The day has finally arrived.
For the last 28 years fans of the University have lamented over the fact that the Ducks didn’t have a baseball team. The fact Oregon, the only school in the Pacific-10 Conference without one, didn’t field a team in the sport that is considered our nation’s pastime, was magnified by the fact that the rival up I-5 in Corvallis won two straight national championships.
But for the first time in almost three decades, Oregon will again have baseball each spring. The journey from idea to reality started in 2007, and it will end today as the Ducks take the field for their first team practice of the 2009 NCAA baseball season.
“We need to start,” said Oregon head coach George Horton. “It’s a culmination of a lot of people’s efforts. It’s a pretty amazing thing that we have all accomplished to get ready in this short amount of time. I’m really looking forward to having 15 days of practice and then competing against guys in different color uniforms in the game of baseball. It’s exciting.”
Horton has been anxious to start for a long while now. He has always said he is more comfortable in the dugout than behind a desk, and the chance to get back to what he’s good at is a relief.
“I’m not the best at all the paperwork,” he said. “I’m good at coaching baseball, and after a year of being away from the game, I’m glad to get back to it.”
But before the Ducks can put on their brand new uniforms, there is still one final hurdle that needs to be cleared: the stadium.
PK Park, named after current Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny, is still in the last stages of completion. The field turf is in place and the lights are up, but seating is still being put in, and the video board is still missing in action.
“The last I heard, the jumbotron is still on a boat somewhere,” Horton said. “But really, the field is almost done. They’re going fast, and working basically seven-day weeks trying to get it all ready for us on Feb. 27. We have our fingers crossed.”
Horton’s big worry was where the team would practice, but that question was answered when it was announced Friday the team could practice at PK Park. It is still considered a construction zone, however, and the team will have limited time on field until the field is finally finished.
“We’re scrambling to find environments for our players to develop,” Horton said. “But as soon as I walk out onto that field, it’s like I’m in Disneyland and I get a big smile on my face.”
Now questions are starting to switch from administrative details to what the team is like and if it’s ready – and that’s a welcome change for Horton.
“I think there’s a lot of bright spots,” Horton said. “We will be able to pitch well. They’re young arms and inexperienced. We won’t know how they will react when the lights go on, so to speak, but we like what we see. The thing that is the biggest concern right now for us is where is the run production is going to come from. We don’t have the big bopper in the middle of the lineup, but if we can pitch and play defense we will compete in our league.”
Horton says the expectations and attention could be a factor, and he says they might be able to take advantage of opponents not knowing much about the players. Either way, he says, it’s baseball, and the team will be ready. The upcoming weeks will be a better indicator where this team is prepared for a Division-I schedule. They play their first series starting on Feb. 20-22 at Saint Mary’s. Oregon’s first home series is against defending national champion Fresno State on Feb. 27-Mar. 1.
“I don’t know if it will blow us over or not,” Horton said. “It’s like the train is coming down the tracks: are you going to let it run you over or are you going to jump on the train? That’s the mystery, but we’re all to a man looking forward to accepting that challenge.”
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