Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the roundhouse podcast. This is Paul Saul and Trop of Wichita state university strategic communications. We're going to keep our Shakur baseball role going after having Brian ochres and Dave Lucas. The last couple of weeks, they were from the 1982 college world series team. Today. We're going to switch our focus to the Wichita state pizza hut, shocker sports hall of fame, which is coming up induction ceremonies. This weekend, we have Brent Kemnitz was us. Brent is an assistant athletic director for outreach and staff development at Wichita state. This weekend, he's going to be honored for his work. His pitching coach for the shocker baseball team started in the 1979 season as a graduate assistant all the way to 2016, the shockers made seven college world series appearances. During that time they won the 1989 title. Uh, the 1982 and 1991 teams led the NCAA and earned run average, Brent coach nine first round draft picks, including NCAA pitcher of the year. Brian ochres in 1982. And Darren driver, the golden spikes award winner in 1993. It's Brent. Let's give people the origin story a little bit. Uh, why did gene Stevenson's detailed letter to you in response, uh, to a letter you wrote him in December of 1977. Why did that play such an important role in getting you to Wichita state?
Speaker 2 00:01:34 Well, you know, I'm like so many guys when I was in college, um, my dream was to keep playing baseball, you know, go to college. I wanted to play pro ball. The dream was playing the big leagues. Like every little kid starting out on a Sandlot will became obvious. I had a nice career, a good career. Uh, but my senior year it was like, okay, I better jump into reality here. The pro is probably not going to happen. Certainly, certainly not at the big league level. So I started looking for places to go to grad school so I could stay in coaching hopefully and get my master's degree, which would serve me well regardless. So I wrote Oklahoma, Oklahoma state and Arkansas, and my college coach, you know, I told him what I was doing. He said, that's great. He said, but I would, I would add Wichita state to your list because if they hired Jeanne Stevenson, they must be serious. So I wrote him a handwritten note and, uh, got a response back that was more than your, your token, uh, stock letter was detailed. There was great attention to detail and it really fired me up. So that was the initiation of me coming up, talking to Jean and ended up at Wichita state.
Speaker 1 00:02:49 So if you don't become a pitching coach at Wichita state, what was the most likely career path you might've taken? Well,
Speaker 2 00:02:55 I, at that point I really wanted to coach, um, cause I love sports. Um, didn't want to get out into the real world, so to speak a lot of my buddies, couldn't wait to get their degree and go take jobs, or I want to stay in school where I can hopefully maybe continue to be at the college level, but for sure get a master's degree and get into coaching because if you had a master's, um, and stayed in coaching, it was going to be more money, not a ton more money, but a master's degree served you well. So I came up here, got my masters, um, in PE with a emphasis in sports administration, but also got a history background and a driver's education background. So I thought, okay, this baseball thing doesn't work, uh, maybe a high school basketball coach, but also was picking up my little teaching fields, which would make me more attractive, uh, but primarily basketball and, and maybe baseball at the high school level. But my dream was to stay at the college level and it happened,
Speaker 1 00:03:58 We should probably give people the background to fill in some of the gaps you're from Perry, Oklahoma went to Phillips, uh, which is at that time was an NAI school in ended Oklahoma. Very good baseball program. So that's, you didn't come up through in Oklahoma or Texas. How did coming up through a small college? How do you think that shaped where you got and how you became a coach?
Speaker 2 00:04:20 Well, Jean Gene's heard me tell this story many times I was a big Oklahoma Sooners fan growing up, living in bat, OU football, followed Oklahoma baseball. And Jean was the assistant there that years that were going to Omaha. So my dream was, oh, you want to play baseball at ODU and, and, uh, talk to Oklahoma state a little bit, never talked, oh you, but, uh, ended up going to a small school, like you said, Phillips university and Enid, great baseball school in those days. Uh, not a lot of division ones were taking it serious. I mean, you had the Texas and you had Oklahoma and Oklahoma state Arkansas, uh, oral Roberts was starting a program. Tulsa had been good, but as a whole, not as many. So at Phillips university, we beat a lot of division one schools. Uh, so it was a great baseball situation for me, but you know, my dream was, oh you. So I asked Jean when I got up here, I said, you know, my dream was to go there. What's, you know, what's going on, Jean B and Jean, you weren't good enough, which he's he's right. That's 100% true. So I go to my best opportunity Phillips and had a great career because I
Speaker 1 00:05:34 Had a blast because gene was assistant. Ooh,
Speaker 2 00:05:37 Yes. He was a recruiting guy. So I go to Phillips university, have a nice career. And like I say, Jean was one of the schools I wrote and got a great response back. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:05:48 Uniform number 24. That's what you wore at Wichita state. Is there a history backstory with that uniform number?
