Big Shoes to Fill : Titan Jacobs Resembles Kotsay in More Ways Than One

Greg Jacobs has the same No. 7 on his back that Mark Kotsay wore at Cal State Fullerton.

He has the same kind of smooth left-handed swing.

Jacobs also is a part-time relief pitcher.

But it’s much too early in the season for any comparisons beyond that between Jacobs and anyone else, particularly Kotsay, who led Fullerton to the 1995 College World Series championship and won the Golden Spikes Award as player of the year.

Jacobs, however, has wasted no time in making his presence felt in his first season with the Titans after transferring from Cypress College.

After four games, Jacobs is hitting .571 (eight for 14). He also picked up his first pitching victory when the Titans defeated Loyola Marymount in a midweek game.

“We’re excited about his start,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “He had shown signs of being a good player in the fall, but he has really turned it up since the season started. It looks like he’s going to be a game-type player.’

Jacobs impressed the Titan coaches with his pitching against Loyola Marymount. He gave up no hits and struck out two in two scoreless innings.

“It wasn’t a well-pitched game, but Jacobs took control when he went in,” Horton said. “Before that, he hadn’t pitched that well in our scrimmages, but I was impressed by what he did against Loyola. He has been a bright spot there too.”

Titan pitching coach Dave Serrano also has been impressed.

“I probably have been the most skeptical about how much we could expect from him as a pitcher since he spends most of his time as a position player in practice,” Serrano said. “That makes it hard for him to get complete workouts as a pitcher. You worry about him being prepared. But he definitely turned the game around against Loyola with his pitching.”

It’s unusual for a player to be successful doing both, as Kotsay was during his sophomore season.

Jacobs says being the designated hitter has advantages for him as an occasional relief pitcher. “If I’m not playing in the outfield, I have that time to go to the bullpen and warm up, if the coaches think they’re going to need me,” Jacob said.

Horton says Jacobs’ designated-hitter role is not a reflection of any lack of ability as an outfielder.

“He could be playing center field for us and not miss a beat,” Horton said. “He put on quite a show there one night in practice. It’s just been a matter of us being set with the other three guys in the outfield.”

Horton says Fullerton didn’t recruit Jacobs when he was at Canyon High primarily because the Titans were loaded with established outfielders at the time, including Kotsay and Jeremy Giambi.

“It probably wouldn’t have been in his best interest to have come to Fullerton as a freshman,” Horton said.

Jacobs says he probably would have gone to UCLA if he hadn’t run into an academic problem. “I was a half unit short in Spanish, and that’s the main reason I went to a junior college,” Jacobs said. “UCLA wanted me as a two-way guy to play football as well as baseball.”

Jacobs, 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, says several major schools showed more interest in him for football as a wide receiver and defensive back. “I’m sure I could have had a college career in football, but I preferred baseball,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs batted .491 with 10 home runs and had a 5-2 record on the mound during his senior season in high school.

Jacobs believes the experience at Cypress College turned out to be good for him. He batted .412 with 12 homers last season. “I learned a lot of baseball there under Coach [Scott] Pickler,” Jacobs said. But that probably will mean he will play only one season for theTitans.

“I’d like to be able to play pro ball after this season if everything goes well,” Jacobs said. He was drafted in the 23rd round by the Chicago Cubs in June’s amateur draft, but decided instead to play another year in college.

Jacobs says his choice of uniform numbers doesn’t mean he’s trying to follow in anyone’s footsteps.

“I wore the same number in high school and for two years at Cypress,” he said. “It’s sort of been lucky for me.”