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Brian O’Connor has gotten things turned around quickly for the UVa baseball program. |
As the Cavaliers (42-11, 18-9) prepare for the final regular season weekend of the 2006 season, The Sabre.com caught up with some former Virginia baseball players to get their impressions on the success of the Wahoos under coach Brian O’Connor, success many have compared to the escapades of former UVa football coach George Welsh.
Will O’Connor go down as the Welsh of Virginia baseball? Former Cavalier Corey Miller (83-86) believes he might.
“The turnaround with the program is of epic proportions (probably like football in the early 80’s). It really can’t be compared or contrasted with the successes UVa has had in the preppy sports that we should do well in anyway.”
For some, Virginia football started when the affectionately known ‘old cap tosser” came to town. Before Welsh’s arrival, Virginia managed just two winning seasons in 29 years and had won just 33 ACC games since joining the league in 1954. Welsh led Virginia to national prominence from 1982-2000, while establishing himself as the winningest football coach in Virginia and Atlantic Coast Conference history. Retiring after the 2000 season, he compiled a career mark of 134-86-3 at Virginia, including a conference-record 80 league wins. He guided the Cavaliers to two ACC Championships and 12 bowl games, including Virginia’s first ever bowl appearance in the 1984 Peach Bowl and three New Year’s Day bowl games.
It’s only been three years but O’Connor and his staff of pitching coach Karl Kuhn, hitting coach Kevin McMullan and assistant Brian Anderson is quickly turning Virginia into a national baseball power. In three seasons, O’Connor, a Council Bluffs, Iowa native, has compiled a 126-46 record, including a 50-29 ACC mark.
Current Virginia captain and junior pitcher Mike Ballard says the coaching staff is intense but they bring out the best in their team.
“We’ve come a long way from when they took over here,” says Ballard. “They’ve really pushed us toward building a great program. They push us hard all the time, especially in the off-season to get us ready for the end of the season and championship time.”
“They’re intense guys,” he added. “They get after it and they get us going. They get the best out of all of their players and you just love to be around something like that.”
In his first season as head coach, O’Connor and company guided the Cavaliers to one of the most successful and storied seasons in the history of the program. He led the team to a 44-15 overall record, an 18-6 mark in the ACC and a second-place finish. The 18 wins were the most ever by a Cavalier team in league play. The 2006 edition is poised to shatter those 2004 marks. Virginia posted its third straight 40-win season, which is a school record, and surpassed the 2005 win total with its 42nd win Tuesday against Old Dominion. The Hoos need just one victory this weekend in their final regular season series against Virginia Tech to surpass the 18-win total set two years ago and a series sweep would eclipses Virginia’s highest win total ever.
Virginia’s 44 victories in O’Connor’s first year tied for the most wins ever in a single season at Virginia. That success made the Cavaliers a fixture in the top 25 polls, highlighted by UVa’s highest national ranking ever at 7th in the nation. Virginia has already eclipsed that ranking as the Cavaliers are currently ranked 6th in the National College Baseball Writers top 25 (NCBWA) and the SEBaseball.com poll.
O’Connor’s squads have an appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game (2005) already under their belt. Virginia has also become synonymous with the NCAA Tournament field as the Cavaliers have earned back-to-back tournament berths since O’Connor took over in Charlottesville. UVa is virtually assured of repeating that feat for the third consecutive season in 2006.
He was named the 2004 ACC Coach of the Year, becoming just the second Virginia skipper to ever receive the honor. He also was named the 2004 Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and the VaSID Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005, as well as being listed as a finalist for the 2004 CollegeBaseballInsider.com National Coach of the Year.
~ Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri |
For the first time in school history, Virginia hosted an NCAA Regional in its own backyard when Davenport Field played host to the Charlottesville Regional in 2004. It was only Virginia’s fourth NCAA appearance in school history. With a solid finish to the regular season and a good showing in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, Virginia is poised for another regional hosting opportunity.