Speaker 2 00:05:54 Well, my first year I was number eight. You know, you get what's available. So I was number eight and it college, I actually had a single digit two. I think it was six, but as a coach or whatever, I always thought, okay, you need a double digit number. Uh, so 24 became available and it's really a Willie Mays deal in the sixties, you know, was Yankees early. But then my grandpa, for whatever reason, he, he got me under Willie Mays and he became my, even though he's a position guy, he became my go-to and my idol, so to speak. And as you know, Willie wore 22. So that's probably the biggest reason,
Speaker 1 00:06:31 The reason. Good reason. So you arrive in Wichita as a GA fall of 78. You got the program it's about one year old under Jean. We all know there's no stadium, no locker rooms, no indoor practice, place players dressing in their car. When did you believe that there was, we can do something pretty substantial here. Well,
Speaker 2 00:06:51 Before I ever got here, it's like, it's the same when I was writing these schools and my coach Joe record, who was in Nia hall of fame guy or well-respected um, he said, right, right. Which stayed, add them to the list. And I was well aware of gene. So I was kind of like my coach when, when they hired him, it's like, okay, well then after talking to him, Jean did not lack confidence. Not that it was going to get in his way. So when I came up here, there was never a feeling that we weren't going to get at that it was, this is gonna happen regardless. And we all fed off. Jean I'll give him a hundred percent credit on that. Uh, but it was just one of those deals. We're going to have some obstacles maybe, but it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 00:07:35 So his name, his work, his recognition from being at the university of Oklahoma, that was pretty important, not just to you, but to other people in the area. This, this meant Wichita state was serious about baseball
Speaker 2 00:07:48 Because anybody that was, uh, playing, paying any attention, uh, to college baseball, new Oklahoma, and Seymour, uh, amazing coach gene worked for him. Uh, so people in the baseball circles and it's not as high pub, you know, publicized back then as it is now, but everybody knew who gene was, who everybody knew that he was, uh, very successful. And he had been an all American at Missouri, um, great athlete at Guthrie high school. So people knew him. And I think maybe the most important thing in his pro Scouts, he had a great rapport with pro Scouts and that helped him, uh, let him to players. And I think they help to him and us. Once I got up here, uh, put out a good word and say, Hey, if you want to go, you want to get better. You want to go to a good program. You need to look at Wichita state.
Speaker 1 00:08:41 So Wichita state goes to the NCAAs for the first time in 1980, it goes back in 1981. And then 1982, the big breakthrough go to the college world series finished second. That's the team that was honored last weekend at the first pitch banquet. How do you describe the legacy of that 1982 team?
Speaker 2 00:08:58 I think they'd put us on the map and we, that was well-documented this weekend. Uh, has, it should have been, like you said, an 80, we went for the first time, uh, last two straight or door over Roberts. Uh, I went to Clemson and anyone wanting to, and then 82, there was kind of a turnover we'd lost a lot of the first recruiting class. Joe Carter was a junior. That side lost a couple really good pitchers. Uh, but we were fortunate that some of the seniors are guys that could be seniors. Didn't sign Charlo, Brian, Phil Stevenson, Jimmy Thomas, Don Heinkel. Uh, we had some good pickups, namely, uh, Dave Lucas. So the 82 team, it was kind of a crossroads. I think a lot of people said, okay, let's see what happens because you know, some of those first recruits, uh, and graduated well, that team came together, got off to a slow star, four and six when played at Texas at Arizona state, uh, God humbled, the man and we go on a roll and you could just see that team grow.
Speaker 2 00:09:59 You can see that team getting confidence. Um, his, a pitching coach. I mean, we ended up having three, all Americans to two that our first round drafts to the play in the big leagues, give up one run at the regional new Orleans, go to Omaha. And we did not lack confidence. We didn't go there like, Hey, we're happy to be here. We went there with, Hey, we're going to win this saying came up a little bit short, but that team definitely put us on the national map and made people realize, okay, Wichita state they're for real,
Speaker 1 00:10:30 The best story I heard while kind of researching the 82 team and talking to guys about the 82 team was Phil Stevenson getting hit in the job by an errant throw during the NBC world series that ended his talks with the expos. Phil said. So that meant he was sure for sure. Coming back to Wichita state, and then I heard it was Jim Thomas that threw the ball. Was that story discussed this weekend?
