Who's Getting It Done: With 116 wins, the answer has to be "just about everyone". The WSU batters have the best team batting average, have scored the most runs, have stolen the most bases, are second in walks drawn and third in homers, and they've struck out far fewer times than any other team. The Shockers pitching staff has allowed the fewest hits, fewest homers, second fewest runs, and has amassed more saves than the competition. It is a team with several leaders, not just one. Phil Stephenson is having a great year, but he doesn't lead his team in a single offensive category, aside from his 126 walks. Loren Hibbs tops the squad in hitting (.311) and stolen bases (131); Russ Morman leads in homers (33) and RBI (138). Charlie O'Brien has 27 homers and 120 RBI, and his 41 doubles aren't bad for a catcher; 2B Jim Thomas has shown his speed with 95 steals and 26 triples. Along similar lines, the pitching staff has been strong across the board, with three 20-game winners. Bryan Oelkers (23-3, 2.49) emerged as the anchor of the rotation, while Greg LaFever (3-2, 2.12, 39 SV) is perhaps the top closer in the league.
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| Okay, we'll build you a stadium! |
Who's Not: Seriously? Well, let's see. Reliever Jeff Brogan's 7.42 ERA is ugly, but with 10 saves in 13 innings it's hard to quibble too much about his performance. WSU's #1 starter Don Heinkel (17-9, 2.58) may be feeling a bit left out as the only regular starter who probably won't win 20 games. And the Wichita State administration is a little slow in building the Shockers a ballpark worthy of housing this team. But it is hard to find holes on this team, and that seems to be the difference between the Shocks and the rest of these teams. They are good--top to bottom. They hit, they run, they shut down opposing offenses, they catch the ball--they do it all, and in most respects they do it better than the competition. The '82 Shockers won more games than any other in college baseball history, and it's obvious to this writer that this wasn't just because they played a hell of a lot of games (although they did). It was because, well, they were the best team in the history of college ball. Yes, yes, they didn't win the CWS, they played in the Missouri Valley Conference, only a couple of Shockers made it to the majors, and they got derailed by the "Grand Illusion". However, they also blasted all other teams in 1982 post-season play despite playing all games on the road as a top seed. And, at least in this simulation, they had a magic that transcended any individual performance.
College Greats League Standings
Year Team W L PCT GB L10 STRK
1982 Wichita State Shockers 116 38 .753 - 6-4 L2
1989 Texas A&M Aggies 96 59 .619 20.5 5-5 L3
1983 Texas Longhorns 84 71 .542 32.5 7-3 W7
1967 Arizona State Sun Devils 76 78 .494 40.0 5-5 W4
2001 Miami Hurricanes 74 80 .481 42.0 3-7 L1
1997 LSU Tigers 69 83 .454 46.0 5-5 L2
1995 Cal State Fullerton Titan70 85 .452 46.5 6-4 W2
1985 Miss State Bulldogs 64 90 .416 52.0 5-5 W1
1971 USC Trojans 64 90 .416 52.0 5-5 W3
1985 Oklahoma State Cowboys 59 98 .376 58.5 2-8 L5
Wichita State Shockers **Team Batting Stats**
Last First AVE G AB SO BB H 2B 3B HR R RBI SB E
Thomas Jim .272 154 666 99 48 181 24 26 8 115 108 95 12
O'Brien Charlie .260 154 646 69 33 168 41 1 27 94 120 31 10
Hibbs Loren .311 154 644 111 101 200 35 10 6 127 66 131 16
Morman Russ .285 154 621 129 77 177 19 12 33 121 138 45 8
Stephenson Phil .298 154 578 75 126 172 40 4 23 125 137 126 2
Lucas Dave .261 154 551 44 89 144 30 10 0 66 69 34 28
Gaskell Tim .263 154 528 53 52 139 17 7 2 61 55 14 18
Spring Jim .252 154 508 62 93 128 14 5 5 81 66 44 45
Penner Kevin .202 80 267 34 37 54 8 2 3 29 27 22 0
Mann Jeff .235 64 204 63 20 48 16 5 0 28 20 4 0
Grogan Mark .285 62 130 18 46 37 4 0 0 29 13 24 17
Greishaber Dan .500 4 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
- - .271 1870 5345 758 724 1449 248 82 107 878 820 570 159
Wichita State Shockers **Team Pitching Stats**
Last First ERA G GS CG W L SV IP SO BB H R ER
Heinkel Don 2.58 40 40 2 17 9 0 297.0 208 110 231 94 85
Oelkers Bryan 2.49 37 37 3 23 3 0 270.2 295 167 173 95 75
Sonberg Erik 2.39 36 36 0 21 7 0 252.0 260 121 178 76 67
Brown Stan 3.00 80 19 0 23 9 8 216.1 140 88 185 80 72
Howerton Troy 4.19 102 3 0 13 5 3 129.0 123 54 121 66 60
Schulte Frank 2.50 12 12 0 8 1 0 82.2 70 46 58 28 23
Greenwood Ken 3.05 48 7 0 6 0 6 79.2 49 59 57 33 27
LaFever Greg 2.12 59 0 0 3 2 39 59.1 57 18 41 15 14
Brogan Jeff 7.42 14 0 0 2 2 10 13.1 10 15 16 11 11
- - 2.79 428 154 5 116 38 66 1400.01212 678 1060 498 434
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