12:04 | [Comment From mymrbig]
I was thinking an interesting place to start the discussion of Rice's great baseball players was to reflect on how this team has evolved over time. In the years after Coach Graham took over, the Owls were an offense-heavy team with the likes of Jose Cruz Jr., Mark Quinn, and of course Lance Berkman leading the way. The team stayed this way up until about 1998 (by my estimation) with Bubba Crosby, Damon Thames, Will Ford, and Jason Gray putting up some impressive displays, along with very important offensive contributions from guys like Jason Richardson, Justin Berg, Charlie Williams, Jake Baker, and others. But really starting in 1997 the Owls seemed to start their evolution into a pitching-oriented program. NCAA changed the bats to a less offense-friendly version after the 1998 season. 1997 saw Matt Anderson get drafted #1 overall, along with stellar contributions from Mario Ramos, Jeff Nichols, and Stephen Bess on the mound. Ramos, Nichols, Bess, and Marc Gwyn continued the shift to a pitching-oriented team in 1998. Then Kenny Baugh and Jon Skaggs were kind of the completion of the cycle into a pitching-dominated program. They were followed by many great collegiate pitchers that we all remember today, but it is amazing (for those of us to remember) to think back to the offensive numbers produced by the Owls in 1995-1999 and compare them with what we see today. |