Speaker 2 00:10:54 Oh yes. And I've totally forgot about that story because you know, you go to the summer in those days, guys could sign all the way up until the first day of class. So you're always uneasy because what happens a lot of time of one signs and another one may be signs and then you may lose them all. But if there's solidarity and it's like, no, let's all go back and make an impact that can happen. Well, I totally forgot the pill story, but that was in the JT being the one that hit him, made it more entertaining, but Lauren Hibs brought this up and I totally forgot that was a strike year in 81. So people weren't as aggressive signing guys as they maybe would have been. So it all played in our favor and got them all back, which obviously was huge
Speaker 1 00:11:38 Stevenson. First baseman, just a great, great season. Maybe the best offensive season in the history of college baseball. Jim Thomas was the second basement on that team and also had a great season, great career, uh, is in the hall of fame. And then later was an assistant coach at Wichita state. The final thing that was interesting to think about when they were talking about those four people coming back, uh, is that several of them were in Alaska. Henkel was in Alaska Stevenson was in Alaska, JT was in Alaska and then they would say, yeah, so it was hard to get ahold of us. And in today's world, you don't think about that. But you think in 19 summer of 1981, if you were in Alaska, you know, it was going to be hard for the major league team to get in touch and track you down. So that was, that was another slice of life from the 1980s about that team. Uh, describe a typical recruiting trip in the, in the 1980s. What was it like then? Well,
Speaker 2 00:12:28 The recruiting the way it was then as a way, I love doing it all the way through you go see somebody in a game, okay, it's an American Legion game. We're in the spring, it's a high school game. Those were tougher. Cause it was the same time as our season. But in the summer you spend virtually every night at a ballpark, but it was a game that mattered. You'd go watch a kid play. And it was a big rivalry and you could see the makeup, you could see the, how they react in different situations. Those were a blast for me that never got old. So in the eighties you get in your car, you, you, you fill it up, you grab some snacks for the road, you drive to wherever and you watch a game and then you drive back that night, you may get in a midnight, 1, 1 30, whatever the case may be, you turn around and go somewhere else. I absolutely love that. Never got tired of it. Uh, the thing in later years, it became more prevalent is the showcases and the area code tryouts. And they do have value, but they can, they can fool you because it's mass numbers. People are looking at size velocity, things like that, which can be important. But in the eighties there wasn't a lot of that. It was going to watch guys play in legitimate games. And like I say, I absolutely loved that.
Speaker 1 00:13:48 The favorite, small town baseball stadium that you always enjoyed going to on a June night,
Speaker 2 00:13:54 A hundred percent in it. Okay. I went to college in and Phillips university and the old Phillips failing part was just a great field. Great, great tucked in atmosphere there on the campus. But in later years they built David Allen coat park in downtown Eaton. One of my good friends, uh, one of my good friends, bill Mayberry was instrumental in getting that built. So if you ever, if people love any kind of baseball or history or culture, go to that field and the EAN, and it's got a little train that goes by out now field it's in downtown Enid, but that would be my favorite.
Speaker 1 00:14:36 Brandon Baird was from Enid random pictures, Blake Hurlbut,
Speaker 2 00:14:41 Tyler plumbing, Tobin metate check, uh, Jim Hepburn in the eighties. Uh, but I always look, I used to look for reasons to go to Enid. Uh, but the other thing is they'd have tournament's down there as you could get in there and see people from other schools as well.
Speaker 1 00:14:57 So the famous 1982 rotation, Brian milkers, Eric Sandberg, Don high call, each of them earned all American honors, all three were drafted Elgar's and Somberg went in the first round. How much did their success help the program's credibility? Well,
Speaker 2 00:15:12 I don't know if you can put a price on it and it was well documented this weekend. I don't know if there's a better rotation ever. It's the best we've had at Wichita state, but I don't think you could have one that's better anywhere. All three were all Americans edgier. It, it played out because we made it to the finals of college world series two were first round draft. So Cruz and somber to pitch in the big leagues, we led the nation era. It just, it just, we go to the regional new Orleans, gave up one run and Charlie O'Brien was the catcher. And I, I said this this weekend at the first pitch banquet, and I've said this many times, he's the best receiver ever, any level middle school, high school, college, minor leagues, big legs. And I believe that he had, he caught 13 cyan award winners in the big leagues. So that definitely put a stamp on the program. And for me as a pitching coach, I mean, we pointed to that year, many times in recruiting.
