Ebb Tide for Waves’ ‘92 NCAA Champions

They play on different teams in the same league, so Steve Montgomery runs into Steve Rodriguez every so often.

That the league is the International and not the American or National makes their meetings melancholy. This time the script might not have a happy ending, and they know it.

Montgomery and Rodriguez were among a group of Pepperdine Waves drafted by major league teams during the College World Series in 1992. They won the national championship and were off to conquer the world.

But the euphoria and optimism was slowly eroded by the harsh reality of professional baseball. Not a single player from that championship team has stuck in the major leagues.

Rodriguez, the West Coast Conference player of the year in ‘92, has been released twice and put on waivers once. He hooked on with the Montreal Expos and is a backup infielder at Ottawa, their triple-A affiliate.

Montgomery, who had a victory and two saves and closed all four of Pepperdine’s victories in the College World Series, is toiling at Rochester, N.Y., the Baltimore Orioles’ triple-A club.

Now 27, he allows his mind to drift back in time.

“You don’t really know when you’re young how great Pepperdine was,” he said. “You take it for granted. Now I wish I could be back there in those times.

“What a great time we had in college. The minor leagues definitely are not as much fun as Pepperdine in 1992.”

Several of his former Pepperdine teammates would second the sentiment. They rejoiced together, but now share the frustration of careers stalling out below the big leagues.

* Dan Melendez: The first baseman led the Waves with a .354 batting average and 12 home runs, and was drafted in the second round by the Dodgers. He never displayed the power he did in college and is a backup at triple-A Albuquerque, batting .279 with two home runs and 20 runs batted in.

* Chris Sheff: Taken by the Florida Marlins in the 10th round, the outfielder stole 81 bases in his first three full minor league seasons. But in a year any farmhand with a glove and a bat is getting a chance to play for the Marlins, Sheff is locked in triple-A for the third year in a row because he changed organizations.

As a minor leaguer with six years of service, he left the Marlins and signed with the Oakland Athletics last winter. He is batting .289 at Edmonton, but has the fewest at-bats of the team’s four outfielders.

* Derek Wallace: Considered the top prospect among the former Waves, the right-handed pitcher from Chatsworth High was the 11th overall pick in the draft, going to the Chicago Cubs. He was traded twice in 1995, first to the Kansas City Royals then to the New York Mets, where in ’96 he began to fulfill his promise, going 5-2 with 26 saves for triple-A Norfolk.

Wallace finished the ’96 season by making 19 appearances with the Mets and was considered a lock to make the team the following spring when he suffered an aneurysm in his arm that nearly ended his career.

After pitching 16 innings last season, he is the closer at Norfolk and has 11 saves and a 4.46 earned-run average in 33 appearances.

* Rodriguez: A fifth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox, he opened the season in Fenway Park in 1995 but was sent back to the minors after going one for eight in six games. Rodriguez was claimed on waivers by Detroit in September of that year and went six for 31 in 12 games.

He spent the last two seasons with the Tigers’ triple-A team in Toledo, Ohio, posting solid, if unsensational, numbers and is indistinguishable from the 32 other pro ballplayers named Rodriguez.

* Catcher Scott Vollmer and pitchers Pat Ahearne, Steve Duda and Jeff Myers are former champion Waves already retired from professional baseball.

Ahearne, Pepperdine’s ace right-hander, had a delivery uncannily similar to Orel Hershiser’s. However, he made only a few appearances with the Tigers and, like most of his former Pepperdine teammates, is left only with memories.

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Montgomery is fighting against the same fate.

The Orioles are having bullpen problems and he has pitched well at Rochester, notching seven saves to go with a 3-4 record and 3.57 ERA in 53 innings.

Best of all, he has 41 strikeouts and only 10 walks, an indication he has mastered the control problems that plagued him earlier.

“If the Orioles are trying to get guys fired up, they need to make changes,” he said. “It does give you hope. It makes it more exciting.”

Montgomery was genuinely fired up Feb. 16, 1996, when he learned the St. Louis Cardinals had traded him to the Athletics straight up for Dennis Eckersley. Coming off a ’95 season in which he had 36 saves in double-A, Montgomery made the Athletics’ roster out of spring training the following year.

However, he walked 13 in 14 innings over eight appearances and was demoted. Another opportunity in ’97 ended the same way, with eight walks in six innings over four appearances. His big league ERA is 9.45.

“I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been,” he said. “I gave the hitters too much credit.”

Montgomery vows it will be different next time.

“After you’ve been down for a while and get to reflect, I know how to approach it if I get another chance,” he said. “I’d rather give up home run after home run than go through that again.”

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About as far removed as he could be--sitting in a hotel room in Edmonton, Alberta, nine years after leaving the Valley--Jason Evans finally fessed up about his old Chatsworth home.

“I moved there purely for baseball reasons,” he said.

A shocking admission. That is, if anyone still cares.

Evans, 27, wasn’t always a pro outfielder who can’t seem to catch a break with the Chicago White Sox. In 1989, he was one of the best high school players in Southern California.

He transferred from Loyola to Chatsworth, moving into an apartment near the school. This was before open enrollment, and students were prohibited from transferring solely for athletic reasons.

Evans, the Chancellors’ shortstop, offered up the requisite denials at the time. Now he says the doubters were right along along.

“The Loyola program left something to be desired and I had a conflict with the coach,” he said. “Chatsworth was a real good team.”

Wallace was one of Evans’ teammates. Chatsworth was ranked No. 1 in the nation for part of the season and Evans was rewarded with a scholarship to Oklahoma. After his junior year with the Sooners he was drafted in the 12th round by the White Sox.

His once-promising career is sagging noticeably, however, and a decade after seeking greener pastures at Chatsworth, Evans will again survey the landscape.

Because this is his seventh minor league season, he can become a free agent if the White Sox do not place him on their 40-man roster.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought, especially because my playing time has been cut this year,” he said. “I haven’t had a good year and the White Sox haven’t called up any position players all season.”

Evans, who converted to the outfield after an injury to his clavicle in 1993, is batting .255 with two home runs, 23 runs batted in and six stolen bases for Calgary of the triple-A Pacific Coast League. Lately he has platooned with Lou Frazier, a journeyman stolen-base specialist.

“Then they brought in two outfielders from other organizations, and both guys are over 30 years old,” he said. “It doesn’t look good.”

His prospects began to sour in 1995, when he was assigned for a second year to South Bend, Ind., of the low Class-A Midwest League despite having made the all-star team in 1994.

But after five seasons in Class-A, Evans enjoyed something of a breakthrough year in ‘97, batting .305 in 63 double-A games and .284 in 65 triple-A games.

“I don’t really know if my numbers have any bearing on whether I will be called up,” he said. “The White Sox have three young outfielders and a fourth, Albert Belle, who isn’t going anywhere.”

Most likely history will repeat itself this off-season. Evans only hopes this move works out as well as his transfer to Chatsworth.

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* MINOR LEAGUE REPORT: C9

* MINOR LEAGUE STATISTICS: C9