UP14_21

UNIVERSITY PRESS FAU’s student magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2013 | VOL. 14 #21

SPECIAL ISSUE

BASEBALL PREVIEW

BATTER UP!

Sun Belt champion Owls baseball has played under the radar for decades, but remains the pinnacle program on campus READ US - upressonline.com LIKE US - facebook.com/universitypress FOLLOW US - @upressonline FIRST ISSUE IS FREE; EACH ADDITIONAL COPY IS 50 CENTS AND AVAILABLE IN THE UP NEWSROOM.

Blue Martini insists you drink responsibly

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Tuesday February 19, 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS FEBRUARY 19, 2013 | VOL. 14 #21

The Staff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Regina Kaza MANAGING EDITOR - Lulu Ramadan ART DIRECTOR - Chase Kennedy BUSINESS MANAGER - Michael Chandeck WEB EDITOR - John Kramer WEB DESIGNER - Phaedra Blaize WEB PHOTO EDITOR - Melissa Landolfa COPY DESK CHIEF - Emily Mitchell-Cetti SPORTS EDITOR - Rolando Rosa FEATURES EDITOR - Emily Bloch PHOTO EDITOR - Michelle Friswell SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS Christine Capozziello, Ryan Murphy COPY EDITORS Chris Hamann, Amanda Rubio SENIOR EDITOR - Ryan Cortes

6 PIMP MY STADIUM by Rolando Rosa A letter to Athletic Director Pat Chun, pleading for enhancements to FAU baseball’s antiquated stadium.

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER - Lore Khazem CONTRIBUTORS - Bryant Eng, Laura May Jockers, Zack Kelberman, Breanndolyn Lies, Kevin Mann, Claudith Saint-Jean

8 R.E.S.P.E.C.T. by Rolando Rosa and Zack Kelberman With no bathrooms and no grounds crew, FAU baseball does it all and still wins.

ADVISERS Dan Sweeney

16 2013 HOME SCHEDULE

Michael Koretzky

The upcoming home schedule for the defending Sun Belt champions.

Cover: Outfielder Geoff Jimenez and FAU baseball take the field to defend their 2012 Sun Belt Championship.

777 Glades Road Student Union, Room 214 Boca Raton, FL 33431 561.297.2960

18 FOLLOW THE LEADER by Zack Kelberman An inside look at FAU’s humble co-captain Mark Nelson.

22 PUT ME IN, COACH by Bryant Eng Pitcher Hugh Adams is healed from his shoulder injury and ready to dominate from FAU’s bullpen.

WANT TO PLACE AN AD?

26 RETURN OF THE MAC by Rolando Rosa

Contact Marc Litt 732.991.6353 mlitt705@gmail.com

Newly re-signed FAU baseball coach John McCormack sits down for a Q&A chat.

WANT TO JOIN THE UP?

28 PUT A RING ON IT by Zack Kelberman FAU baseball boasts gaudy championship rings designed by two former teammates.

email upress@fau.edu Staff meetings every Friday, 2:30 p.m. in the Student Union, Room 214

PUBLISHER FAU Student Government The opinions expressed by the UP are not necessarily those of the student body, Student Government or FAU.

SPECIAL ISSUE EDITOR Rolando Rosa

SPECIAL ISSUE PHOTOGRAPHER Michelle Friswell

SPECIAL ISSUE DESIGNER Phaedra Blaize

All photos by Michelle Friswell unless otherwise noted.

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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ED LETTER

PIMP MY STADIUM

An open letter to FAU’s athletic director — baseball needs new digs, now Dear Pat Chun, Owls baseball is in desperate need of your help. As the new man in charge of FAU athletics, it’s time to fire up that good ol’ Midwestern charm to woo potential donors. Because a team this great shouldn’t be playing in a stadium this deplorable.

Of the big three sports, Owls baseball is the only consistent winner at FAU. Football has four wins in its last 24 games. Basketball — 52-73 since Mike Jarvis took over — has been knocked out in the first round of the conference tournament the last four years.

Now witness baseball’s greatness: • They haven’t had a losing season since 1998.

• They’ve won two Sun Belt Conference titles the last three years.

• They’re being picked by Baseball America and the Sun Belt coaches poll to repeat as champs.

However, the lack of a grounds crew during game days turns them into punished kids on a Saturday morning.

Mow the lawn, championship coach John McCormack.

Rake the field, Sun Belt pre-season first teamer Mark Nelson.

Pull out the tattered tarp, ace relief pitcher Hugh Adams.

I’m sure it’ll be a difficult task to find the funds to hire an adequate crew right away. This is FAU, not your alma mater Ohio State. The operating budget for the two universities are polar opposites ($130 million at Ohio State, $19 million here).

“I can’t look into our crystal ball,” you said, of when changes can be made. “But we recognize the fact that a lot of programs — baseball included — need facility upgrades.”

Restrooms should be at the top of the list. The stadium has zero porcelain thrones for the Kings of Campus.

We should at least be able to afford bathrooms, Pat. It absolutely baffles me that a stadium, in the year 2013, operates without bathrooms. Port-a-Potties are not an acceptable substitute.

The day I’m caught in a Port-a-Potty is the day I blast a home run to center field.