Speaker 1 00:16:11 So if you're a former shocker pitcher listening to this, you will be well acquainted with the brain. And the brain is Brent's, uh, 13 pages of yellow, legal pad paper, all kinds of tips and things, the history of, of, of Wichita state pitching in a lot of ways to give us the origin story of the brain. And what kind of shape is it in all these years later,
Speaker 2 00:16:33 It's bad or it's some bad shape. I've actually laminated each laminated. The pages. I still have the original it's right here, but I also have laminated copies, so I don't lose it. Um, and I don't give that thing away. People say, Hey Jim, can I get a copy of the brand? I've got no, no chance. And people have said, Hey, you want to, you should turn that into a book. Well, that takes away the, what it means to me, it's all about symbolism. Well, it started in 88, which makes that a great story is that's falling into the national championship. You're in 89 and it was a fall meeting. It was the first meeting. And if you look at number one on there is clueless about the rotation for the week. Number two, talk to about the importance of schoolwork. Number three, talk about arm care.
Speaker 2 00:17:20 And what I was going to do is just all the hit list of things that are important in Wichita state and define Wichita state pitching. So I probably had 15 or 20 things. And normally when you have your lists and the meeting's over, you just throw it away. Well, for whatever reason, I said, nah, that's going to be pertinent every year. I'm just going to keep it. And I'll just add. So over the years I've added and now have 395 bullet points. So it started in the ball of 88 with diverse meeting. And I just decided to keep it and add on to have two or three favorite lessons from the brain. There's so many, but yes. Um, and, and kind of backing off from that, when we had had these meetings, you know, I do the meat and potatoes stuff. I'd have three or four things that we needed to cover.
Speaker 2 00:18:09 And then I'd say, okay, let's just throw it out there. Give me a number. And like, say Groo's years went on. But three of my favorites, I think one of them is his competence at the end. Every coach in the world talks about competence. Okay. So that's that standard. It's not like I'm breaking new ground there, but confidence at the end is right when you release the ball and anybody that's been on their game will tell you, did you release it with that little flip, that little confidence rate, the end and the ball like jumps right? When it gets to the plate and you can see it going there, you know, it's going to get there, you can visualize it. And I use that all the time. When, when I retired from a pitching coach and moved to development, 2016, Paul Miller, who's a household name for Wichita state basketball ballet player of the year in oh six, started out as a pitcher here.
Speaker 2 00:19:01 He was going to pitch and then decided to focus on basketball. But he called me and he said, he thought of me every time he shot free throws, same thing, that little flip right at the end competence at the end. So that was one of them. Uh, let me be your experience. What that is, is say somebody is, are freshmen and you can see that, okay, this is a guy he could win for us today, but he doesn't know that he doesn't believe that he doesn't have that competence at this point. Will you say, let me be your experience. I've been here three years or I've been here seven years. So I've been here nine years at the end. It was 38 years. And it helps as you go on because they know how many old Americans you've had first rounders bigly, guys, you can win right there.
Speaker 2 00:19:45 You gotta trust me. Let me be your experience. And I used to call it, speeding up your brain in the fall, you can be a freshman. You're going to throw however many innings in the fall against Wichita state. So these are division one innings against a legit team. So say throw 29 annex. I say, all right, your freshman year, you do 29 innings. Now you pull back after the fall, you talk about things you need to work on. You have the winter months to process it. You come back and in January, you're a sophomore. I call it a speeding up the brain, but let me be your experience. And the other one was a bond, one little league mentality, any sport way, anything in life. Sometimes people overthink things. They, they get in their own brain. Like they can't just keep it simple. So I called it a little league mentality.
Speaker 2 00:20:34 I said, when you went and played games at eight years old, nine years old, 10 years old, you weren't nervous. You just getting to go play and you were worried about a bad hop. You've never seen a good hop. So just go play the game, put your, put your glove on your handlebars of your bike. And always, she used to joke and say, you'd put your little Mickey mantle rookie card and your spokes or your tire with close pins and you'd roll down the street. Just go play. You knew where to play in the outfield because there was a bare spot there. And that's where you played the fence. So just keep it simple. Like that little ligament.
