With Weaver, Beach Not a Long Shot for Omaha
by John Walters, Sports Illustrated
May 7, 2004 Two pitches. Anyone watching Long Beach State righthander Jered Weaver in
the top of the eighth inning last Friday night at his home park would have
wagered that he was two pitches from his 13th consecutive victory. The bases
were loaded with UC Santa Barbara runners, but the 6'7" junior with the
shoulder-length shag of blond hair had a 4-0 lead, two outs and a 2-and-1
count on Gauchos batter Chris Malec. After seven innings the line for the
rangy righty with the 94-mph fastball read, no runs, two hits, 12
strikeouts, no walks. His outfielders had yet to make a putout. For Weaver,
whose older brother, Jeff, pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was just
another Friday night.
"It's almost holy," pitching coach Troy Buckley has said of his ace's spring
performance. "What we're seeing here probably is never going to happen
again."
Let other pitchers flirt with a perfect game. What Weaver, who was raised in
Simi Valley, Calif., has been pursuing is a perfect season. His numbers
entering Friday night were astounding: 12 wins in 12 starts, a 1.13 ERA, 132
strikeouts and 12 walks (an 11-to-1 ratio) in 87 2/3 innings. On Feb. 13
against Southern Cal, Weaver fanned the first 10 batters en route to a 3-1
win. "I've never seen that in all my days," said Mike Weathers, 54, manager
of the Dirtbags (Long Beach State's official nickname is the 49ers, but the
baseball team uses the more down-to-earth moniker adopted in 1989 to
describe the team's gritty style), "and I'm not sure I will again."
He did. Three weeks later, against Brigham Young, Weathers watched Weaver
repeat the 10-whiff feat at the start of a 3-1 win. On March 24, against
then 10th-ranked Wichita State, Weaver struck out 16 batters in six innings.
"Not even Roger Clemens [did that]," said inveterate Shockers manager Gene
Stephenson. "Weaver is the most dominant pitcher I've faced in my 27 years."
The Dirtbags (30-11) are counting on that dominance to carry them through
the College World Series in June. Long Beach State hasn't made the trip to
Omaha since 1998 and has never finished higher than fourth, but with a No. 4
national ranking and college baseball's best pitcher, the team will be one
of the favorites when the tournament's regional play begins on June 4.
The Weaver brothers, Jered, 21, and Jeff, 27, have plenty in common. They
both wear jersey number 36, and each is his respective school's career
strikeouts leader. (Jeff, a former walk-on at Fresno State, had 477 for the
Bulldogs; Jered became the Long Beach record holder on Friday with 362.)
Both inspire stadium public-address-system operators to play Gary Wright's
1976 tune Dream Weaver before the first pitch. Jeff wears an interlocking LA
on his cap, Jered an LB, and they take the mound only 30 miles apart. They
may soon share even more: Last year Jeff was on the New York Yankees' staff
alongside veteran lefty David Wells. Jered, the potential No. 1 pick in
June's big league draft, could join Wells on the staff of the San Diego
Padres, who hold the first pick and signed Wells over the winter.
Yet the contrast in style between the two is noteworthy. Jeff at times
appears anguished on the mound. Jered's regimen before each inning, which
includes exchanging a long-distance crossed-forearms salute with
centerfielder Steve Velazco and inscribing his deceased grandparents'
initials in the dirt behind the mound, seems almost Fidrychian. "That just
relaxes me when I'm out there," Jered says.
But 122 pitches into his outing on Friday, Weaver for once did not appear
relaxed. He fired a 91-mph heater, Malec swung and -- bang -- deposited a
grand slam over the rightfield wall. Weaver trudged off the mound with the
score tied at 4 and his first no-decision of the season; the Gauchos scored
four in the ninth to win 8-4.
One night earlier Jered had sat in Dodger Stadium watching Jeff pitch.
Trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, his big brother had loaded the bases
with two outs and Mike Piazza batting. On a 3-and-2 pitch, Jeff struck out
Piazza swinging on high heat. Immediately afterward dad Dave, who was
sitting a few rows in front of Jered, called him over for a quick lesson.
"He was just telling me not to let the situation get to me," Jered recalled
after his own game. "Where to spot the ball. Little points like that." He
heaved a sigh. "Jeff got it done. I didn't."
Dirtbags opponents shouldn't count on that happening too often. |
