News & Notes
I know there are a lot of Longhorn baseball fans out there without easy access to news about the Horns so I created this page as a catchall for miscellaneous news about the team. I generally update it any time I hear something about anyone affiliated with the team (both current and past teams). The most recent news will always be at the top of the page. If you have any news you'd like to contribute to this page, drop me a line and I'll do my best to include it (be sure to let me know if you want attribution or not).
- June 15, 1998 - Langerhans news
- Ryan Langerhans, lhp/1b recruit from Round Rock and 3rd round
pick of the Braves in this year's MLB
Amateur Draft, has signed with the Braves and will not be attending
UT. It's too bad. I saw an interview with his father on the news a
few weeks ago and it sounded like they were quite excited at the
prospect of Ryan coming to UT.
- June 13, 1998 - 1998-99 signees
- Several people have written lately asking about signees for next
year's team so here you go...the latest list of signees for the
1998-99 season [name, position (hometown or junior college)]:
- Sam Anderson, c (Navarro JC in Corsicana, TX)
- Robby Baker, rhp (Blinn JC in Brenham, TX)
- Matt Belisle, rhp (Austin, TX)
- Ryan France, rhp/of (Round Rock, TX)
- Kevin Frizzell, 3b/rhp (Round Rock, TX)
- Chris Houser, ss (Navarro JC in Corsicana, TX)
- Dane Hutchens, rhp (McClennan CC in Waco, TX)
- D. J. Jones, lhp (Navarro JC in Corsicana, TX)
- Ryan Langerhans, lhp/1b (Round Rock, TX)
- Dax Leone, p (Seminole State College in Shawnee, OK)
- Brandon Natale, c (The Woodlands, TX)
- Jeff Ontiveros, c (Round Rock, TX)
- Mike Pumo, cf, (Navarro JC in Corsicana, TX)
- Brian Snapp, p (Cypress College in Cypress, CA)
- Justin Welch, inf (Seminole State College in Shawnee, OK)
- Steve Woodward, of/1b (Fresno City College in Fresno, CA) - June 5, 1998 - Cridland signing news
- I forgot to note that Mark Cridland (who was drafted by the
Brewers last year) signed with the team
last month making him ineligible for this year's draft. I believe he's
been assigned to their A farm club in Wisconsin.
- June 3, 1998 - 1998 MLB Draft
- Curt Kautsch was the only Longhorn on the current roster
drafted in the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft. Two recruits, Matt
Belisle and Ryan Langerhans, were also drafted. To get
more info or to see a summary of players drafted with ties to UT, the
Big 12, the SWC, or Austin, please check out my
1998 Draft Summary Page.
- May 2, 1998 - Belisle news
- I received an email note this afternoon saying Matt Belisle
of Austin McCallum (recruit for next season) will have knee surgery on
Monday (May 6th). He suffered a torn ACL in a game two weeks ago and
will rehab for 3-6 months.
- April 14, 1998 - Harkrider news
- During the radio broadcast of this evening's
game, one of the broadcasters announced that Tim Harkrider has
been forced into early retirement due to problems caused by arthritis.
He'd been in the Angels' farm system for the last few years. They didn't
say what Tim's up to these days, though.
- April 5, 1998 - Request for clarification
- Yesterday's game presented the most
peculiar play I've ever witnessed. In the 5th, McCullough hit a home run
over the lf fence. He then ran past the runner from 1b between first and
second bases and ended up crossing the plate ahead of the 1b runner. The
official scorer apparently ruled McCullough out on a fly to lf and didn't
count any rbi's. That doesn't jive with my reading of the rules, however.
The rulebook says with fewer than two outs, if a batter, while running
the bases after a home run outside the playing field, passes a preceding
runner, the batter is out; but all preceding runners score. In
addition, it says when a runner is called out for passing another
runner, the putout shall be credited to the fielder nearest the point of
passing. So, to my reading, McCullough should be credited with a
single since he reached 1b legally, the out should go to 1b (unassisted),
and McCullough should get two rbi's (since no mention is made of losing
credit for runs batted in). Anyone out there have additional insight on
how this should be scored? I'll be sure to summarize
all replies. Thanks.