In other words, never.

“Great coaches, great student athletes. It’s one of our top programs that we have,” you said. “We’re proud of John and the athletes. It’s all positive with the baseball program.”

On the field, that’s absolutely true, but off it? Couldn’t be further from reality.

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

I realize you haven’t been to a ballgame in Boca yet, but just passing by this pathetic, decrepit excuse for a “Division I” baseball stadium on the way to the office should conjure instant shame. It should compel you to turn a dump (both literally and figuratively, since racoons bypass the Port-a-Potties and make themselves at home) into a pristine palace that both the team and the community takes pride in.

A college baseball powerhouse with the historical pedigree of the Owls deserves much better. The playing surface and palm trees are beautiful, but the seating is substandard. The hill is a nice little quirk, yet there should be seats not only behind the plate, but along the foul lines, too.

Former Owls head baseball coach Kevin Cooney still uses every opportunity possible to bash former AD Craig Angelos, who didn’t care about the product on the field. Angelos was a key figure behind a football stadium being built for a perennial loser.

“Certainly football changed the dynamic for everybody at the university. There were sacrifices made by a lot of programs. They did not get to grow as they would’ve,” Cooney said. “Football may have stifled the effort for other programs, including baseball, to grow.”

Despite this, your head baseball coach has done commendably well in his first four years at the helm. Heading into his final Sun Belt season before the Conference USA shift, McCormack touts a .580 winning percentage. Last season, his relief pitcher RJ Alvarez was the highest drafted Owl (114th pick) since Jeff Fiorentino (79th) in 2004.

“Coach McCormack is doing a really good job. He’s doing it with mirrors, to be very honest,” Cooney said. “He’s got nothing special other than whatever his players and coaching staff are providing him with.”

It’s time to offer him more: a palace.

ROLANDO ROSA

Special Issue Editor

Study Abroad this Summer through FAU

The FAU Office of International Programs has space available on several unique FAU faculty led Study Abroad Programs for summer 2013. FAU students in good standing and with an overall GPA of 2.5 are eligible to apply Financial aid can be used.

Costs and credits vary per program.

Summer Term I Ocean and Mechanical Engineering Rome, Italy June 7-July 6, 2013

Summer Term III

Summer Term II

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Marine Sciences Bahamas, Island of Eleuthera July 14-July 21, 2013

How to Apply/contact OIP: • • •

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Owls’ shortstop Mitch Morales and the team are in charge of maintaining the field during rain delays. The players can be raking the lawn and outfield, putting on and taking off the tarp, and drying the grass.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. FAU baseball is the best program on campus, yet it’s treated like second-rate chumps

BY ROLANDO ROSA AND ZACK KELBERMAN Whether it’s past or present, under former coach Kevin Cooney or current coach John McCormack, FAU baseball has always been undervalued.

Cooney was the Owls’ baseball coach for 21 years. That gives him the required perspective to put the program’s dire situation in context. After a school-record 748 wins at FAU, he resigned in 2008 after believing the administration wasn’t doing enough for the baseball program to remain competitive.

“Having the feeling that you were asking a lot out of your players,” Cooney said,

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

when asked about the hardest part of being FAU’s coach. “Asking for them to believe in what you were doing and sacrificing a lot of creature comforts just to have a really good program. Never really able to kindle or spark the administration or the fanbase.”

The very same stadium he personally helped build in 1991 has seen few renovations done in the past couple decades. From sweeping the mound, to repainting old windscreens, to lawn upkeep, the upgrades have all been a result of Cooney’s sweat and effort.

There are still no bathrooms for players or coaches to use — compared to 21 of

them in FAU’s football stadium — which is a leaky situation for all involved. With no restrooms, Cooney was forced to urinate underneath the grandstand.

“I’d go there, close the gate, get right up against the wall, and hope no one walking down the stairs would look down and inadvertently see the coach of the team going to the bathroom,” Cooney said.

One season, Cooney even risked his life for the underappreciated program.

“I know my hands have touched every single part of that stadium,” Cooney said. “I remember one opening day, I was standing where the press box is and I’m having a couple of my players holding onto my leg as I put the flag, I’m thinking, ‘Jeez, I could get killed doing this.’”

The in-game experience for fans was comparable to bush league standards.

“The concession is less than a high school situation, having a trailer pulled in and selling out of it,” Cooney said. “Are you kidding me? This is Division I baseball.”

In the meantime, no other FAU sport

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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has to deal with the same treatment while preparing for games, including dragging equipment out onto the field before practice.

“By comparison, when basketball practice ends, you take the ball and put it away,” Cooney said. “You ever see basketball players sweep the floor? I don’t think so.”

It turns out not much — if anything — has changed since Cooney’s tenure.

In fact, it’s gotten worse.

At the beginning of last season, the team had just completed a three-game road sweep of SEC opponent Alabama. Outfielder Alex Hudak, now with the Kansas City Royals, led the way, blasting four home runs in the set.

The players were on a high, basking in the glow of their accomplishments.

Four months later, they’d be dog-piling

baseball career.

“No, and I probably never will,” Hudak said. “I wish I would, because even though it was an amazing inconvenience, we did something that no one ever does.”

Same goes for his former teammate, close friend, and current Washington National Mike Albaladejo, whom he’d met years ago in Orlando as high school competitors.

“Absolutely not have I experienced something like that,” added Albaladejo.

“That was a funny bus ride because we just had a great three-game sweep against Alabama. We were expecting to have a nice cruise back to FAU. All the sudden we turn off on the side of the road and we’re like, ‘What is going on?’”

The team got back safely — at 8:45 a.m. the following day — but they returned home to the same problems.

Last season former FAU second baseman and catcher Mike Albaladejo (left) and former FAU outfielder Alex Hudak (right) both helped the team clinch the regular season Sun Belt championship. Albaladejo led the team in hits (76) and runs (43), Hudak had 5 home runs.

“The fact of only playing one game against Arkansas State when we had three planned,” Jimenez said. “It rained the whole weekend.

We had to get the field ready, and literally as a whole team we were out there blowdrying the grass, raking everything, just to get the game in so we can play them once.”

Jimenez was the only current player willing to speak out against the injustice. He keeps an optimistic viewpoint, but admitted the extra responsibilities are frustrating.

“Some of the big programs have people that do [maintain the stadium],” Jimenez said. “The fact that we were out there before a game, trying as hard as we can just to get a single game in … yeah, you think about it a little.”

Aside from the cosmetic work on the field, the players are also tasked with pulling out the ragged tarp — which is filled with holes and other wear and tear — during one of Florida’s frequent rain showers.

Through all the trials and tribulations, however, Owls baseball has sustained continual success.

Baseball makes the most out of the very little they’re given to work with. There’s

“

I EQUATE [THE DISTRIBUTION OF MONEY] TO OVERFEEDING SOME PARTS OF YOUR FAMILY, AND OTHERS ARE STARVING. IT WAS TERRIBLE.

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

“

Corey Keller for his walk-off hit against FIU to win the Sun Belt Conference.

But, at that moment, they were dealing with roadside self-service due to the team bus, on its way to the airport in Atlanta, overheating.

Filling jugs of water into the radiator along with the bus driver, other players, and coaching staff. Missing the team plane back to Florida.

It was a first time occurrence for multiple members of the squad.

Hudak played over 90 games in his two seasons at FAU, and he never recalled dealing with such an inconvenience in his entire

FORMER HEAD COACH KEVIN COONEY

The team is still doing more than they should, perhaps more than any other championship-caliber baseball program in Florida.

Before a game, you can often catch various members of the club out on the field, toiling with rakes and blow dryers. The double duty effort comes in place of a groundskeeping crew, which FAU has long lacked.

Outfielder Geoff Jimenez shared his most interesting moment from last season, and it involved manual labor.

a vast discrepancy between the allotted money received annually between baseball ($283,827) and football ($1,631,598.22).

Despite this fact, FAU baseball has had just one losing season in the past 14 years.

Meanwhile, the football program has two winning seasons since joining the D-1 ranks in 2005.

With a seat capacity of just over 2,000, Owls baseball has never hosted a conference

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Due to rain, FAU was only able to play Arkansas State once during a three-game series at the end of last April. The Owls won the lone game of the set 6-2.

tournament or NCAA regional, a disturbing situation for a proud champion that’s made it to seven NCAA regionals since 1999.

“In my four years, we had two great teams,” Albaladejo said. “We won two Sun Belt championships, and it was kind of sucky to know we were a great team on campus that never got to host a big game like that.”

Owls baseball has won the Sun Belt Conference title two of the last three years.

After last season, five players (Hudak, Albaladejo, RJ Alvarez, Kyle Newton, and Ryan Garton) were picked up by MLB

COONEY’S CORNER

franchises.

Owls football, in contrast, has a combined 13 wins in the last 60 games.

Still, winning hasn’t altered an apathetic baseball fanbase in Boca.

“When you put a championship-caliber team on the field like the baseball team does every year, just to fight for recognition, it’s tough,” Hudak said.

The football team has a dismal 58-76 record since its inception in 2001, yet it’s baseball that has been twisting in the wind. And the inequality between the funding of baseball versus football doesn’t sit well with the old ball coach.

When Kevin Cooney took over as FAU coach in 1988, he bettered an already successful program.

‘Debacle’ may be putting it kindly. Before their flight out of Fort Lauderdale, another fight broke

maintained its winning ways.

out on the bus over someone sitting in someone

trip he and his team took to the Trans America Conference tournament in 1997.

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

“This whole trip was a debacle to begin with,” Cooney remarked.

helped garner more attention for the sport and

make even the Bad News Bears blush, such as the

Photo courtesy of media relations

With the season just underway, the focus is strictly on the field.

“Our job is to do well in school and win baseball games,” Owls head coach John

Replacing longtime coach Steve Traylor, Cooney

But he also dealt with experiences that would

Former head coach Kevin Cooney

“No one felt that we were [funded and marketed adequately],” Cooney said. “There’s limited dollars, and initially the bulk of money the AD had to spend went to basketball, men’s and women’s. In terms of everything, it was them. Whatever was leftover got doled out to the other programs. To me, that wasn’t fair. I equate [the distribution of money] to overfeeding some parts of your family, and others are starving. It was terrible.”

else’s seat.

“Two fights in two hours before a big game,” Cooney said.

