Euphoria. Jealousy. Pride. Longing.
I never thought I’d put those emotions together in regards to an Oregon State sports program, but as the Beavers’ celebrations from Omaha ring through the television (and, inevitably, from just up Interstate 5 in Corvallis) it’s all I can think about.
I’ve got a small soft spot for the Beavs because I was raised an Oregon State fan, as all the rest of my family have gone to school there. I’m the black sheep for going to Eugene, and though I love the Ducks – especially in Civil War time – it’s hard to not have a liking for our in-state rival, especially when my dad routinely brings them up in sports conversations.
Given that Oregon doesn’t have its own baseball team, jumping on the Beaver Believer bandwagon for OSU’s two College World Series championship runs has been a relatively guilt-free experience. The pride it’s brought to the entire state is something all Oregonians can share, too, no matter their usual school affiliations. However, it still brings up one thought: What if Oregon had an NCAA baseball team again?
Howe Field has not been graced by hardball play since the baseball team was cut due to Title IX reasons in 1981. But with the recent success of our in-state rivals added to the increased exposure of college baseball thanks to ESPN’s coverage of the College World Series, cries have been coming for the team to make a return.
I love baseball; not much compares to a day out at the ballpark. I follow the Mariners (which must make me a masochist), and I wish Portland would get an MLB team. However, I can’t help but have some reservations about adding a baseball team to Oregon’s intercollegiate athletics lineup right now.
First and foremost is worrying about taking away existing programs. In order to make room for baseball, they’d need to free up 11.75 scholarships for men and make sure they’re still compliant with Title IX rules. This means one of two things: adding more women’s sports (and even more non-profit athletic costs to the budget) or taking away men’s sports. The latter is more likely, with wrestling being the most likely sport to get the axe.
As much as I would love to watch baseball in the spring, I have trepidation about cutting an existing team – is it fair? Life rarely is, but at least weighing the investment they have in the wrestling program versus starting fresh with baseball is a discussion that must happen inside the Casanova Center before making decisions.
Part of this discussion involves facilities. Oregon’s baseball program was the original recipient of Howe Field when it was built in 1936, but it’s been almost fully converted for the softball team in the absence of a baseball program. Would converting it to allow dual use even be possible? Not likely; so, where will a Duck baseball program play? Would the athletic department splurge for a new baseball facility, or would a move to share a diamond with the Eugene Emeralds be possible? And in that case, wouldn’t the team lose the charm of being on campus?
And that becomes a problem when the novelty wears off. It is no surprise that all things go in cycles – this is to be expected in life. However, this means that, just as baseball is the hot topic in the state right now, that focus could just as easily shift before you can say “strike three.” What happens if Oregon State manager Pat Casey follows a lucrative deal to coach a bigger-name program, the Beavers’ run of success ends, and baseball recedes back into the shadows in the state’s college sports scene? What if this happens while Oregon is pushing to set up its own baseball team?
Then you’re left with just another profit-sucking sport that puts its head in the guillotine as soon as another novel new sport that we don’t have on campus pops up on ESPN.
Let’s not even forget the problem of recruiting. If Oregon were a state rich with baseball history and produced bushels of ready baseball prospects, this conversation and column would not exist. As it is, though, what if the state has enough top-level prospects to feed one Pac-10 program, but not two? You can only pipeline to California so much. Then you also potentially put the program in danger of dying out another way.
Despite all the negative aspects brought up throughout this column, I still would love to see a baseball program in green and yellow sometime soon; of course, I’d love to see the Ducks make a storybook return to the diamond and eventually bring the hardware home from Omaha. It is just a decision facing the athletic department that requires serious consideration; bringing in any new athletic team would require these thoughts. So don’t take the negativity the wrong way, just keep it in mind while you’re enviously watching Oregon State baseball highlights on SportsCenter this next week.
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