Long Beach State University Athletics
Numbers Tell Story For Weaver
5/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Numbers Tell a Good Story About Weaver Numbers tell the story in baseball. Three years ago, Mark Prior dominated college baseball. The USC pitcher had a 15-1 record with a 1.69 earned-run average, 202 strikeouts, only 18 walks in 138 innings and he held opposing hitters to a .201 batting average. He began his professional baseball career in 2002 at the double-A level, quickly moved to triple-A and then to Chicago, where he had a 6-6 record with the Cubs. He established himself as one of the premier pitchers in the major leagues last summer with an 18-6 record. Now along comes Long Beach State pitcher Jered Weaver, dominating the current college baseball season. Weaver has a 12-0 record with a 1.42 ERA, 146 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 95 innings. He is holding opposing hitters to a .154 average. It is a foregone conclusion the San Diego Padres will make him the No. 1 pick in baseball's draft this summer. But don't ask Weaver whether he's already checked out apartments in San Diego. "My main focus is to get to Omaha," he said. This tells you about the young man beyond the obvious. He's about his team, his current team, and he's not going to be happy with this season if Long Beach State does not advance to the College World Series in Omaha in the fair state of Nebraska. "All the hoop and stuff (the attention from national publications, the No. 1 pick and seven-digit contract to follow) does not matter," Weaver said. "We've got a job to do." The job he is doing is remarkable. After Weaver defeated USC, Mike Gillespie, the Trojan coach, congratulated Mike Weathers, his Long Beach State counterpart. "Now you know what it was like for us to play Prior," Weathers said. See for yourself how he compared to Prior. Circle these dates on your calendar -- May 7, 14 and 21. They are your final three guaranteed chances to check Weaver out. He'll start Friday at Blair Field in Long Beach against the University of Pacific, the following Friday at UC Riverside and then be back at Blair in two weeks against Cal State Fullerton. There's a good chance Long Beach State will host one of the NCAA regional tournaments, in which case you can see Weaver on June 4. You might even get to see him June 11 at Blair Field in a super regional. You're not going to see a mirror image of Prior, with his compact, highly efficient delivery. Weaver is a lanky, 6-foot-7 right-hander who is all elbows when he cranks up. He bares a striking resemblance on the mound to a young Don Drysdale, the legendary Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher. And, yes, his mechanics are similar to those of his older brother, Jeff, the Dodgers starter. It is not hyperbole to say what he is doing this season is remarkable. He recorded 10 strikeouts in a row at the start of the USC game. "It was like Little League, when the 12-year-old who's big for his age dominates,'' Weathers marveled. "He was doing it against major college players." It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance. "You'll never see it again," Weathers said. A month later against BYU, Weaver defied logic. He did it again. He started another game with 10 strikeouts. "Now I'm sure you'll never see it again," Weathers joked. The 11th batter in the BYU game popped out in foul territory. "Drop it," fans yelled. They wanted to see whether Weaver could punch out 11 in a row. The low point of the season was Friday, when he pitched into the eighth inning against UC Santa Barbara, giving up three hits with 14 strikeouts. He had two strikeouts in the fifth and six innings, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth. That's a low point? He gave up a single to open the eighth, appeared to restore order with a strikeout, hit the next batter, and then, horror of horrors, walked his first batter to get himself in trouble. He seemed to have the situation under control with another strikeout when second baseman Chris Malec hit Weaver's 123rd pitch for a grand-slam to make it a 4-4 score. Weaver left the game without a decision for the first time this season. What he had was a grim look. Another thing he did not have was an excuse. Or any grumbling about Long Beach State stranding 15 runners in what became an 8-4 loss. "I felt great," he insisted. "I was a little fatigued. But I battled through it. Whatever happened, happened. "This definitely was not one of my better moments. That's for sure." He shrugged. "I'm human," he said. |
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