Wrestling won’t be the only sport affected by the resurgence of the Oregon varsity baseball program next year.
No, another sport won’t be put on the chopping block. But as the club baseball team enters its fifth consecutive NCBA World Series appearance, these next few games will be the team’s swan song before it lingers in obscurity when the George Horton-led Ducks deservedly garner all the attention.
Next week will likely be the last time you see the club baseball team on the front of the Emerald’s sports section.
And I’ve become conflicted about it because, as excited as I am to finally see Oregon play Division I baseball against other Pacific-10 Conference teams, covering the club baseball team two years ago has been my most cherished experience covering sports at the Emerald.
As prominent as the Ducks’ basketball and football teams are, sitting in Civic Stadium on a sunny afternoon for a double-header while fans brought beer and heckled the visiting team stands out more in my mind than standing down on the field as Matt Harper’s interception defeated USC last fall.
Part of it’s just my inherent love of baseball over other sports. The other part of it was connecting with the eclectic baseball players more than any other athletes I’ve talked to at Oregon.
They weren’t given scholarships to play and didn’t carry themselves like playing their sport was an actual job, like many of Oregon’s privileged athletes do. They played for their inherent love of the game – and had to pay for it, too; club baseball fees are expensive for all the traveling they do.
Many of the players had other opportunities to play college baseball on a more competitive level, but many of them wanted to be a Duck for so long that nothing else mattered. They didn’t need a scholarship or a walk-on opportunity at a D-I program – playing club baseball at Oregon would give them a chance to continue playing baseball at the school they’ve been a fan of since they were kids.
And the team has flourished as a result.
Throughout the years, the team has been stocked full of players who have matured and developed their game to be able to play competitive baseball. The best of which, upon graduation, tried out for Major League teams and were extended invitations to the lower levels of minor league baseball.
While interest in the club team will wane next year, upon the revival of varsity baseball, many of the club players immediately set their sights on playing for Oregon’s first D-I baseball program since 1981. And there couldn’t be a better way of establishing a leadership base for a first-year program than to have a few select members of the club team earn spots on Horton’s squad. It shouldn’t matter about the playing time they receive or whether some of their skills might not translate to other Pac-10 competition, the Ducks will need some veteran leadership on a team that will see a lot of freshmen in the field and dugout.
But while Horton told me earlier that he holds a special place in his heart for the less athletically gifted, all-work ethic guys – because he was once one – tryouts remain a question, despite saying they would take place as early as December 2007.
There’s no doubt Horton wants to field the most competitive team and will continue to recruit players until the team begins playing. But if he wants to pay tribute to the guys who have made Oregon baseball relevant these past years, some of whom I suspect will be solid contributors in the field, Horton needs a few of them to counsel freshmen about Eugene and the collegiate lifestyle.
Because after the first season, that’ll likely be the last time Oregon sees walk-ons make a George Horton roster, and baseball will become just another sport in the Club Sports program.
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