, the only AD to vote for the Vulcans. "The only coaches who voted for Hilo were us and Fresno State," said UH baseball coach Les Murakami. "The considerations looked at were time away from school and the cost issue," Yoshida said. "They felt being here for eight to 10 days was too long and with Nevada (2001) and Louisiana Tech (2002) coming in, they wanted to shorten that window. "The power rating also was a consideration." "It kind of changes our recruiting a little bit," said UHH head coach Joey Estrella. "We'll look at other options. I think it's a positive for us to be in a conference. "The vote does not surprise me. I had a feeling once Louisiana Tech came in it was going to be a problem. Already, with Nevada coming in, the conference office has a hard time putting a schedule together for next year." "I'm not surprised, especially after going to Texas. They were complaining about the length of time and the cost. Hey, what about us (when we travel)," said Murakami. "And, probably their one venture (this season) wasn't successful. They think they're going to win every time." The Vulcans won two of the three WAC home games against Texas Christian, one from Rice and Fresno State and lost all three games to San Jose State. The Vulcans (16-29, 6-18 WAC) host UH in 6 p.m. games Friday and Saturday at Wong Stadium and 1 p.m. Sunday at Simmons Field in Kona. http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu