June 8, 2007

Bounce: For Candrea, numbers count

ANTHONY GIMINO

Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea is always looking for omens. This is a guy who, after eating at a Whataburger in Oklahoma City in 1991, kept the receipt in his wallet because it was order No. 1.

UA went on to win national title No. 1.

He went on eating at Whataburgers in future years.

Last year, before the College World Series, he was honored as the best coach of the first 25 years of NCAA softball. He could have chosen just about any number he wanted on his jersey. He picked No. 7 - not only because of his idol, Mickey Mantle, but also because the Wildcats were trying to win national title No. 7.

Which they did.

This season, after UA won its eighth national championship, he pulled out his wallet and showed reporters a valet parking receipt he got earlier in the week. The number on it was 308.

Three games in the championship series. National title No. 08. A bit of a reach.

For a New York Yankees fan such as Candrea, I thought a better omen would have been that No. 8 in Yankees lore is Yogi Berra. And what is Berra's most famous saying? "It ain't over till it's over."

That should be the title of the season's championship video.

An eight-inning 5-4 comeback victory over Washington on the last day of the regular season gave Arizona the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and set the Wildcats on their championship course.

They rallied from a 5-0 first-inning deficit against Cal State Fullerton in the super regionals. They five times faced elimination at the College World Series - and won each game by a combined score of 19-1.

Of UA's previous national titles, none was like this. It was never over until it was over.

Who are those strangers?

Watching baseball's four-hour telecast of its First-Year Player Draft on Thursday was like going to the movies and not knowing any of the actors. The players might have the tools to become a Kevin Costner or George Clooney, but it's going to take time.

Baseball decided it was time to join the NFL and NBA with live coverage of its draft. The NFL and NBA get enormous ratings, creating drama and excitement with their made-for-TV shows.

But when the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays used the first pick to select Vanderbilt left-hander David Price, my guess is that most of those watching ESPN2's telecast had never heard of him.

Price went 11-1 with a 2.63 ERA and Division I-leading 194 strikeouts in his junior season for the Commodores. He accumulated several awards and about 50 pairs of shoes - size 13 - during his three years at Vanderbilt.
"I like shoes," Price said.

For the first time in nine years, more high schoolers (17) were chosen in the first round than college players.
By the time the NFL and NBA drafts are held, virtually all first-rounders have had their moments on national TV. They might not be household names, but they're not strangers, either.

The overriding question is, can a live telecast of the baseball draft sustain interest and keep viewers for the 30 picks of the first round?

I don't think so, if the crowd of 500 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla., is any indication. By the time the second round was over, the fan count was down to four.