It was all smiles at PK Park on Tuesday. Players joked with one another, and head coach George Horton and his coaches laughed along with them. Horton even joked with the media. Someone mentioned it was his turn in front of the firing squad, and he quipped that he didn’t know why we were hassling him because he hadn’t lost a game yet.
But underneath all of the smiles, there’s a sense of anticipation mixed with a whole lot of exasperation. Every player has heard 100 different versions of the questions, “What’s it like being a part of this?” and “Are you ready to play yet?” From a journalistic side of things, there’s only so much you can talk about before you’ve covered all the areas. Seriously, after a time, you start running out of good questions. I think everyone needs the games to start.
I think the thing that is a little frightening for everyone is the fact that no one knows what this team is going to do. We’ve seen them play against each other (once), and it’s extremely hard to gauge the talent level based on drills and practice. Obviously the talent level is going to be pretty good considering Horton is a valuable recruiter, but the team is an unknown quantity. There’s no benchmark to grade this team by.
After seeing all the media that showed up for the last day of media availability before the Ducks leave for St. Mary’s, Horton wondered out loud whether or not they would all be there after they were 0-10. He said that with a wink, but one wonders how much truth he’s actually speaking. I’m of the opinion that they won’t go winless in their first 10 games, but they’ll struggle mightily. I just can’t have too high of hopes for a team that still hasn’t faced anyone beside themselves. Yes, the team brought in a great recruiting class, but freshmen and transfers won’t be able to grind out too many wins against veteran teams like Fresno State or Oregon State.
That’s why I’m saying the expectations shouldn’t be too high. I think fans – and especially Duck fans – have a tendency to expect great things out of teams without looking too deeply into things. For example, how many people honestly thought Ernie Kent would have a winning record this year in the Pacific-10 Conference? I know I can’t truthfully say that. The man is working with one senior on the roster, and a lot of underclassmen with not enough experience. I can’t say I saw them tanking to this degree, but I was realistic and expected the Ducks to be toward the bottom of the league.
Going back to Horton and the baseball team, I expect them to finish in the middle to the back of the Pac-10. Teams like Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford, and Oregon State will definitely overpower the new kids on the block.
However, this is a team coached by a national champion. He knows what it takes to build a program, and that’s why I have high hopes for this team in the very near future. Horton is working with a team that doesn’t know what it’s like to be a team because it’s only been together for a few months, and there’s not that cohesiveness yet that established programs have. But, with the caliber of players and coaching, Oregon baseball will be pretty good someday. Baseball is one of those sports where talent makes up for a lot of things. It won’t take these guys long to hit their strides and become solid ballplayers, but for right now they’re still playing catch up.
They will probably even surprise a few teams this year, and maybe the Ducks will even upset the Beavers. I can just picture all the orange and clad faithful getting that sick look on their faces like older siblings get when their little brother beats them for the first time. It would be priceless.
For now, visions of baseball glory are going to be replaced by temporary green bleachers and no cover for fans during springtime in Oregon. The plus or minus for how many sunny days the team will play on at home has got to be pretty low.
With the day finally upon us, I’m slightly relieved and slightly nervous. I lobbied hard so I could be on the Emerald’s coverage of baseball, and I’m excited to be a part of this.
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Baseball could take lumps
Daily Emerald
February 18, 2009
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