- April 3, 1998 - Loeffler out for the rest of the season
- Brett Loeffler is out for the rest of the season with a torn
anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. No word on when he will
undergo reconstructive surgery.
- March 24, 1998 - Pitching rotation change and news of a Texas-ex
- In his post-game interview after last
night's game, Coach Garrido announced that he'll be changing the
pitching rotation a bit...moving Frank Halter to the closer
position and trying Curt Kautsch as a starter. He was happy
with Halter's performance last night and said he felt both players
would benefit from the change.
In other news, Carl McClosky who transferred to Sam Houston State earlier this year, pitched a no-hitter to Rice through 8-2/3 innings last night but ended up losing when Rice scored two unearned runs in the 9th. - February 22, 1998 - Loeffler out for the moment
- Left fielder Brett Loeffler strained some muscles in his
rib cage area (I believe it was during Friday afternoon's game against
LSU) and will be out for at least a few games. He played all of
Friday's game but only managed the first three innings of Saturday's
game before being forced out by the pain. He will be available for
pinch hitting duties but, according to Coach Garrido in today's
post-game radio interview, it is not the sort of injury that goes away
in a couple of days.
- February 19, 1998 - Team speed
- In response to a query (on a call-in radio show on KVET) about
whether last year's dismal team speed had been upgraded, Augie noted
that last year 3 of 20 position players could run the 60 in under 7
seconds. This year it is 16 out of 20. [Note: I received this message
via email yesterday but it was apparently sent on Feb. 2nd.]
- February 10, 1998 - Ex-Longhorn news
- There's a nice
article about Tim Meadows and how he's doing since t
ransferring to McLennan Community College on the Access Waco site.
- February 6, 1998 - 1st USC game postponed
- The 1st game of the USC series has been postponed due to rain and
will be played on February 7, 1998, as part of a double header.
Scheduled start time is 2:00 pm central time.
- January 31, 1998 - Alumni game rained out
- The 1998 Alumni game was called due to
rain and will not be rescheduled.
- January 27, 1998 - Alumni game time change
- The start time for the Alumni game on Saturday has been moved up
to 11:00 am...apparently due to the start time of the men's basketball
game against Oklahoma State.
- January 26, 1998 - Alumni game news
- According to the Statesman, the following players have
committed to play in the Alumni game on Saturday: Scott Bryant, Wylie
Campbell, Dennis Cook, Roman Escamilla, Todd Haney, Brooks Kieschnick,
Clint Koppe, Calvin Murray, Jason Layne, Scott Leon, Jake O'Dell, Danny
Peoples, Stephen Randolph, and Jay Vaught. Mark Petkovsek and Bruce
Ruffin are scheduled to appear but will not play.
- January 19, 1998 - Article links
- The Statesman has actually been writing about the baseball
team lately...and I've been neglectful in providing links. So, here
you go: an article about
Brooks
Kieschnick's hopes at Tampa Bay, an article discussing the new
youth movement,
and a more "in depth" look at
the players making
up the new infield.
- January 7, 1998 - Another departure
- Tim Meadows (c from Brenham HS) has decided to transfer to
McLennan Community College in Waco. "His decision to transfer was based
on Auggie's informing Tim, that despite his offensive performance this
fall, he would not expect to play much this year. Jason Cox and Shawn
Shumacher will be doing the catching for Texas this year. It is important
to Tim that he be able to play. McLennan wanted Tim all along and he will
catch and DH for the Highlanders this spring. As a family we wish the
Longhorn Baseball program the best. We will be following their progress
this spring." [Thanks to Tim's father Tracy Meadows for the news. I'm
sure the team will miss Tim. The enthusiasm he and his family showed
during the fall series was quite infectious.]