Once they landed in North Carolina, Cooney

Prior to that play-in conference game against

and his coaches found out one player had stolen

Campbell, two of his players nearly came to blows

Gatorade hidden in his bag, and another player

in the dugout, leading to Cooney disallowing one

upset the locals by cursing excessively. Later, at the

player to travel with the team.

team hotel, Cooney, while reading a book in his

It would get worse, however.

room, was alerted of another incident.

McCormack said. “The rest of it will take care of itself.”

McCormack, who’s been a part of the program since 1991, is hopeful that a new athletics director will translate to better facilities for his squad.

“We all have visions of renovations. The university — Pat Chun (athletic director) and Melissa Dawson (senior associate athletic director) — all understand what we need to get to. We have to be patient that there is a timeline on that,” McCormack said. “Do I envision a beautiful stadium there, like some of our competitors have? Yeah, I would love to have it and make things easier on the players and coaching staff. But there’s not and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Chun refused to put a definite timetable on the process, but understands the importance of enhancing the resources for baseball.

“We need to get them a viable, D-1 baseball stadium. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about that,” Chun said. “That is in our thoughts right now. We recognize the fact that we need to find a way to improve their playing facility and cages and all that.”

In his antique shop in Tennessee, Cooney still can’t help but daydream about better times ahead for his former program of “redheaded step children,” as he once called them. He thinks the already-talented team could gain even more promising recruits in the future if FAU gets serious about baseball.

“Someone comes in and says, ‘You know what, here’s $8 million, build yourself a

“‘Coach, there’s a player exposing himself on the balcony,’” Cooney said of the call he received by the hotel staff.

stadium.’ The ideal scenario would be to be able to put in what’s in the best interest of the baseball program and not have the players suffer as a result,” Cooney said.

“This is a nice little town where people

should love baseball, and take in a game at FAU that’s in a stadium that has the proper amenities. If you can put your players in the right facility, you can get better players.”

Owls’ shortstop Mitch Morales was one of many important players last season.

He assisted the team with 41 hits.

squads produced on the field.

Cooney, however, gave a detailed, first-hand account of how lackluster the working conditions really are.

with the sun, the balls are wet and it’s an impossible situation,” Cooney said. “Pitchers can’t throw if it rains because the mounds get wet. In the right situation,

Cooney had enough. It was time to put his foot

“Our players have a very small locker room. It’s

down. His punishment of choice was unorthodox,

like a gauntlet. As a coach, sometimes it was difficult

consisting of the insubordinate players writing

to walk through there,” Cooney said. “There’s really

The 34 game home winning streak (a then NCAA

compositions instead of the usual pushups or sprints.

no privacy. You could be in that dugout and have a

record), and the rise to No. 9 in the nation in 1999,

It seemed to get the point across.

‘come to Jesus’ meeting with that team and everyone

was all in vain.

“One kid told me, ‘This is the stupidest punishment

is standing around that dugout and hear every word

I’ve ever heard of!’ and all that,” Cooney remembered.

that’s being said.”

they’d be enclosed and air conditioned, so you don’t have to be filthy and sweaty.”

“No matter what attempt we made, we never gathered the interest of the people in the area or the

“So I asked him, ‘You’re pretty upset about them, aren’t

Cooney has suggestions for rectifying the facilities.

support from the administration at any time,” Cooney

you?’ and he said, ‘Yeah,’ so I shot back, ‘Well, I guess it

It all starts from the inside out — the archaic batting

said. “I always got the feeling our players, especially

worked then, huh?’”

cages.

when they became alumni, were being short-changed.

There aren’t many coaches who’d go this route with

“There’s no roof to keep you out of the rain,

their players, but you can’t argue the results Cooney’s

so when the rains come in the early fall, combined

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

They did their part, [but] unfortunately it didn’t translate into the support you want to see.”

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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ROSTER CF

Nathan Pittman

Pitchers:

LF

Tyler Rocklein

#1

Austin Gomber

RF

Corey Keller

#2

Jake Meiers

DH

Levi Meyer

#3

Jeremy Strawn

1B

Mark Nelson

2B

Robert Buckley

Closer:

3B

Ricky Santiago

Hugh Adams

SS

Mitch Morales

Owls catcher Mike Spano and the rest of his teammates will begin defending their Sun Belt title on Feb. 15 in a three-game home series against Cincinnati.

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2013 HOME SCHEDULE UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

2/16 2/16 2/17 2/20 2/22 2/23 2/24 2/26 3/08 3/09 3/10 3/12

vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Miami Alabama Alabama Alabama Florida Gulf Coast Toledo Toledo Toledo Maine

12:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

12:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

3/13 3/15 3/16 3/17 3/29 3/30 3/31 4/12 4/13 4/14 4/26 4/27 4/28 5/03 5/04 5/05 5/14

vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

Maine FIU FIU FIU South Alabama South Alabama South Alabama Middle Tennessee MIddle Tennessee Middle Tennessee Troy Troy Troy Arkansas - Little Rock Arkansas - Little Rock Arkansas - Little Rock UCF

6:30 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

12:00 p.m.

12:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m.

4: 00 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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FAU infielder Mark Nelson committed just five errors in 54 games at first base.