Speaker 1 00:21:10 That's a very good Paul Miller anecdote. I remained angry at him that he didn't ever tell me that when he was playing basketball here at Wichita state, that would have been a fun, fun story to write. Okay. So the brain is an essential part of another fun part about Brent Kemnitz. His pitching coach was, was, which is the, the flow meetings, the pre-practice pitchers meetings, get guys in there. You're finding out how they're feeling, talking about what's going on. They'd bring you a drink, all that kind of all that kind of routine, any pitcher and most of the catchers. I think they finally remember the flow of meetings. Was there a pitcher who really stood out as kind of a flow, all American, maybe ask good questions, uh, was really always engaged, always attentive. Anybody, jump out like that. Well,
Speaker 2 00:21:52 And I, I brought this guy out this weekend. He probably is the, not probably I'll say he is, was the biggest influence with me to give me confidence. Don Heico I'm 21 years old. I'm living in the dorm. I got dudes on the pitching staff, but older than I am and hikers are freshmen my first year here. So I'm like three or four years older, but he was a four point student premed Dr. Today. Uh, still the winningest pitcher in NCA history. 51 wins, like I say, played in the big leagues, just but so respectful. And it just gave me confidence that, okay, there's a young guy. I'm a 21 year old pitching coach, but he's just given me ultimate respect. And he's continued to do that, but he would be the first one, but I never felt a lack of respect. And those meetings, people love those meetings.
Speaker 2 00:22:45 And you know, what made me feel the best? The pictures had to be there. Okay. Position players did not have to be there. I used to have tons of, uh, position guys that said, Hey, man, I don't need my brain freshened up. Can I set in the Andy Dirks of the world? And, and guys like that, I had tons of position guys that would set it in on my meeting. So then I was like, okay, this must be pretty entertaining. And I guess I felt like I gave good information, but anybody that knows me at all knows that I'm always going to have a lighter side mainly to amuse myself. But, uh, yeah, the position guys sitting in always made me feel like, okay, this, this, this is well-received by everybody.
Speaker 1 00:23:27 Definitely a lot of shockers have fond meetings of the, uh, the flow meetings. How often did you go to the mound? Certain you were going to get thrown out of the game ejected at that point.
Speaker 2 00:23:37 Well, my fair share. If somebody to begin squeezed, my, my big deal was if you're right around the zone, you're getting squeezed and the upper has an attitude. I'm not going to last long because here's one, one of my deals is I would tell the pitcher, pitchers and catchers don't ever show up in a bar on the mound. Don't ever show an upper up catcher, same thing. I said, I got it. If you need to be dependent, I got your back. So those are the things that needed to happen. Got right around the zone, getting squeezed and number with an attitude. Cause from pictures everywhere. Well then I'm not going to defending. Or if I go out there and they say, no, those are balls are closed, but they're balls. Well then what am I going to say? Okay. So then I back off. But if they say, oh yeah, he's getting squeezed.
Speaker 2 00:24:29 And then the bottom one, if you get an number that's maybe missing some, and you've got a guy that is stone strikes, but he's like, man, hang with me. I'm struggling. I get it. I'd be frustrated too. It just gave me that. It called me down in a heartbeat, kind of rattled me sometimes. Cause sometimes I want him to get tossed. But if they came with that attitude, I calmed down an him in a heartbeat. But if they came back at me, like we're not talking about loss and strikes and get back, get back in the hole or whatever off I'm out, I'm done. And I knew it. So there was my fair share that I'd go out there and say, look, I'm going to get tossed. Don't get caught up in my craziness. Uh, right, right after I get tossed or the third to first, uh, this hitter patented him in make sure panty man, whatever the case may be. But a lot of times I told them it was going to happen,
Speaker 1 00:25:20 Which catchers did the best job with some soothing words, for a struggling pitcher
Speaker 2 00:25:26 And our catchers. I always, I always use help people. I always felt like I had a great relationship with the pitchers, but the catchers were my boys. Cause it's like, you feel like they're extension of you. We're figuring out what makes each guy click. We've had what six, four catchers catch in the big leagues. Uh, so there was always a great rapport there. Uh, I'd say wedge because wedge was great with everybody. Charlie O'Brien, as I mentioned earlier, best catch your best receiver at any level ever. Charlie was great with the songbirds and the high goals and the elders and the all American guys. Charlie then have a lot of patience for guys who couldn't spot their fast ball and gotten gutting their own heads. And then that would kind of play out in the big leagues when he cut 13 Siam award winners guys like Maddix wanted him, Clemons wanted him. He was amazing. But as far as the guy that connected with everybody, we had a lot of good ones. Uh, Doug Mirabelli was really good, but um, I'd say wedge,