- January 6, 1998 - Barrett leaves UT
- Scott Barrett (lhp from Katy Mayde Creek HS in Houston) has
decided to transfer to a junior college (San Jacinto College in
Pasadena) for personal reasons. He worked out during fall drills at UT
and was expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation this
spring. He was drafted by the Astros in the
third round and turned down a $325K signing bonus to play for Texas.
[Info from Austin American-Statesman.]
- December 8, 1997 - Another recruit
- Matt Belisle (Austin McCallum HS), considered one of the top
five pitching recruits in the nation, has signed a letter of intent with
the Horns for the 1998-99 season. He earned all-state honers last
season after pitching McCallum to the state tournment. He played in the
prestigious all-star Area Code Games at San Diego last summer and was
selected as one of the event's top three pitchers. Belisle picked UT
after also considering Stanford and Miami. [Info from yesterday's
Statesman via my dad.]
- November 24, 1997 - More recruit news
- Texas completed the 1997 early signing period by signing Kevin
Frizzell (3b/rhp, Round Rock HS) on Thursday. See the
UT
press release for more info.
- November 20, 1997 - Belated recruit and MLB expansion draft news
- Recruits: Texas signed 6 players for the 1998-99 season last week.
Among them, Robby Baker (rhp, Round Rock Westwood HS and Blinn
JC), Ryan France (rhp/of, Round Rock Westwood HS), Chris
Houser (ss, Duncanville HS and Navarro JC), Ryan Langerhans
(lhp/1b, Round Rock HS), Jeff Ontiveros (c, Round Rock HS), and
Mike Pumo (cf, Austin Bowie HS and Navarro JC). See the UT
press releases for
Nov.
12th and
Nov.
14th for more info.
MLB expansion: Brooks Kieschnick was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the third round of Tuesday's MLB expansion draft. - November 7, 1997 - Working toward that degree
- It was great to hear this morning that several ex-Longhorns are
still in school (or have returned) as they work toward their degrees.
From last year's team: Clint Kiemstedt, Ryan Chappel,
and Patrick Walsh. And, from previous years: Wylie
Campbell, Roman Escamilla, Rodney Pedraza, and
Kirk Dressendorfer. I hear Pedraza and Dressendorfer have been
coming back as often as they can over the past six years to work on
their degrees. And, another note about last year's team: Seth
Spiker and Justin Lee (ugh...I still remember that fall out
in right field...ouch) are on medical scholarships and are still
attending classes at UT.
- November 5, 1997 - 1997 Season Awards
- 'Got a note in the mail today about Sunday's baseball awards for
the 1997 season. The 5 awards were voted on by the players. The team
captain and most valuable position player awards went to Kip
Harkrider. The teamate award, kind of a Mr. Hustle award, went to
Patrick Walsh. The most improved player award went to
Charlie Carter. And, Scott Dunn won the most valuable
pitcher award.
- October 31, 1997 - Young Texas baseball team has promise
- Read all about it in
yesterday's
column by Kirk Bohls from the Statesman.
- October 26, 1997 - 1997 Longhorn Fall World Series
- I managed to make it to the last game of the Fall World Series. It
was great fun. The white team won today's game by a score of
12-3 but lost the series 2 games to 1. I
posted the slim bit of news I could find in
the Statesman and Texan. Enjoy.
- October 23, 1997 - Hall of Honor
- Calvin Schiraldi has been voted into the 41st class of the
Longhorn Hall of Honor. He'll be inducted at a banquet on Friday, Nov.
14, and will be introduced prior to kickoff of the Texas-Kansas football
game the following day. A right-handed pitcher, Schiraldi was named MVP
of the 1983 College World Series, when he led the Longhorns to the
national title. He posted a 14-2 record that year to earn All-America
honors. Schiraldi went on to pitch in the major leagues from 1984-1992.
Today, he is head baseball coach at St. Michael's Academy in Austin.
[Info from the Longhorn Scoreboard.]
- October 12, 1997 - Fall Practice
- Fall practices are here and will run through October 26th.