ON THE MARK Last season, en route to winning the Sun Belt

FOLLOW THE LEADER

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title, Nelson totaled solid stats in nearly all of the 54 games he started and played in.

Posting a .290 batting average, Nelson had 61 hits (including 12 doubles), seven home runs, 45 runs batted in (RBIs), and a .448 slugging

Mark Nelson is one of FAU’s most talented — yet quiet — baseball players

percentage.

BY ZACK KELBERMAN

Belt games. He was one of three players on the

Mark Nelson embodies what it means to speak softly and carry a big stick.

Figuratively and literally.

The Owls infielder and co-captain was a key cog in FAU winning the Sun Belt Conference last season.

But Nelson is not your typical rah-rah sort of leader. He lets his actions speak for him, a trait he’s possessed for quite a while.

“I’ve recently stepped up a little bit vocally,” Nelson said. “But for the most UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Nelson was clutch in conference contests, recording 35 of his team-leading 45 RBIs in Sun team to hit at least seven homers, and his 12

part, my life has always been led by example.”

And it’s led to a great deal of his success.

FAU has won the conference title in two out of the last three seasons that Nelson, a senior, has been a part of the squad. His younger, less-traveled teammates look to him for support.

“The seniors like Nelson, they’ve been through it,” sophomore pitcher Austin Gomber said. “Those guys were here

doubles were the Owls’ second-most.

In FAU’s three-game sweep of FIU last March, Nelson hit three home runs knocked in 11 RBIs, and was voted the Sun Belt’s Player of the Week.

Heading into this season, Nelson’s recognition has already begun. He was named a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection, something he takes pride in.

“It’s a great honor,” Nelson said. “I’m happy about it. It’s a good goal to reach for.”

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when they went to regionals in 2010. That’s what we want to do. We lean on the guys with experience and that know what it takes to get where we want to go.”

Even the more accomplished players hold a great deal of respect for Nelson. Alex Hudak, who’s currently with the Kansas City Royals, has known Nelson for around seven years and still raves about him.

“What’s so great about Mark is he’s just a character,” said Hudak, who played the last two seasons at FAU. “He’s got a sense of humor, but he never lets it get in the way of how hard he works. He’ll crack a joke or keep you on your toes, but he’s always out there working hard. That’s what makes him a great player. His intangibles as a person are something you can’t teach. He’s a great dude.”

Baseball has been ingrained in Nelson for as long as he can remember. He tried out other sports, but almost immediately fell in love with his bat and glove.

“I always played other sports, but I wasn’t as good,” Nelson recalled. “There wasn’t much competition between other sports and baseball. I knew when I was a little kid that baseball was for me.”

Growing up, his idols were Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark Grace, each for different reasons.

“When I played outfield, I was a big Griffey guy,” Nelson said. “Throughout my whole life, I was a huge Grace fan, especially since I’m a Cubs fan and now play first base.”

But there’s one less famous idol who Nelson always aspired to become: his big brother, Brian, whom he credits with breaking him into baseball.

“My brother’s always played,” Nelson said.

“He’s about three years older than me. I’ve always pushed myself to be as good as him and his friends. That’s definitely helped out, playing against the older kids when I was younger.”

Brian Nelson played high school and college baseball, the latter at the University of West Florida as shortstop. As an older

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Owls infielder Mark Nelson led the Sun Belt last season with 35 runs. brother, he knew Nelson was destined to follow in his footsteps.

“Mark’s always been very competitive,” Brian Nelson said. “When we were kids, he wanted to beat me at everything. Video games, wiffleball, stuff like that. We’d be out in the street and he’d challenge me and my friends.”

Both Brian and Mark were brought up in a baseball household and baseball-heavy region of Orlando, so it was no surprise they ended up gravitating toward the sport. Still, Brian is proud of his younger sibling for all that he’s accomplished at FAU. “Extremely proud,” Brian Nelson exclaimed. “That goes for everyone in our family.”

Although he’s a good player and a quiet leader, Nelson can be an excellent practical jokester as well.

Outfielder Corey Keller can recall two pranks in particular.

“One time [at the team hotel], they got

these water guns. A few of us were trying to just relax in our rooms, and they’re spraying us with water guns. [Nelson’s] filling up this huge jug of water for his gun and we opened our door and it came pouring into this room.

It kind of pissed me off.”

“There was another time when I was sleeping in the pullout bed,” Keller said. “I accidentally left the door a little cracked and Mark came in and flipped over the bed. I actually got folded in half. He likes to be a jokester. I’m going to get him back this year.”

The ribbing goes both ways, however.

Nelson’s teammates — past and present — don’t hold back from poking fun at his stature.

Standing at 6-foot-2, Nelson now weighs 200 pounds due to making the transition from outfield to first base. But there was a time when his frame was much scrawnier, as recounted by former teammate and longtime friend Mike Albaladejo.

“The first time I saw him in high school, he was the same size, but literally a buck fifty [150 pounds]. I’m talking about just like a pencil,” Albaladejo said with a laugh.

“But to see him now and the player he’s developed into, a first baseman that’s about 200 pounds, it’s just a complete 180. I tell him all the time, like, ‘Golly, you were 150 soaking wet, what happened?’”

