'Dogs let bats do the speaking

I wonder if there are any coaching positions open on the Fresno State baseball staff.

Maybe I could join the staff in a brand new capacity. I could have the Student-assistant-who-writes-columns-that-leads-to-the-team-scoring-44-runs-a-series job.

The Bulldogs baseball team has a lot of people to prove wrong — and I am not one of them. There is nobody who knows better than myself how much talent the team has, nor how respectable the players are as individuals.

And those individuals made a big statement to the rest of the Western Athletic Conference and a member of the media, that at least for one weekend, they can be together as one.

That has only been the case in spurts this season. So last Wednesday, I wrote a my opinion of the team’s performance this year, and to my best knowledge (consisting of years of watching different versions of the Diamond Dogs) said that the team has not displayed the leave-it-on the-field mentality that College World Series team’s of the past have.

More than anything, it was a challenge to the players — a challenge saying show me what you can do when something is on the line (WAC title) and just how good you can be when everything is done at 100 percent effort all the time. Believe it or not, that has not always been the case.

What resulted was a plate-crossing marathon, as the Bulldogs put across 44 runs in the series, only adding to the effort of one of the west coasts best pitching staff. Maybe I should have written that piece long ago.

This weekend, Bulldogs players dove for every ball that needed to be dived for, sprinted out every hit that needed to be beat out, and gave each other the credit they deserve for the top-25 caliber play the team displayed against the Wolf Pack.

I’m sure you are dying to know what they had to say about it. But as of Sunday, the team wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with yours truly, supposedly because of my aforementioned column.

So with today being the final issue of The Collegian, there is only one thing left to say.

My point was made, there is no bone to pick, no personal problems with players, so during my summer break, I will be doing one thing among many — attending Fresno State baseball games, sitting in the same seat, in the same section, ready to erupt in joy for another plate-crossing marathon.

Comment on this story in the Sports forum >>