All this success is no surprise to Paul Mainieri, O’Connor’s former boss and the current coach at Notre Dame.
“Where many, many people have been surprised about Virginia’s success, I was not surprised in the least,” says Mainieri. “The guy is a winner and he’s going to win wherever he goes. Some people just get it and Brian is one of those people that just get it. He just understands how you do it. He understands how to be successful, he understands how to handle people, and he understands what it takes to win and run a classy program.”
One thing is clear: the former Cavaliers are excited for the O’Connor era success and proud to have been a part of the foundation for what is the current state of the program. Kyle Kirkeide, who played both football and baseball at the University of Virginia from 1995-1997, admits that he has a fondness for being part of the building blocks for the program’s success.
“It has been awesome to see the Virginia baseball program take off in the last three years. As a former player, I am proud that many teams and coaches in the past have contributed to a foundation that is now being expanded upon.”
Ned Turnbull (is that a great baseball name or what), who recently surfaced in several media write ups following Ballard’s (April 16) no-hitter against Boston College, says he is thrilled with Virginia’s success, especially playing in one of the top baseball leagues in the nation. Turnbull pitched Virginia’s last no-hit shutout prior to Ballard’s on April 22, 1966.
“I have been very pleased and impressed with Virginia baseball the last few years. It’s great to see the success. I was humbled and excited to be mentioned a few weeks ago after the no-hitter against Boston College. College friends notified me about the articles in which my 1966 no-hitter was remembered. I then looked up the articles. Exciting for me! Certainly the great facility helps with recruiting and fundraising. College baseball gets a lot more attention now with TV coverage. ACC baseball is better and it is great to see UVa as part of that,” he said.
Chris Kughn (87-90), a 1989 First-Team All-ACC, All-Tournament, All-Region performer and a 25th round MLB Draft selection of the Atlanta Braves, calls Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage a genius for his selection of O’Connor to lead the Cavalier program.
“I am absolutely thrilled and proud with what has gone on in Charlottesville the past three seasons,” beams Kughn. “Craig Littlepage is a genius to have found someone like Coach O’Connor. O’Connor, not only has taken the program to the upper echelons of the ACC, but college baseball nationally in a very short amount of time.”
Robby Robinson (94-97), who played on the 1996 ACC Championship squad, says the potential for success has always been there.
“More than anything, its affirming,” Robinson said. “We knew that if the right ingredients were in place, there was a huge ceiling for this program. We’d look at a school like Stanford in the 90’s and see their success and absolutely have no doubt that we could do the same thing. We weren’t blind. We’d walk into Tiger Stadium in Clemson and see the resources, look at their 250-page media guide, notice their brand new shoes three quarters of the way through the season and then we’d play in front of 4,000 people on a Saturday night … it wasn’t hard to see why they were going to Omaha every year.”
“With the help of the administration, some great donors and a lot of grass roots support, Virginia Baseball players have the same opportunities now,” says Robinson. “I’m really happy for them and I’m glad that it wasn’t just us, pie in the sky dreaming. I’m glad it’s a reality.”
5 Factors for Success
Virginia’s success has been built with five critical factors: recruiting top-notch talent to Charlottesville, support from donors and the administration, building fan support while maintaining a fan-friendly and recruit-friendly baseball complex, and reaching out to former players.
Reaching Out
O’Connor has made a point of reaching out to former players to share in the team’s current success. The annual “Step Up to the Plate” season kickoff dinner and auction this past February included more than 20 former Cavaliers in attendance, including Ryan Zimmerman, the No. 4 pick in last year’s Major League Baseball Draft.
Kirkeide and Robinson say the coaching staff is working hard to reach out to the former players in creative ways.
“Coach O’Connor and his program have been very enthusiastic in keeping former players involved by mailings and invitations to baseball events,” says Kirkeide. “I have been a season ticket holder for a few seasons since my playing days and enjoy cheering on the new editions of Wahoos.”