The extra mass has given his teammates more ammunition to work with.

“We’re always making jokes with Mark in the locker room that he’s got a big belly, so we always point it out and laugh about it with him,” outfielder Geoff Jimenez said.

Much like his abilities on the field, Nelson takes the jokes in stride, displaying a humble nature that is quickly spreading throughout the team.

Nelson will never tout his own accomplishments or make much — if any — ruckus. And his teammates wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Mark is the man,” infielder Mitch Morales said succinctly. “He’s just a great guy.”

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Prior to his shoulder injury, Owls’ reliever Hugh Adams was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association 2012 Stopper of the Year watchlist.

“CLOSE” ENCOUNTERS Hugh Adams’ career stats at FAU...

2008-09 season: 23 innings pitched, 3-2 record, 6.26 earned run average (ERA), 17 strikeouts, three saved games.

2009-10 season: 39.1 innings pitched, 6-1 record, 7.09 ERA, 23 strikeouts.

PUT ME IN,COACH

After missing all of last season due to a shoulder injury, pitcher Hugh Adams is ready to play again

BY BRYANT ENG Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 225 pounds, Hugh Adams has the archetypical build of a pitcher. Spend 10 minutes talking to Adams and you’ll find out exactly why he is slated to be the Owls closer this coming season.

The cool, calm, and collected 22 year old is as stoic as a gargoyle. Adams never appears dejected or exuberant in person, in the classroom, and especially not on the mound.

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Adams — co-captain of the Owls baseball team — was the first team allcentral region selection after leading the Sun Belt Conference with 10 saves. But during the Owls’ final game of the 2012 season, all the pitcher could do was sit on the sidelines as his team overcame a series of obstacles — including using a pitcher as an outfielder — and reached the Sun Belt Conference championships.

Adams was forced to medically

2010-11 season: 36.2 innings pitched, 0-1 record, 3.44 ERA, 29 strikeouts, 10 saved games.

2011-12 season: Did not play due to shoulder injury.

redshirt the 2012 season following surgery on his throwing arm. Bones in Adams’ shoulder were not allowing for his ligaments to move correctly. In order to repair the ailment, the bone needed to be shaved down.

The rehabilitation process was slow and ineffective, due to an impingement in Hugh’s back caused by a muscular imbalance.

“There were times when I couldn’t throw 60 feet,” Adams said.

In a last ditch effort to save his career, Adams decided to seek a second medical opinion.

He visited Dr. John Patterson in Waco, Texas. Known as the “Warlock

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”We have had guys going [to play for Big Train] for 11, 12 years,” McCormack said.

McCormack believes that Adams’ experience playing for Big Train helped mold him into the type of player that exemplifies the values of Owls baseball.

“Hugh has known and been around the type of players that we’ve had for a long time,” McCormack said. “He cares about FAU and he wants to see us do well. His ability to put FAU first is an unbelievable asset.”

of Waco,” Patterson has treated baseball legend John Smoltz, former NBA star Tracy McGrady, and retired NFL receiver Terrell Owens.

Sure enough, Patterson fixed Adams, too.

“When I left for Waco, I couldn’t throw,” Adams said. “When I got back, I could throw 120 feet.”

The treatment Adams received was nothing short of miraculous, and the senior is now poised to return to pitching for the Owls.

“Hugh is the man. Plain and simple, he’s the man,” Owls infielder Mitch Morales said. “He’s definitely a leader on the team and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.”

Unlike his son, Bruce Adams never had the luxury of playing baseball. As a child, his eyesight was so poor that he was unable to see or track a fast moving baseball.

Unable to play, Hugh Adams’ father developed a passion for the sport as a fan.

But when Hugh Adams was just 5 years old, his father took the entire family on a tour of every major ballpark in the country.

“It was [Hugh’s] dream come true to spend the whole summer going to baseball parks,” sister Emily Adams said. “We had a blast.”

On at least one occasion, Hugh and his family’s visits to America’s greatest ballparks ended in a visit to the hospital.

Emily Adams recalls a frightening moment at Zephyrs Stadium in New Orleans.

“Hugh and I were just walking on the concourse,” she said. “And a foul ball clocked him in the head.”

Hugh hit the ground hard and was taken to the hospital to be treated.

That summer seemed to galvanize Adams’ passion for baseball. A year later, on his sixth birthday, Adams received catcher gear as a gift, and Emily and Hugh’s mother would

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“He just keeps everyone level-headed in the dugout,” Owls shortstop Mitch Morales said of Hugh Adams (pictured). “Being a leader, he keeps everyone’s head right.”

often find Hugh asleep at night wearing his entire ensemble of catching equipment.

However, it wasn’t long before the 6 year old ditched the catcher gear for a pitcher’s mitt.

As a 16 year old, he became the youngest player to ever compete in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League when he debuted for the Bethesda Big Train Baseball Club, which his father helped found in 1999.

Adams began his career with the club as a bat boy during its inaugural 1999 season, but in seven years as a player, Adams posted a stellar 1.72 ERA. The Bethesda Big Train recently had his number 40 retired.

Not coincidentally, Adams was recruited

to FAU while playing for Bethesda Big

Train; Owls head coach John McCormack has a long running relationship with the baseball club.

