Long Beach State University Athletics
Espinosa Exceeds, Despite Critics
3/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 3, 2008
There is a reason why Dirtbags shortstop Danny Espinosa has been named a preseason all-American by several media outlets. And it took him one pitch prove why.
In the first game of the season, with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth of a scoreless game, Espinosa roped the first pitch he saw from Rice reliever Bryan Price over the left fielder's head for the game winning RBI.
Espinosa said he knew he would get something good to hit early in the count jus as the Dirtbags fans knew he would come through in the clutch. What he didn't know was that the fans were cheering "Es-Pee-No-Za! Followed by a clap, clap, clap-clap-clap while his Dirtbags teammates mobbed him in center field.
It was a fitting start to the season. Every Dirtbags fan was excited about Espi's GW hit but I doubt anyone in the stadium was surprised.
Nor were they surprised when he went 3-4, with a homerun and scored all three runs the following day. Yes, it is early in the season but anytime you can take a series against a baseball super-school like Rice it is a big deal. Just ask Danny.
"It is a big series," Espinosa explained. "The big thing for us this weekend is setting our presence on the field. When we walk on the field, people will know who is on the field."
Rivals.com had this set as the series of the weekend in college baseball (predicting Rice would win 2 of 3, ha) but it was Espinosa who stole the show with his hitting and smooth operation at short. But that was expected of him, especially after he got as many pre-season awards as Kanye won Grammys.
So now after an impressive opening series for Long Beach State, everyone and their mother will be keeping a close eye on Dirtbag numero Ocho. After all, he was the shortstop for team USA, pre-season All-American, preseason All-Big West, Brooks Wallace Player of the Year candidate and is the face of a nationally known baseball program.
And it is all deserved if you consider the off-season efforts he has made to improve an already talented skill repertoire. In the summer of '07 Espinosa started at shortstop for the United States squad that won the silver metal at the Pan American Games in Brazil. But it wasn't that easy for Espi.
"I struggled while playing for team USA," he said. "But I learned to keep my head up and eventually I turned my summer around."
Perhaps the resilience and ability to keep his head up should be credited to a slump-busting buzzcut he got that summer. Coincidentally, Espinosa brought the look back a few weeks ago when he was chillin' at home and got clipper-happy again.
While the (lack-of) hairstyle is still fresh, something that has not changed during his stay at Long Beach has been his pre-home game routine. Espinosa makes it a point to be one of the first to arrive at Blair Field and put on the black "LB" batting practice jersey. He then proceeds to stretch with a trainer, loosen up in the batting cage and then engage in BP with the rest of the squad. He usually concludes BP with a little baseball chatter with his dad, then proceeds to relax before game time.
"He never puts pressure on me," Espinosa said of his father. "No one here has ever put any pressure on me. They jus say `have fun and if you have fun, you will do well.' And that's what I try to do. I try to keep a smile on my face and enjoy myself while I am playing."
With a confident/ relaxed approach to the game, expect Espinosa to have more nights like he did on opening weekend against Rice.
Just as he expects his team to play hard all year long. It doesn't hurt as motivation that they were all stuck watching two Big West schools not named Long Beach State in the College World Series last June.
After all, he doesn't really care about any individual awards, Espi's just got one thing on his mind and some advice to all you Dirtbags fans: start saving up some cash for a June road trip.
"We are going to be in Omaha," he said of the iconic home of the College World Series. "I got 100 percent confidence in this team and the way we play. We are going to play in Omaha."
That's the kind of attitude you want from your All-American shortstop.
