Titans’ Ferguson Tries to Phil the Bill : Baseball: Replacing a standout such as Nevin is not easy, but Cal State Fullerton’s new third baseman is handling that pressure.

The pressure of baseball starts working out Jeff Ferguson before each Cal State Fullerton game, coming at him like a soft roller down the third-base line, slowly, deliberately, testing his reflexes and threatening to blow away his concentration like a hot dog wrapper in the wind.

He is little more than halfway through his first season at third base--at any level--and sometimes it is as if the game is stuck on fast forward. The ball usually comes at him quicker, there are different angles to take, a different throw to make, and there is the constant, nagging feeling that will not be going away anytime soon.

Ferguson stepped into the box this season with two strikes against him.

Phil Nevin played third base in 1992.

Phil Nevin is not playing third base in 1993.

How do you replace a legend?

“It’s been tough, real tough,” Ferguson said. “It’s tough because I’m trying to fill Phil Nevin’s spot. There’s a lot of pressure . . .

“I try not to think about it. You can’t fill his spot, you know? He did a lot for the team. I don’t think anybody could do what he did last year.”

But the memories are still fresh.

Baseball America selected Nevin College Player of the Year. He batted .526 with 11 RBIs in the College World Series and was picked first by the Houston Astros in the June draft. He was the first player since Minnesota’s Dave Winfield from a non-championship team to win the Most Valuable Player award in the College World Series.

Oh, and then he won the Golden Spikes Award from the U.S. Baseball Federation as the nation’s top amateur player.

Welcome to the hot corner.

“There’s no replacing Phil Nevin,” said Augie Garrido, Titan coach. “Phil Nevin has become a perception. Phil Nevin couldn’t replace Phil Nevin. He has become bigger than he was.”

His legend travels, too.

When the Titans were at Texas in early February, a ball was popped far back into the bleachers down the third-base line, way out of play.

Ferguson drifted over, and that’s when he heard it.

“Phil would have made that play,” a few voices called out from the Texas dugout. “Phil would have made that play.”

“It was funny,” Ferguson said. “I laughed in the back of my mind.”

Sometimes it is funny. The Titans, ranked third nationally by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, return home this week for games against Loyola Marymount (Tuesday) and Cal State Long Beach (Friday through Sunday) as they seek their second consecutive College World Series trip.

“I think that our team will take a significant step forward based on his progress at the position,” Garrido said.

Luckily, Ferguson played a handful of games at third in a collegiate league in Liberty, Kan., last summer. During fall practice, he learned Garrido was counting on him at third.

“I thought I was going to play second,” Ferguson said. “They tried me out at third base and I guess things worked out.”

Ferguson had been a middle infielder all of his life and wasn’t thrilled with the switch to begin with, let alone that he was replacing Nevin.

“I like (third) a lot,” Ferguson said. “I’d like to be in the middle infield, but third base is fine.”

Ferguson is batting .368 with two homers and 24 RBIs, but he has a team-leading 11 errors.

“God gave him fabulous hands, a quick arm--and no concentration skills,” Garrido said.

Said shortstop Nate Rodriquez: “I think he’s getting comfortable. He’s confident and having fun at it now instead of worrying about it.

“I just didn’t see him as relaxed as I do now.”

While Ferguson has shown he is capable at third, the Fullerton coaching staff would like to see him sink his teeth deeper into the position.

“He hasn’t responded as aggressively as we thought he would,” Garrido said. “I admire what he is trying to do. He could be very good at it. He has to believe the position is for him . . .

“Jeff Ferguson is an outstanding athlete. He has the ability to play any position. In professional baseball, he could play third--he has the power, speed and throwing arm. He could do that.”

But at times, Ferguson still battles with the position.

“Balls get there quicker, it’s a different throw,” he said. “You have to worry about people bunting, things like that.”

He also worried because of the rain earlier this spring. He got off to a fairly good start at third but, when several early season showers came, limiting the Titans’ on-field time, his progress was slowed. By the time the Titans played at UC Santa Barbara in mid-March, Ferguson was edgy.

“I didn’t feel confident at third,” said Ferguson, who committed two errors in the three games. “I didn’t feel like I was getting a good jump. It seemed like my fundamentals were all messed up. I had to get under control.”

Times like these are when his mind begins to work extra innings.

“If you make an error, you never know,” Ferguson said. “You might hear, ‘Phil Nevin wouldn’t have done that.’ ”

He didn’t have to worry about that in 1992, when Nevin was around and Ferguson was backing up Rodriquez at shortstop. Then, he figured he was headed for second base when Steve Sisco’s eligibility expired.

He didn’t even play in when the Titans advanced to the final game of the College World Series. Rodriquez was hot and Ferguson was just a freshman.

“It was best for the team,” he said. “Nate did well in the (NCAA) Regionals and College World Series. All the credit goes to him. He did really well.”

Rodriquez was named to the all-College World Series team, and Ferguson figured it was his year to an apprentice.

“I learned a lot from Nate,” Ferguson said. “Keeping your head in the game, little things . . .

“He’s always talking, saying ‘Watch out for this’ or ‘Watch out for that.’ ”

Watch out? As Ferguson has discovered, there is plenty to avoid. He wades through the bunts, handles the one-hoppers and figures his angles.

He has cracked the starting lineup, his team is in high gear but, with the team rising in the polls and the NCAA Regionals a little more than a month away, those slow rollers to third will start coming faster and faster.

“We’re not going to win, we’re not going to make it, without him at third base,” Garrido said. “If this team is going to be better, it is going to be based on Jeff Ferguson being better at third base.”