Four years later, Adams is entering his final season of collegiate baseball. Adams, as humble as they come, wouldn’t even admit that he might help the Owls improve.

“They obviously didn’t need me [last season],” Adams said. “They weren’t missing me last year.”

Adams, a public management major, understands that his career as a pitcher is likely over, but wouldn’t concede that a future in baseball was out of the question. Adams dreams of following in his father’s footsteps and pursuing a career in the nonprofit sector.

Hugh’s father runs several sports related nonprofit organizations, including Field of Dreams, an organization that focuses on helping underprivileged youths improve their reading skills and learn the game of baseball.

For now, Adams is focused on this upcoming season, not the future. Adams believes he is fully recovered from the injury that ended his 2012 season before it began. He says that he doesn’t have the velocity that he once commanded, but that he “works off movement, so [he] is not that worried about the whole 90 [mph] thing that everyone is.”

The right-hander’s devastating sinker ball and knee-buckling slider are still in his arsenal for this upcoming season. In perhaps a rare glimpse of arrogance, Adams cracked a smile about being prepared for opening day.

“I’ll be ready,” Adams said.

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FAU

Photos courtesy of media relations

Head coach John McCormack has been a part of the baseball program since 1991.

Return of the Mac

BY ROLANDO ROSA

Q: Your team overcame a lot of obstacles to regain the Sun Belt title. How fortunate do you feel about how the season ended up?

“Winning another championship is always good. We had some bad luck with the weather. We were probably about two or three wins away from getting into a Regional. But the guys did an unbelievable job last year. At one point we’re down to eight positional players. We have a pitcher playing left field. And of course the pitching. Kevin [Alexander] was coming off of arm surgery. Hugh [Adams] was out. So we pieced it together. The guys kept fighting and we were fortunate enough to win.”

For the past four seasons, Owls baseball coach John McCormack has presided over the most successful program on campus. McCormack’s squad has won the Sun Belt regular season championship in two of the past three seasons.

McCormack started his FAU career in 1991 as a recruiter for former head coach Kevin Cooney. In 2008, Cooney decided to resign, paving the way for McCormack to take his place.

New Athletic Director (AD) Pat Chun rewarded McCormack with

Q: With a new AD looking to make his imprint on the program, how did it make you feel that he decided to extend your contract?

“It’s nice to be recognized and wanted, you know? And I guess there’s some security that goes along with it. But I think it’s more a recognition of ‘We appreciate what you’ve done and we think that you’re doing the right thing and we want to make sure that you’re here.’”

FAU head coach John McCormack sets his sights on another conference championship

26

a four-year contract extension this past off-season.

The UP caught up with coach McCormack to get his thoughts on the program and life both on and off the field as FAU’s field general:

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Q: You’ve spent over two decades coaching at FAU. How does that familiarity with the program help guide you in your dayto-day activities?

“I’m able to put things in context. I have history. But, as far as knowing how the ‘system’ works, it always helps when you’ve been at a place. The one thing that I have that some people don’t have is some history that I can draw upon on how things have been done in the past, whether it’s good or bad.”

Q: When coach Cooney resigned, it was a unanimous decision by the players that they wanted you as coach. But it didn’t end up happening as soon as they’d expected. How difficult was the waiting game for you before you finally got signed in 2008?

“Deep in my heart, I knew it was going to happen. But like anything, the longer it takes, the more doubt starts to creep in. From the day they said it was going to happen, it ended up taking 10 weeks. I was concerned for myself but I was more concerned with the program.

That first year, it did rear its ugly head a little bit. We were short a few players. We lost 10 weeks. No matter how hard we worked, and when we put the staff together, we couldn’t make up that 10 weeks and it cost us.”

Q: You have one of the most successful programs on campus.

That means you have a ton of rings. Where do you keep all of them?

“In my drawer at home. I’ve given some of them away to my dad, one to my brother. I wear them out sometimes when recruiting on the road. My favorite one, on the top of it, it’s circular, and it has the Blue Wave (FAU baseball’s old team name) on it, and it’s a really neat, nice, clean ring.”

Q: This will be the final baseball season in the Sun Belt for your team. What are your thoughts on the upcoming Conference USA transition?

“I’m excited about the move. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Conference USA. For us, I think the transition is going to be baseball is baseball. But we’re looking forward to it. It makes the university’s athletic department a little more high profile. The league seems to be a little more TV driven, which is always good. It’ll give our athletes a chance to be on a bigger stage.”

Q: You mentioned that you still text coach Cooney every couple weeks to keep in touch. What would you say is the best advice he’s ever given you?

“Remember that they’re young people and that if you’re going to coach in college, the baseball is important, but help them become

M Current coach John McCormack (left), former coach Kevin Cooney (middle), and catcher Mike Spano (right) share a moment before the 2012 Manhattan series.

better men. As a young assistant when you get here, you’re talking about, ‘Oh, this kid’s not doing very good. Let’s get rid of him.

Let’s get somebody else in here.’ And he’s like, ‘patience, patience, patience.’ Now it’s a reversal. Now I’m the patient guy and the young assistants are that way, but that’s the circle of life. He said if you want to coach and win at all costs, then go to professional baseball.

