Giving a Michigan Man Some Appreciation

After getting excited over Michigan baseball's post-season run and finally bringing that joy to this blog, I scurried away and hid once the Wolverines lost to Oregon State in the NCAA Super Regionals. (For those of you who have been checking back here regularly, I seem to have gone into hibernation for the summer. That Tigers baseball, she's a demanding mistress.)

But those same Beavers went on to repeat as national champions, after beating North Carolina for the second straight year last night, which I thought was worth noting as a consolation. It doesn't always take the sting away, but losing to the team that eventually won the championship often seems to redeem the loss. (I don't imagine many Red Wings fans were celebrating that Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup, however.)

Michigan baseball had already moved on, but perhaps somewhat unwillingly, after news broke last week that Coach Rich Maloney was not only being pursued by Tennessee, but had already gone down to Knoxville for an interview. I got the news from Mr. Big Ten Hardball, who called to see if I'd heard anything more. Shortly thereafter, I made a call to my future brother-in-law Vols fan, checking if he'd heard anything, and warning him to back off Maloney. (He never did return that call, which probably means I'll soon be getting a lecture from my sister about leaving threatening messages on her fiancee's voice mail.)

Of course, the baseball team won't ever be as high on the radar around here as the football, basketball, and hockey programs, but the recent post-season run made it pretty clear that something good has been going on at Fisher Stadium over the past couple of years. That success would likely be short-lived, however, if the man in charge suddenly decided to seek the surer thing of a school in warmer climates, in a part of the country where college baseball is a larger part of the sports culture. And did I mention he'd be paid a lot more?

It got pretty scary there for a couple of days, because I think the general consensus was, "Who could blame Maloney for leaving?" BTH expected him to take the Tennessee job. So did the Michigan Daily. And if that had happened, all of the excitement and progress that had been generated over the baseball program would've felt pretty empty. I don't know the situation well enough to say it would've been devastating. But I don't think that's an overreaction, either.

Beating Vanderbilt and advancing in the tournament got people (and media) to take notice (locally and nationally). Virtually the same roster was eligible to return next season. Fisher Stadium is undergoing a huge renovation to make the facility competitive with the rest of the Big Ten and suitable to host tournament regionals. Michigan is poised to become a player in college baseball, which is really saying something for a northern school. Maloney leaving for Tennessee probably would've cut that off right at the knees.


That's the sort of thing we expect to see happen to mid-major basketball programs who expect to eventually lose their coach to a bigger program in a more prominent conference. And maybe that provided the proverbial wake-up call (or dose of humility) to the Michigan athletic department and fanbase at-large. This isn't football or basketball (or hockey). Achieving annual prominence in this part of the country isn't a given for baseball. You have to work at it. And no one's worked harder at it than Maloney.

Fortunately, Michigan recognized that and did what was necessary to retain Maloney, signing him to a five-year contract extension. That should effectively stamp down any future rumors of defection (which seem to have been swirling around ever since the Big Ten Tournament, depending on who you talk to). No more year-to-year agreements. No more underappreciation. No more whispers of seduction from southern schools (although I suppose there's nothing to stop those schools from continuing to inquire).

It's not often you get to follow a program on the rise around here, to see something built from the ground up. It's worth some appreciation. This is a commitment. This is establishing something. And hopefully, it's the start (or continuation) of some really good baseball in Ann Arbor.

The PING! of the Bat Brings Me Back

It only took one night for the sports angel to help me get over the bitterness of the Detroit Pistons' loss to Team LeBron.

Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines baseball team, who defeated Vanderbilt, 4-3, last night to advance to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament. Their next opponent will be the winner of tonight's Oregon State-Virginia game.

Rich Maloney's squad took the lead when freshman Alan Oaks (who had all of 48 at-bats for the season) crushed a pitch from soon-to-be #1 draft pick David Price over the left-field fence for a pinch-hit home run. The Commodores were the #1 overall seed in the tournament, and the home crowd in Nashville was shocked to see their team go down. Man, that was one hell of a game.

(Price, by the way, pitched of 1 1/3 innings of relief after throwing 130 pitches on Friday night. I bet the Devil Rays are thrilled about that.)

Here's a recap from Big Ten Hardball, who has most definitely fueled my growing interest in college baseball over the past year or so. And here I thought I was already watching all the sports I could take.

Knowing my place on the food chain

I'm about a week late with this, but I really think it's deserving of mention. My buddy and fellow blogger Brian would probably prefer I not write about this (and maybe I should've run it by him first), but it was so amusing - and impressive - that I just had to make note of it.

As you might (and should) know, Brian runs what is the authoritative blog on northern college baseball, Big Ten Hardball. To me, this is exactly what blogging should be: see a void, fill the niche. Brian wasn't getting what he wanted about Big Ten college baseball from any newspapers or websites, so he decided to create the damn thing himself. Since he was offering something no one else was, it was only a matter of time before he drew the readership he deserved.

Anyway, Michigan baseball held its annual "Meet the Team Night" last Monday, and since I live nearby, Brian asked if I wanted to join him. Even though I know very little about Michigan baseball, other than they use bats and mitts and play at Fisher Stadium, I tagged along. For one thing, I enjoy learning about a sport that's new to me. That's what made me a sports fan in the first place, and I've come to miss that feeling.

Plus, Michigan has a good team coming back, but baseball isn't the giant monolithic machine that football is, and it was nice to see people be invited to support and take an interest, and have a chance to meet the players. There's still a feeling of amateur athletics to it. But frankly, I just wanted to see Brian get to work the room and enjoy yielding some benefits from the work he's put in.

Not only wasn't I disappointed, but I got a little reality check, as well. I'm gratified by the readership I've been able to generate at this little blog you're reading here. It's worth all of the effort. But no matter what this site becomes, I will never expect athletes - amateur or professional - to walk up to me, shake my hand, and tell me they enjoy reading my blog. (Oh, and their parents love the site, too.) But that's exactly what Mr. Big Ten Hardball got to experience on Monday night.

And there are a lot of fantastic blogs that cover University of Michigan athletics, but I don't think it's likely that any of their writers will ever get much chance to chat with Lloyd Carr or Tommy Amaker. (I hope I'm eventually proven wrong on that, of course.) Yet there was Brian, getting 5-10 minutes of quality time with Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney.

Affirmation, baby. In comparison, I'm just a song-and-dance man. Treating Brian to munchies at Cubs AC seemed like the least I could do afterwards. And I can tip my cap here. Kudos, my friend.