Sept. 10: Marooned in second

With two weeks left in the season, the Wichita State Shockers have clinched the title.  With 115 wins and counting, nobody has been able to mount a challenge to the Shockers for months.   Over the last week, the Texas A&M Aggies won five in a row in a desperate scramble to prevent WSU from locking away the title--but the Aggies gained no ground as the Shockers won four in a row of their own.  Even so, the Ags made an impressive run--many questioned whether this team, which is the only one of these 10 that didn't even make it to Omaha, let alone win the CWS, deserved a ticket to the dance. A&M answered that question convincingly, as they are likely to break 100 wins, a total that this writer thought would easily be sufficient to top this very talented league.   Why did this squad have so much success, when other legendary CWS winners did not?

Byington leads the league

Who's Getting It Done:  Unlike many teams in this season, the Aggie offense rose to the challenge of facing the best pitching in college history.   The Aggies had the second best team batting average at .263, scored the second most runs, drew the third most walks, and tied for third in homers.   These totals reflect the balanced attack of the Ags, who are solid top to bottom in their order, unlike many offenses among these teams that have been led by one or two stars.  3B John Byington is leading the league in hitting at .326 while CF Kirk Thompson is 3rd with a .307 average and has 62 steals to lead the team.   2B Terry Taylor tops the team with 20 homers, although five other Aggies are also in double figures in that category.   Although not spectacular, the starting rotation has also been solid top to bottom, with Keith Langston (18-7, 2.82) emerging as the staff ace, and a bullpen tandem with Brent Gilbert (19-4, 1.96) setting up and Scott Centala (8-2, 1.80, 37 SV) might be the league's best. 

Who's Not:  The Aggies were probably hoping for a bit more from SS Chuck Knoblauch (.267, 14 HR, 77 RBI), who has been slumping since the All-Star break.  C Eric Albright's .211 batting average is 115 points below his 1989 numbers.   Overall, the pitching staff has been middle-of-the-pack, and a more dominating performance from #1 starter Pat Sweet (14-11, 3.41) might have put the Aggies in a better position to overtake the Shockers.  And, at times the #5 slot in the starting rotation has proved to be an adventure.  Nonetheless, these are relatively small flaws in a remarkably successful season, a season that proves to this writer that the 1989 Texas A&M Aggies deserve to be included in any discussion of the best college baseball team of all time.

Texas A&M Aggies **Team Batting Stats**

Last           First     AVE   G    AB   SO   BB   H    2B   3B   HR   R    RBI  SB   E   

Thompson       Kirk      .307  149  632  97   82   194  18   11   0    100  37   62   6   

Taylor         Terry     .269  149  614  191  85   165  25   7    20   101  68   15   18  

Knoblauch      Chuck     .267  149  599  80   89   160  21   8    14   96   77   53   35  

Byington       John      .326  149  589  95   77   192  43   8    17   97   130  38   19  

Albright       Eric      .211  149  582  193  70   123  18   10   19   76   93   20   3   

Duke           Andy      .246  149  565  163  67   139  23   3    12   67   86   17   14  

Neumann        Jim       .223  149  552  88   46   123  16   12   16   64   93   0    17  

Easley         Mike      .256  149  539  99   77   138  22   4    6    68   56   22   6   

Witte          Trey      .276  113  421  173  28   116  20   1    0    47   31   12   0   

Williams       Travis    .194  36   129  39   6    25   8    0    0    9    8    1    0   

-              -         .263  1828 5222 1218 627  1375 214  64   104  725  679  240  123 

Texas A&M Aggies **Team Pitching Stats**

Last           First     ERA   G    GS   CG   W    L    SV   IP    SO   BB   H    R    ER  

Sweet          Pat       3.41  35   35   2    14   11   0    253.2 134  69   257  114  96  

Langston       Keith     2.82  33   33   0    18   7    0    233.0 152  97   181  80   73  

Allen          Ronnie    2.85  31   31   0    14   6    0    211.1 146  69   197  76   67  

Herrman        Tim       3.33  20   20   0    8    8    0    135.1 110  43   122  59   50  

Gilbert        Brent     1.96  77   10   0    19   4    1    128.1 69   97   70   30   28  

DeLaCruz       Anthony   3.93  120  0    0    1    1    2    107.2 104  63   84   48   47  

Hughes         Steve     2.95  71   0    0    6    4    3    79.1  53   20   72   33   26  

Centala        Scott     1.80  68   0    0    8    2    37   70.0  75   29   38   18   14  

Lawrence       Sean      1.80  10   10   0    6    2    0    70.0  77   32   51   18   14  

Pryor          Randy     10.43 8    8    0    1    6    0    33.2  40   59   50   55   39  

Freudenberg    Kerry     1.38  12   0    0    0    1    10   13.0  17   6    11   5    2   

Jones          Jeff      11.91 2    2    0    0    2    0    11.1  13   20   13   15   15  

-              -         3.15  487  149  2    95   54   53   1346.2990  604  1146 551  471 

College Greats League Standings

Year      Team                     W    L    PCT   GB   L10  STRK 

1982      Wichita State Shockers   115  35   .767  -    7-3  W4   

1989      Texas A&M Aggies         95   54   .638  19.5 7-3  W5   

1983      Texas Longhorns          78   71   .523  36.5 4-6  W1   

2001      Miami Hurricanes         73   76   .490  41.5 6-4  L2   

1967      Arizona State Sun Devils 72   77   .483  42.5 4-6  L4   

1997      LSU Tigers               67   81   .453  47.0 6-4  L1   

1995      Cal State Fullerton Titan67   84   .444  48.5 4-6  W1   

1985      Miss State Bulldogs      61   87   .412  53.0 6-4  L1   

1971      USC Trojans              60   88   .405  54.0 2-8  W1   

1985      Oklahoma State Cowboys   58   93   .384  57.5 3-7  L1