Speaker 1 00:26:28 Eric wedge of course catch her on the 89 college world series champions currently the, the shocker coach. All right, let's take away 89 when the shockers defeated Texas in Omaha. Well give us a couple other victories that really stand out
Speaker 2 00:26:43 Well for me. And I mentioned that the three wins in new Orleans to get us to Omaha for the first time. Those are huge, but I've been asked many times, okay. This is probably a tough question. You know, everybody says, assumes that the 89 championship against Texas, which it is it's one, but I'm telling you what, it's not as big a gap, as you might think. Number two, going down to Oklahoma state in 1988, they'd gone to the college world series seven years in a row. We ended their string. We went into their park and we, we had swag, but obviously so they, so for us to go down there and beat them and their regional to end their string and going to Omaha in 1988, that's too close to
Speaker 1 00:27:31 How far down the list do we have to go for the first matchup with Creighton in the 1991
Speaker 2 00:27:36 College world series? Well, Jim Henry is still a great friend today and it was obvious late eighties that okay, they hired the right guy, Jim Henry, he can recruit. And he, I gave him a hard time that he sped up the whole recruiting because in those days in the eighties, you could go into your office in November in the wetter and call guys in the fall. And they're like, oh wow, you're already calling me. That's great. Well, I remember calling Scott servicing kid from Wisconsin in like November of his senior year in high school. And he had already committed to Creighton and I'm like, what? Okay, I didn't say that. But I was thinking it. So this had been like 85, 86. I see Henry at the national convention in Nashville that year we knew each other. We really, at that point were like really good friends.
Speaker 2 00:28:27 Hey, if he laughed, he said I had to beat the shockers to him or whatever. And that was the start of an amazing friendship, uh, with Henry and to get to my, get on track here in 91, even though we beat them eight straight times, that's, that's unheard of because that team was legit. That was one of the best offensive teams, if not the best offensive team I've ever seen. Uh, and we play them in Omaha too. I think to this day might be the best game, uh, in ESPN history, as far as you know, ratings with, with TV. And then you got the Rosenblatt crowd who had always loved us. And now all of a sudden it's 20,000 plus obviously cheering for Creighton. So about the Creighton games would be up there.
Speaker 1 00:29:13 Losses that still bother you.
Speaker 2 00:29:16 Well, the finals always do the 82 guys. I didn't realize I probably should have, but that stings them guys like Charlie O'Brien that they had that team, which was the best team. Didn't win a national championship. So that's still stings those guys. And then the 91 93 against LSU, obviously staying, uh, but ADA, Arizona state we're one pitch away from going to the finals like however many times. And Ricky Candalaria keeps Fallon pitches off and then loops one end to the outfield and they tie it. We go into extra innings and lose because if we win that game, we go into a winner, take all game against Stanford with a fresh Greg Brummett. So we could have gone back to back there. And that one's things that was done for a lot of years.
Speaker 1 00:30:07 One strike out to win a game. Uh, and, uh, I'll remind you. You're no longer the pitching coach. All your guys are adults. They're grown up. They're out of college. So you can't go to the, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings that coaches love to go to in these situations. One strike out to win a game. Who do you want on the map?
Speaker 2 00:30:25 Well, let me, let me check you there. These guys still have egos. These guys still will bring up stuff. You said 30 years ago and you didn't remember saying it. So don't think that these competitive pitchers, if they hear this, won't get on me. Um, there's two guys. I'm going to bring up. And then I'm going to say my winner, Jim nill and the era you had in 89, 5 and oh 18 saves 1.08. He was absolutely dominant, which a huge factor in us winning it. So you gotta put him in there and Jamie Bluma, uh, an amazing close, or he could just go in there and slam the door. So we had a lot of guys that fit that mold. Uh, we use Lupron out of the pen. Obviously Pelfrey is a starter, but just crazy stuff. But I got to go deer and drive. I mean, you look at Darren driver and stuff and people just were in awe of the movement on his fast ball, his breaking ball, just wipe out type stuff.
Speaker 1 00:31:22 Who is a pitcher that maybe you were kind of iffy on recruiting? Not sure, not sure at all. And then turned into a star.
