COLLEGE BASEBALL : Loyola Scraps the Wheelchairs and Re-Shoots
Loyola Marymount wasted little time in making--then correcting--its first error of the season, on the cover of its baseball media guide.
The original cover had a photograph of six gray-haired Loyola players, all of whom are in their senior year of eligibility, sitting in wheelchairs and leaning against walkers, over the caption, “The Senior League Comes to LMU.”
“It was intended as a takeoff on the new senior (professional) league in Florida,” Loyola Coach Chris Smith said. “We wanted to do a takeoff on the fact that we had so many seniors.”
The Lions, however, struck out in their execution.
After about 200 guides had been distributed to program supporters and some members of the media, school administrators decided to change the theme of the cover--at considerable expense.
“We just wanted to act prudently,” Loyola Athletic Director Brian Quinn said. “Rather than risking offending anyone, we decided to pull it.”
The new cover has a photo of preseason All-American catcher Miah Bradbury and pitchers Steve Surico and Darryl Scott above the caption, “The Lions’ Ever-Ready Battery.”
Paying dividends: Income from increased ticket sales, radio rights and a reported $500,000 paid by CBS to televise the championship game helped last season’s College World Series turn a record profit of $423,249.
And, although college baseball probably will never generate the million-dollar payouts schools receive for participating in football and basketball, the money is getting better for those that travel the road to Omaha.
Cal State Long Beach, for example, earned $37,426 for reaching the eight-team double-elimination tournament, where the 49ers were ousted after two games.
Defending national champion Wichita State and Texas, the series’ finalists, each received $62,376. Florida State and Louisiana State each earned $49,901. Arkansas and Miami each got $43,663, and North Carolina took home $37,426.
Pepperdine, Loyola and USC, who all played in regional tournaments, received $8,300 apiece.
Home sweet home: Cal State Long Beach was a team of vagabonds last season, practicing on Pony League fields and playing home games at Cerritos College and Blair Field while its campus facility was being overhauled.
Long Beach Coach Dave Snow figured that the us-against-the-world attitude, which the situation fostered, helped motivate his team to the school’s best season.
The 49ers are back on campus this season, and Snow is hoping the comforts of home won’t dull their competitive edge.
The new 49er Field has an excellent playing surface and a seating capacity of 1,000.
Athletic Director Corey Johnson said seating capacity will be expanded to 2,500 during the next few years. Lights, locker rooms and offices will also be added.
Power play: Scott Sharts was sporting a black eye and a swollen nose that resulted from an encounter with a ground ball in practice, but he was feeling no pain last week after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning that helped Cal State Northridge defeat USC in the season opener for both teams, 4-3.
Sharts, a 6-foot-4, 221-pound sophomore first baseman, transferred to Northridge from Miami last summer, intent on proving that he could still produce the power that generated a Southern Section-record 32 homers when he played at Simi Valley High School.
Last season, Sharts played in 22 games for Miami, batting .222 with no homers and three runs batted in.
“People know me as a hitter, and that’s what I’m here for,” Sharts said after the USC game. “I’m going to prove all those (Miami) guys wrong. By the end of the year, they’re going to say, ‘This guy can hit.’ ”
Early start: Pepperdine and Loyola, which traditionally did not begin play in the West Coast Conference until March, opened their WCC schedules Friday.
The WCC has switched from a 24- to a 36-game format that calls for a home-and-home series with each conference opponent.
Pepperdine, the defending champion, is playing a three-game series against USF.
Loyola is at Santa Clara.
USC and UCLA begin their Pacific 10 Southern Division schedules next Friday against Arizona State and Stanford, respectively.
Reinstated: Four Arkansas baseball players linked to a gambling investigation last fall have had their eligibility restored by the NCAA, but they will miss the first 16 games of the season.
Relief pitchers Phil Stidham and Mark Swope, both of whom were All-Southwest Conference in 1989; outfielder Haden Etheridge, and pitcher Gary Harris had been ruled ineligible by the school after their names appeared on betting slips found during a raid of a bookmaking operation last November in Fayetteville, Ark.
The players will be allowed to practice with the team while their suspensions are in force.
Arkansas shared the Southwest Conference championship with Texas A&M; last season.
College Baseball Notes
USC center fielder John Jackson joined the Trojans this week after missing the first three games while attending NFL scouting combines. Jackson, a preseason All-American who was a record-setting wide receiver for the Trojan football team, led the Pac-10 Southern Division in batting last season. . . . USC outfielder Corey Aurand suffered a torn rotator cuff in practice three weeks ago and will miss the entire season. Aurand, a senior, will red-shirt.