“I know they planned an alumni game a year or so ago and I thought that was a great step,” Robinson added. “I met Coach O’Connor last year and he was really cordial. Did he ask my opinion on the program? No. But that’s not in his job description. He’s winning. I’d much rather take two of three from the top ranked team in the country than have Coach and his staff give me a call on Monday morning to see how the job is going.”
Administration and Donor Support
At any level, college sports take a commitment from the administration and dollars from donors.
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UVa coach Brian O’Connor’s contract runs through 2009. |
Last October, the administration stepped up and offered O’Connor a two-year contract extension that will keep one of the nation’s top coaching prospects in Charlottesville through the 2009 season. In each of the last three years, the University’s facilities management group has submitted bids for hosting regional contests and have made a financial commitment to add temporary seating. That was true during the 2004 regional and for some late regular season games. That was the case this past weekend against Carolina and the seating remains in place for the upcoming Virginia Tech series.
Kirkeide and Miller say that show of support is essential to the program’s success.
“Part of the whole deal has been [that] they think they can win, and they think the administration wants them to win as well as the Charlottesville community,” says Miller. “Sadly, I played when only a small group cared so it was really hard to achieve.”
“Obviously, the Athletic Department has put a serious backing behind the program,” Kirkeide said. “In playing both football and baseball at UVa, I saw the huge difference in the 90’s with the support of the two programs.”
“With the football program, everything was always top-notch but in ’96 when we won the ACC Tournament in baseball, we did not even have V’s on our helmets until the regionals in Tuscaloosa,” Kirkeide said. “I have told many people that you had to argue with the equipment room for an extra pair of socks back in the day in U-Hall with the baseball program. That was not an issue at McCue with football.”
“The one factor that made my baseball career more enjoyable than football was we did not have the big-time pressure you felt on the football stage,” Kirkeide added. “The love of the game was not drained out of you like it can be in the big business of college football.”
“It is certainly a natural tendency to think we were better as players than we really were, especially as age sets in,” Miller stated. “Watching these kids with this opportunity and taking advantage of it is really exciting.”
Recruiting Success
O’Connor has sustained his success with excellent recruiting classes. Both of his recruiting classes have ranked in the Top 20 in the nation including a No. 12 ranking of the 2004 class and a No. 8 ranking of the 2005 class. Six of UVa’s 10 signees were ranked in the Top 300 prospects in the country. UVa’s recruiting class was also ranked a Top 20 class by TeamOneBaseball.com and had two players ranked in the Top 75 and four players in the Top 200 in the national recruiting rankings.
Seven of Virginia’s eight everyday starters have arrived in the last two seasons and three of Virginia’s top four starting pitchers (Sean Doolittle, Pat McAnaney, Jacob Thompson) have been in the program two years or less.
“It is always crucial to recruit high-level athletes who are the right fit for UVa,” O’Connor said of his 2006 class. “We have been fortunate to attract talented players in our two previous recruiting classes and it’s critical to attract another top-notch class for the future of our program.”
Davenport Attendance and Fan Support
In June 2001, with $2 million in gifts from anonymous donors, Virginia launched a $5 million reconstruction effort of Davenport that included a 1,500-seat canopied grandstand, new stadium lights, new dugouts, an on-site locker room and clubhouse, a new press box, and sky boxes.
“The latest on-field success and construction of the new facility has had a huge impact on the baseball program,” notes Kughn. “I’ll never forget coming back for the field dedication, standing in the infield, looking at 2,000 plus fans. It gave me goose bumps I’ll never forget.”
“I really hope the players coming through now really appreciate what is going on with the program,” continued Kughn. “They surely don’t know what it was like to play on the Astroturf infield. Ripped up from the football stadium with a faded 50 yard line marker where our shortstop stood or playing outfield without a warning track.”
Virginia installed a new grass playing surface at the then-UVa Baseball Field in 1998; a few years beyond Kughn’s days of roaming the Davenport outfield.