Speaker 2 00:31:30 Well, Jim Newland, when he came in here, it was a good story. I want to see David Haas pitch in Kansas city. And he ended up being an All-American here, but I love to just bounce around the parks. So we had an afternoon game. So I finished and it's like, okay, David Haas is a no brainer. Why stopped by Johnson county three and two, because I want to see Rodney Pete play. He was the same age, but he had signed to go to Southern Cal for football and he just got all kinds of pub. And I said, I got a little time. I'm going to pop by and see Rodney Peete. Well, I go see him and I go, okay, I see it just a crazy athlete won. His team was a junior that was pitching. I go, I don't like this guy. So I started asking him his name was, and they said Jim Newland.
Speaker 2 00:32:12 So I kind of registered in my brain and kind of had some dialogue going with him. And I go back to watch him as a senior. And he had turned into this train wreck delivery. And I'm like, what happened? Well, anyway, we still offering, because I did not forget what we saw that year before. And so it was a little bit, I know people that saw him that first ball were like, what were you thinking? Well, you know, the rest he turned out great. So he'd be one. And then the other guy that was in, he reminds me all the time. He was not on our a list, right? And Looper, Braden Looper came to my pitching campus sophomore and junior year. And I liked him, but we ended up signing a guy from Girard, Kansas, Dan Smith. Well, Dan Smith ends up signing pro I think he's seventh or eighth round draft signed with the Texas Rangers. So like so many years, then all of a sudden you're scrambling. You're starting over. So I'd remembered blooper cause Smith signed right away. Fortunately, uh, so I go down a rundown Looper in Woodward and he had made a jump and I'm thinking of my own head, what would we think? And not offering him right away, will we offer him and then get him? And he reminded me many times that he was at next tier and obviously Looper was great, turned out great.
Speaker 1 00:33:32 Who was the lowest maintenance, great pitcher at Wichita state? Wow.
Speaker 2 00:33:37 We've had so many low maintenance, high goals, definitely in that conversation. Um, the other two that pop into my head immediately are Jordan Cooper. He was an All-American, uh, to pique a kid just to dance just right. Tobar took care of business and school. I used to say, Hey, don't let him know it end up on my desk about you not knowing to class or whatever. Well, Jordan Cooper was a model student model, pitcher, everything. Uh, but the guy that I probably would go with and those two are both worthy of this Kenny screen through small town, Missouri. Uh, he still may be the winningest high school pitcher ever, but, uh, it just pitchability great student, great teammate, everything. So I'm going to go with case danger.
Speaker 1 00:34:27 Kenny Seamster was on those early 90 teams, Jordan Cooper. What about 2009, 10 kind of in that era of shocker baseball? Uh, you know who, one of my favorite ones that I covered, uh, when I worked for the Wichita Eagle Aaron Schafer.
Speaker 2 00:34:43 Oh yeah, sure. Thank you. Give me a, you just pick me up because I would've been walking up and down. No way. I didn't mentioned shaper. Shaper was another guy, small town, Missouri guy, and just pitch great baseball genes in the family, but pitchability gamer check all the boxes. So he would definitely be in that condition.
Speaker 1 00:35:04 I always enjoyed him. He had a great way of explaining the game or what happened to people so that they could kind of understand it. And it was interesting. I always, always enjoyed him, highest maintenance, great picture at which
Speaker 2 00:35:16 I'll state Jim Nolan, easy, no brainer. And I hope he's listening because we laugh about that so much. And he does too. He's got an amazing sense of humor and he put together the most dominant bullpen year. Like I said, he's the only guy in the program. I could throw out his numbers five and 18 saves 1.08 era, but he was high maintenance, me and wedge double team him his junior year, uh, as far as working his brain and we laugh and go, well, it was worth it, but he was work
Speaker 1 00:35:45 Opposing hitter. Who scared you the most?
Speaker 2 00:35:48 Well, I hate to use the word scared, but every time he came up there, it was like, Ugh, PDA, inconvenient. Steve hacker had a year of Missouri state, which was insane. And in those years it was Southwest Missouri. They played in this tiny park called meter park and you can build Ryan Howard into that equation. And we used to go play them. And it was like a little teeny park. And I'm thinking you could put these guys in Yellowstone and they can still hit, they don't need the benefits of that park, but a so-so those guys would pop into my head. And an Oklahoma state had so many amazing hitters, but in conveyor, as strong as he was, it was insane. You could jam him and he's going to, he could hit it out of the park. So I'd have to give it to Pete inconvenient.
