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Volume 5, No. 10
With all the agonizing and analyzing he did from June through August, Texas A&M baseball coach Mark Johnson says the last three months produced probably the longest summer of his life. The good news for the Aggies is that it also was one of the more productive summers of Johnson’s stellar A&M career. Johnson’s cure for his summertime blues was adding a handful of impressive players to an already strong recruiting class. Those newcomers could help cure many of the problems that surfaced in last year’s frustrating 23-35 season, the first losing record in Johnson’s 16-year tenure as head coach. "It’s been the longest summer of my life to have to live through what we went through and not being able to do anything about it until we started playing again," said Johnson, whose Aggies officially begin fall practice on Sept. 25. "But we got some things accomplished and got some guys in here this summer who really have a chance to help us right away. "I’ve told the guys I have a sense of urgency. I’m not going to panic, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I don’t think it’s broken. For one reason or another, last year was very difficult. We’re still going to have a very young team, but I’m the eternal optimist. I feel good about the guys we have coming back and the guys we have coming in. I get the sense that this could be a fun year and a fun group." Johnson’s feeling about his 2001 roster, as well as the prospects of A&M returning to the top of the Big 12 standings, improved as the summer progressed. By the time classes started at A&M, the Aggies had pieced together an extremely impressive crop of newcomers. The final piece was shortstop Matt Alexander, a freshman from Arlington Heights who appeared at one time to be headed toward signing a professional contract, but elected instead to enroll at A&M. The addition of Alexander, along with the healthy return of Chris Russ and the improved play of Ryan Wardinsky, solidifies one of the major problem positions in 2000. "Matt Alexander was the shortstop we wanted, and we got him." Johnson said. "We had to sweat that out a little until classes started. Matt’s got some things to learn, but as far as tools and stuff, I think he’s going to be a real solid addition. "Wardinsky is back, and Chris Russ will have free shot at it. Russ got hurt early in the spring last year, so I didn’t give him another shot at shortstop. Even though he pitched an played third for us last year, Russ was really our backup shortstop, but because he pulled a quad, I didn’t let him play there. We had problems defensively at third, so I put him at third once he got well. But he’s a natural shortstop, who can play third. And Wardinsky can flip-flop over to second." Moving Russ from third may be a possibility because of the addition of Kevin Thiess, a sophomore from San Jacinto Junior College and Klein Oak High School. Theiss played one year at San Jac and was a first-team All-American. "He’s going to help us solidify some things right away, I would think," Johnson said. The same could be said of Tim Petru at second base. Petru, the younger brother of former A&M standout Rich Petru, can play second, short or third, but is most likely to compete for a starting role at second. Petru, a sophomore transfer from Navarro Junior College, is one of three new additions from Navarro. And each of the three come to A&M with an interesting story. Outfielder Eddie Lang was awarded the top student award at Navarro Junior College. The recipient of that award can pick any four-year university he wants to and he receives an academic scholarship for two years. That means Lang can play at A&M for the next two years without counting against the Aggies’ scholarship limitations. "Lang is an outfielder, a speed guy and a slap hitter," Johnson said. "(Former All-SWC and All-Big 12 selection) Johnny Hunter got that same award at Navarro. The scholarship is not related to baseball, so it really helps us. Johnny Hunter did a great job for us, and we hope Eddie works out the same way." Joey Hart is another summer acquisition from Navarro The right-handed pitcher, originally from Plano, looked as if he would be required to stay another year in junior college because he was short academically of the necessary credits. But he passed an astonishing 20 hours of summer school and enrolled at A&M this fall. But perhaps the most interesting acquisitions of the summer were Ben Himes and Matt Farnum. Himes, who had a stellar freshman season last year at Virginia, played high school ball at Westlake High in Austin. Despite his success in the ACC, Himes longed to be back in Texas. Johnson and the Aggies welcomed him with open arms. "We’d seen Himes play in high school, and we liked him," Johnson said. "But he went to Virginia, because that’s where his folks are from and he had lived there for a short period of time. But he decided he didn’t want to stay there. So he’s a right fielder with a good arm, and he really fits our needs. I went to watch him play and we recruited him, along with just about everybody else in the state. He’s a big addition." While the Aggies were award of Himes, they knew nothing about Farnum. But on July 29, Johnson received a call from his mother, saying that her son had chosen not to accept his nomination to the Naval Academy. And oh, by the way, he was the high school pitcher of the year last year in the state of Colorado. "All the schools had backed off and nobody got involved because he was set on going to the Naval Academy," Johnson said. "That was his dream. But he changed his mind like a lot of kids do, and his mother calls and she’s looking for advice. I don’t know him, but we talked and I gave her some names of junior college contacts. "I have parents calling all the time, saying things like, ‘My son throws 94 and all that stuff.’ But she did tell me that he was the pitcher of the year in Colorado, which got my attention. So we hung up, and I make two or three calls that day to scouts and coaches, they all said you ought to take him, the kid’s legitimate. Four scouts gave me the same information, the same velocity numbers. So we got involved in pursuing him, along with Kansas, Nebraska and quite a few other schools, as well. So, he’s one of three guys that we have ever brought into this program sight-unseen." Combined with the other newcomers and the return of virtually every key player from last year (with the exception of outfielder Daylan Holt), the aforementioned additions to the program could make 2001 a season to remember in Aggieland. And, of course, make A&M fans quickly forget about the disappointments of 2000. "We have to put last year behind us," Johnson said. "Nobody wants to do that more than me. We have a tradition of winning here, and we just hope these newcomers, as well as our returning guys, uphold that tradition and make sure that last year was an aberration."
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