Practices begin at 2:30 p.m. with scrimmages scheduled at 4:00 p.m. on
Monday through Friday. On Sundays, practice starts at 12:00 p.m. with
the scrimmage scheduled for 1:30 p.m. There are no practices scheduled
for Saturdays. The Fall World Series (3 games) takes place on October
23rd, 24th, and 26th. Start times for the Thursday and Friday games are
3:15 p.m. and the Sunday game is scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m. All
practices and scrimmages will be held at the Disch and are open to the
public. [Info from UT Athletic Department press release.]
- October 11, 1997 - Signee News
- Shawn Schumacher finished the Northeastern Collegiate
Baseball League season in a three-way tie for fifth in the league's
batting race at .336. The Knickerbockers were beaten by the Ithaca
Lakers in the league's championship game. The same two teams had the
same result last summer. Among Shawn's other league statistics: 40
games played (tied for 1st on team); 149 at-bats (tie 1st); 27 runs
(1st); 50 hits (tie 1st); six doubles; one triple; two home runs (tie
3rd); 21 runs batted in (4th); eight stolen bases (tie 3rd); five times
caught stealing (tie 1st); 13 walks (tie 5th); nine strikeouts; .389
on-base percentage (1st among qualifiers); .430 slugging percentage
(fourth among qualifiers); and three times hit by pitches (tie 2nd).
[Thanks once again to Jon Rathbun, Sports Editor of The Evening Times
in Little Falls, NY for the update.]
- September 18, 1997 - Recruit News
- Catcher Tim Meadows (from Brenham) has signed as a late
recruit in Coach Garrido's class of 22 freshman/transfers. The 6 foot,
200-pound freshman hit.385 this summer for the Colombus Angles. Fall
drills start Oct. 4. [Info from yesterday's Austin American-Statesman.]
- September 9, 1997 - Tailgate Party
- I've been told that the Wild Bunch (you know...those wacky folks
with the kazoos) are planning the tailgate party to end all tailgate
parties for the weekend LSU comes to town. So, start making your plans.
And, check back here 'cause I'll post more info as I get it.
- August 28, 1997 - Another Transfer
- Closer Eric French has transferred to Texas A&M and will not
lose any playing eligibility.
- August 27, 1997 - Letterman's Reunion and Golf Tourney
- Head coach Augie Garrido is making plans for a letterman's reunion and
golf tournament this fall. The event will be held in early November in
conjunction with the end of fall practice and the annual awards banquet.
[Info from the Longhorn Scoreboard.]
- August 9, 1997 - Who's Leaving...Who's Staying
- Joey Hart, Seth Spiker, and Charley Carter have all
decided to leave Texas. Hart will transfer to Grayson County College in
Denison, Spiker to Arkansas State, and Carter is expected to transfer to
Baylor. Brett Loeffler, Mark Cridland (drafted by the
Brewers in the 21st round of the amateur
draft), Chris Edelstein, Rad Weaver, Scott Dunn,
Brian Starcich and Matt Simpson are all returning. [Info
from the Austin American-Statesman.]
- July 10, 1997 - Signee News
- The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Panola Junior College catcher Shawn
Schumacher in the 18th round of this summer's amateur draft. He
presently intends to carry through with his transfer to Texas for his
junior season. Shawn has spent his summer with the Knickerbocker
Baseball Club of the NCAA-sanctioned Northeastern Collegiate Baseball
League. Playing with wooden bats in Little Falls, N.Y., Shawn has
batted .324 with 13 runs batted in through 28 games and he was selected
to play in the league's all-star game. He presently leads the team with
20 runs scored (through July 8) and his seven stolen bases are tied for
second on the squad. [Thanks to Jon Rathbun, Sports Editor of The
Evening Times in Little Falls, NY for the update.]
Joanna's Longhorn Baseball page |
Joanna L. Castillo
Email: joanna@joanna.org
URL: http://www.joanna.org/hook-em/news_98.html