Speaker 1 00:36:33 It was a regular opponent, maybe a valley opponent. Uh, maybe somebody played, you know, every year in the midweek that you really respected from the standpoint you knew they were going to be prepared. Maybe they weren't talent as talented, but they didn't make mistakes. And you knew you really had to play well to defeat.
Speaker 2 00:36:50 Well, I have my answer, but I'm going to give some love to a couple people up front. Um, it seemed like Creighton always, always suits well prepared, always had good teams and different tight teams over the years. The Jim Hendry years, amazing offensive teams and his pitching coach. Todd, Wennberg still a great friend, uh, did a good job with the pitching staff. So, so those teams were dominant. And then, you know, you get into the valley years, it kind of varied some years. It was Indiana state. Um, Missouri state, Southwest Missouri was always in the equation. Uh, but it's a no brainer for me, the biggest, best rivalry in his pitching coach. The one that you had circled on your calendar, Oklahoma state, uh, I'd love very ward, total respect, uh, great hitting coach. And I become really good friends with his long time hitting coach who was also at LSU, Jim shwanky because Willie works for us and pitch for us. Uh, so me and Jim had become really good friends, but those guys, uh, and chop the plate, they'd take it. They'd take a deep in the count. Great competitive guys, talented and were intense games and just great for Naval neighborhood rivalries, but definitely Oklahoma state.
Speaker 1 00:38:05 So the second act of your career has been in development fundraising for Wichita state athletics. It's probably not an area that has gotten a lot of publicity, but I think it's been really important from the standpoint of keeping the baseball family together during the coaching transitions fundraising for the improvements, the locker room and so forth over at X stadium. W why has that been rewarding for you?
Speaker 2 00:38:28 Well, it's just so fun to be able to stay at the school where you built these relationships pitching cage coach for 38 years. And you, you know, people, you know, some, a few of them really well, but a lot of them G you notice say, hello, you see them in games, which you don't really, uh, become really good friends with them. Well, this has allowed me to get to know people on a real personal level. Uh, I traveled with basketball. We take donors. Uh, we got a basketball game on given nights and we'll bounce around and, and take laps around the Concourse and just say hello to people at baseball games, you know, go through the skyboxes, maybe go out on the hill and somebody may have, you know, one of the answers everybody's a coach. And my standard answer is one, a lot smarter up here than I was in the dugout.
Speaker 2 00:39:17 But it's just fun getting to know him a lot less stress. I mean, yes, we need to raise money. I helped with the, the auctions. A lot of times I am seeing him, but, uh, just getting to know people and on a more personal level. And I always tell them the same thing. If they want to hear baseball stories, I can tell them what the best of them, but I like hearing their story. Okay. When did you know, you know, like Frank and Dan Carney, they probably told me the pizza story 50 times, but you know, that's one that's, you know, well documented, but there's a lot of those other people in Wichita that had been very successful that I've gotten to know you're around them. You want to hear what they have to say, and you'd be stunned. How many times those lessons translate to sports and just life in general. So I'm having a blast.
Speaker 1 00:40:05 Did you, when you were selling Wichita state football tickets for former athletic director, Ted Brady hop back in the late seventies, did you have any inkling that could kind of come around full circle for you?
Speaker 2 00:40:17 Well, Paul, I could always sell Cub scout carnival tickets when I was seven, eight years old, I could sell junior high when I was in junior high. I sold the most Perry high school football tickets. So selves has always been something that the gift of gab, I guess, but, uh, to think that, okay, this is going to translate into what I do now. Obviously, maybe I should've seen that because I did sell almost 500. That was summer of 1980 and Ted Brady hop. After that summer, he was blown away that I sold that many. And he said, I don't know if you can coach a lick, but I'll give you a job right now in marketing. Well, coaching was my deal. And I, you know, it was a great 38 year run. But as I look back, you know, your initial question is okay, if it didn't work out here, what do you do? And I said, well, probably high school coach. And I think that would have been a fun thing if it happened. But 20, 20 hindsight, I think this is my niche. I, and it's in sports, which is fun. You feel like every day, you're not going to work. It's something you just love and are passionate about. But I think I would have had a blast in any kind of cells. And I think I'd have been successful.
Speaker 3 00:41:40 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university, strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google play. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected]. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 4 00:42:02 And they let him pass it up court. And then it gets picked off a long three by PENGOS no good. One second. It's over. It is over. And what your task has beaten. The number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16, go crazy. What Utah.