If you want to coach and win and do things right, and help these guys become better men, then this is the place for you.”

Q: What was your major in college?

“Business. I didn’t necessarily want to be a baseball coach growing up. I wanted to go to Wall Street and make millions. That’s why I was a business major. I jokingly tell people, the way I treated coaches, I’d never want to be a coach. I came here to go to graduate school from Lynn, and the baseball coach at the time, coach Cooney, offered me a job. I thought it was a means to an end. Get some tuition to help out. And then I just kind of fell in love with it. I stayed here and didn’t make millions. [ laughs ] I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Q: Sunshine, conference championships, starting a family here. What’s the best thing about being FAU’s baseball coach?

“The greatest part of my job is, you have to graduate and leave.

I never have to leave. I’ve been here for 23 years. I’ve been on a college campus for 27 years. I’m 44 so that’s well over half my life.

So I never have to grow up. You guys have to grow up. You have to go into the real world and grow up. I don’t.”

UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

27

Outfielder Geoff Jimenez and pitcher Bo Logan model the 2012 Sun Belt championship rings. The Owls are projected to repeat as champions in 2013 by Baseball America and the Sun Belt coach’s poll.

PUT A RING ON IT The FAU players flaunt their championship rings from last season’s conference title

BY ZACK KELBERMAN For FAU baseball’s achievements last season — winning the Sun Belt Conference regular season title — the team was awarded with its ceremonial rings.

Gaudy, flashy, in-your-face rings.

“We wanted a big, gold ring,” former Owls second baseman Mike Albaladejo said. “This ring is literally two times bigger than the previous one, with more

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

diamonds, your name, and all that. It’s completely obnoxious when you wear it.”

Albaladejo, who signed to the Washington Nationals’ minor league club in 2012, lent a hand in redesigning the hardware. Left unsatisfied with the prior year’s model, Albaladejo and teammate Alex Hudak each pitched their ideas to head coach John McCormack.

The ensuing result left the braintrust

in awe.

“I absolutely loved the way it came out,” Albaladejo gushed. “We thought we deserved something like that because a championship was hard to come by. Mac [McCormack] was able to incorporate a lot of our opinions on the ring. I thought that was great.”

“I just wanted everybody to know what we did,” Hudak said. “So when I saw that big No. 1, I knew everyone would know what we did. I really liked the way it turned out. It gets the point across.”

McCormack, however, was taken aback by the sheer size of the ring. Despite facilitating the change, he prefers more substance over style.

“It turned out to be a little too big,” McCormack said. “In the email pictures, it didn’t look that way. It was funny. The

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The Owls’ 2010 championship rings are less flashy than the current gaudy, gold models, re-designed by former Owls teammates Mike Albaladejo and Alex Hudak.

ring we got in 2010, the silver one, that one looked big and kind of like ‘oh my God’ on email, and then when you got it, it was like, ‘oh, OK.’ And this one was in exact reverse.”

“

WE WANTED A BIG, GOLD RING. THIS RING IS LITERALLY TWO TIMES BIGGER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE, WITH MORE DIAMONDS, YOUR NAME, AND ALL THAT. IT’S COMPLETELY OBNOXIOUS WHEN YOU WEAR IT.

“

FORMER OWLS SECOND BASEMAN MIKE ALBALADEJO

The Owls’ 2012 championship rings were manufactured by Jostens, a Minnesotabased company that produces high-end jewelry and other commemorative items.

They’ve done everything from high school yearbooks to professional championship memorabilia — including the 2012 Miami Heat ring and various Super Bowl rings.

Jostens’ craftsmanship is certainly appreciated by FAU’s players.

“They’re awesome,” infielder Mitch Morales said. “I really do cherish mine. It means a whole lot to me just to have one.”

“It’s amazing,” outfielder Geoff Jimenez said. “So proud to have one and hopefully we can get another.”

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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The Owls’ supremely successful 2012 campaign featured a host of great moments, but there was only one that stuck out: the walk-off hit against FIU that clinched the Sun Belt Conference championship.

With the bases loaded and the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, outfielder Corey Keller knocked home the winning run in dramatic fashion.

Though it’s a situation all baseball players dream of, the pressure involved was unmatched. Keller’s mind was racing with a single thought.

“Just don’t strike out,” Keller said. “At the bare minimum, swing the bat. Don’t take a pitch. Don’t take strike three. Just try to put the ball in play and make something happen.”

After he did just that, the entire team dog-piled on top of each other in a moment Keller will never forget.

“That was awesome,” Keller said of the dog-pile. “I knew as I touched first base they’d all be coming after me. I kind of slipped out toward the outside of the dog-pile, so I didn’t get like injured or anything. Some guys were saying it was hard to breathe at the bottom.

But it was pretty fun.”

Keller’s teammates all reveled in the victory, which came against FAU’s biggest and most noted rival.

“All the hard work from the whole year finally meaning something,” outfielder Geoff Jimenez said of the win’s magnitude. “Just to win the conference and beat FIU, our rivals.

It was special.”

“All the seniors were proud,” pitcher Austin Gomber said. “There’s not a better way to go out against your biggest in-state rival. It was a great moment that we all enjoyed.”

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UNIVERSITY PRESS | FEBRUARY 19, 2013