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The Cavs had a weekend record crowd of 7,367 for the three-game UNC series. |
O’Connor’s success has spilled over into the community as attendance records in 2004 and 2005 were at an all-time high with the Cavaliers playing in front of sellout crowds en route to finishing ranked in the Top 40 in the nation for both total home attendance and average home attendance. Against North Carolina this past weekend, a weekend record crowd of 7,367 filed into Davenport Field during the series, an average of 2,456 per game. The Hoos had record crowds of 2,624 Friday and Saturday.
“I remember the only time we had 2,000 fans at a game is when we gave away free cokes and hotdogs,” said Kughn. “Now they are charging admission for the games … unbelievable! Heck, I can’t even purchase season tickets because they are sold out! We actually enjoyed playing away games. We knew at least someone would come out and watch.”
“They had 2,600 at the game on Saturday [vs. North Carolina]? It would take eight home games in the 90’s to get close to that number,” admitted Robinson. “I think it’s a combination of several things. They’re winning and they are looking good doing it. The stadium is an enjoyable place to watch a ballgame. The lights make Friday games more accessible and Charlottesville has always been a closet baseball town.”
“Clearly, when I see crowds of 2,500 a game it is exciting,” added Miller. “Frankly, as a former player, I don’t much understand all the talk of ‘home field advantage’ in sports. I just wanted to play in front of the biggest potential crowd regardless of who they were rooting for.”
“It is important that we create an atmosphere at games [fun, family, good and cheap concessions] that will keep people coming as a social event regardless of how the
team is performing,” Miller explained. “Baseball should be the third most followed sport on grounds. Just like MLB, the sport appeals because it is with us on a daily basis through the year. This can happen at UVa. What could be better than being retired in Charlottesville and attending 20-25 games a year?”
“The Sabre deserves some credit for allowing us baseball fans the chance to communicate on a daily basis and follow the team,” Miller said of the message boards. “I can’t tell you how often I sit in front of gametracker [and follow games with other fans].”
“I think a key factor in increasing fan support has been Coach O’Connor’s and the SID’s use of the local media,” says Kirkeide. “You see an article written on every game now in [The Daily] Progress and usually highlights on the local news. That was rare in the 90’s. Therefore, the word is getting out now along with word of mouth about the success of the team.”
“I do enjoy seeing the team reach out to the community,” Kughn concluded. “My daughter got to run the bases after the Clemson game. They also recently held a clinic after the North Carolina game where good friends of ours took their son and he hasn’t stopped talking about it.”
More Work To Do
There are rumors of additional grandstand seating being added to Davenport, a new state-of-the-art scoreboard and video board, indoor batting cages and an indoor practice facility in the near future. But that takes bucks.
The Cavaliers have had limited success in their two NCAA appearances and many believe this is the season that Virginia could make a run deep in the tournament. Great facilities, enlarged facilities, top 10 recruiting classes, and stellar records only serve to increase expectations.
 ~ Former UVa player (1994-97) Robby Robinson |
“It is an exciting time for the program with the new facility, new coach and of course success,” says Miller. “We need to capitalize on this and create a perennial ACC
challenger that will then compete on the national level.”
“ACC baseball has always been tough and for a long time we have struggled against opponents with better facilities and quality players,” added Kughn. “With the addition of our new stadium and coach I hope we can be a contender for the conference title year in and year out.”
“Coach O’Connor and the team have something that we didn’t have to deal with,” says Robinson. “Pressure to win. There was only a handful of people that really cared if we won or not, and most of those people were either related to us or dated us or us. Now these guys have to deal with what the soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and football programs have had to deal with … real fans who live and breathe with their performance on the field. It’s tougher on the current players mentally, I’m sure. Our class never had to worry about a thread on a message board that criticized your play. But what I wouldn’t have given to have that pressure.”
We trust the current players feel the same way.
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