CHANGE OF SCENERY

Pitchers Benny Flores and Erasmo Ramirez decided last summer to transfer to Cal State Fullerton because they wanted to improve their chances of reaching an NCAA regional tournament and possibly the College World Series.

Infielder Nakia Hill went the other direction, going from Fullerton to Cal State Northridge because he saw more opportunity to play regularly and improve his prospects in the major league draft.

None of them probably would have made those moves if college baseball operated under the same NCAA rule as Division I basketball and Division I-A football: Change from one four-year school to another and sit out one season.

But as it stands now, a college baseball player can move from one school to another almost at the drop of an aluminum bat. And more players seem to be looking for a quick fix for unhappy situations.

The NCAA keeps no records of the number of transfers each year in any of its sports, but San Diego State Coach Jim Dietz believes the number in baseball must be increasing. Dietz estimates he has received more than 100 phone calls in the last year relating to athletes interested in transferring.

“This seems to be a bumper year,” Dietz said. “On one day alone recently, I had six calls. It seems almost like an epidemic.”

Marco Estrada transferred to Fullerton last September after playing two years at El Camino College, but he was playing for Northridge when the season opened Jan. 20.

The handwriting was on the wall at Fullerton for Estrada--too many shortstops ahead of him--and he was gone in early January.

“I tell people he was the player to be named later in the earlier trade,” Northridge Coach Mike Batesole said jokingly.

Batesole is among coaches who support what amounts to a limited form of college baseball free agency--the NCAA’s one-time transfer rule--because they feel it is in the best interest of the players.

“If a program doesn’t work for a player, either because of a lack of playing time or a coach’s personality, then the player should have a chance to go somewhere else,” Fullerton Coach George Horton said. “It makes it a lot easier if the athlete doesn’t have to sit out a year. The only time it gets complicated is if the coach and the player don’t agree.”

A school can refuse to release an athlete from the team, forcing him to sit out the next season or go to a community college. But that rarely happens.

“Most coaches don’t want a kid who they know isn’t going to be loyal to their program,” Horton said. “Usually both the coach and the player are on the same page.”

UCLA Coach Gary Adams says he generally supports the rule but has mixed feelings.

“There are so many different reasons why players transfer, and I go back and forth on the rule,” Adams said. “I am concerned about the lack of loyalty the rule inspires, but my policy always has been that if a player doesn’t want to play for me or at UCLA, I’m not going to try to hold him. I always lean in favor of what is best for the player.”

Long Beach State Coach Dave Snow has a similar opinion.

“The rule makes it a lot easier for either the player or the coach to walk away from a commitment they both made,” Snow said. “But it does give a player an opportunity to revive a career that might be in trouble. It’s a double-edged sword.”

Some conferences have penalties that limit transfers within their conferences. “As much as anything, they’re there to try to avoid any bad blood in the family,” said Rob Halvaks, the Big West associate commissioner who oversees baseball.

The Big West rule requires a player to sit out one year and lose a season of eligibility. The Pac-10’s basic rule calls for a player to sit out two seasons but allows for waivers to reduced limits based on various factors, including the amount of financial aid involved.

The freedom to move from one school to another also puts pressure on coaches to provide playing time early in a player’s college career or risk him leaving. Many top players plan on playing only three seasons in college until they become eligible again to sign a pro contract.

“A player still has to show a reasonable amount of patience,” Adams said.

Horton agrees, and said, “That’s the downside of the rule for me. It lends itself to a lack of perseverance on the part of the player. Sometimes you see guys who want to transfer at the drop of a hat. They’re not willing to battle for a position, and that’s not healthy either.”

Horton also says he has an obligation to be honest with players about their potential in his program. “That way a player can choose to leave, or try to change our mind,” he said. “And some players have stayed, and changed our mind.”

Hill decided to leave for Northridge, as did pitcher Tim Baron and Estrada.

Hill started in 55 of 64 games as a sophomore at Fullerton and hit .357 with seven home runs, but was told that his playing time would probably be limited this season. Hill, however, said he would have asked for his release anyway because of a personality clash with an assistant coach.

“I didn’t know what to expect moving out of a program of the caliber of Fullerton’s, and I was a little concerned at first, but it has turned out great for me,” Hill said.

Hill leads Northridge in batting (.417) and has 13 homers and 38 runs batted in. Batesole says he also has been a team leader.

“He’s been a great kid to coach, and he’s had a great year for us,” Batesole said.

Hill has no doubt that his stock with pro scouts has gone up this season. “I know I’ve gotten better,” he said. “I’m more relaxed. If I had stayed at Fullerton, I’m not sure I would be playing much.”

Flores and Ramirez are pleased they transferred to Fullerton.

Flores is 11-0 with a 3.13 earned-run average and Ramirez is 8-5 with a 3.77 ERA for a team that is 40-12 and in first in the Big West’s Southern Division. Barring a collapse, the Titans appear assured of an at-large bid in the NCAA playoffs, regardless of whether they win the automatic berth in the conference’s postseason tournament.

Flores and Ramirez were denied that opportunity a year ago when Northridge, despite its 42-20-1 record, was snubbed by the NCAA selection committee.

“It’s worked out well for us,” Ramirez said. “We wanted to go someplace where we’d have a good chance to win and go to a regional. I still have a little bit of myself at Northridge, but I know we made the right decision.”

For Flores and Ramirez, it has been a matter of building on earlier success. But for others, a transfer has revived a struggling career. Snow says the best example of that at Long Beach probably was pitcher Ryan Brannan.

“He was a highly rated pitcher coming out of high school in Huntington Beach, but it just didn’t work out for him at Miami,” Snow said. “He transferred to our school and became a [fourth-round] draft choice. But, really, it’s a coin toss on most transfers. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.”