Thursday, February 7, 2008
Baseball has always been a redemptive game.
Each new day brings with it the opportunity to exorcise yesterday’s demons. A 3-for-4 game with a home run and five RBI puts an 0-for-4, three-strikeout performance the day before in the rearview mirror for any hitter.
Preston Land earned hiself All-Big 12 preseason honors after he demolished pitchers in his freshman year, but struggled in his sophomore year. After taking the summer off, Land expects to return to his freshman form this spring.
However, when Kansas’ 2007 season ended with a 4-2 loss to Nebraska, there was no tomorrow to improve its 28-30 record or improve its 9th place ranking in the Big 12 standings. Nor was there another game for first baseman Preston Land to receive salvation for a woeful season. Land went 0-for-1 that day and his average dropped from an already underwhelming .208 to .206.
“He really had a disappointing sophomore year and I don’t think anybody was more disappointed in his performance than he was,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said.
For the season, Land had the lowest batting average and RBI total (27) of Kansas’ regular starters. He was next-to-last in home runs (4), strikeouts (53), slugging percentage (.355) and on-base percentage (.346) among Kansas starters. But things hadn’t always been so rough for Land.
As a freshman, Land started 49 games for the Jayhawks and — with just four more at bats than he had last season — hit .314 with nine home runs, 33 RBI, a .572 slugging percentage and a .422 on-base percentage. Having posted such impressive numbers for a freshman, Land was named preseason All-Big 12 by Baseball America in 2007. However, Land’s sophomore season never got on track as he hovered around the Mendoza Line most of the spring.
Preston Land swings against Kansas State during a game on May 5, 2007.
“Looking back on it, I don’t know what happened,” Land said. “I don’t think anybody really can explain what happened. I talked to different coaches and talked to different scouts who saw me and they just said, ‘You know, guys have that kind of year.’”
Exhausted by his season-long slump, Land took a page out of former Jayhawk Kyle Murphy’s book for struggling hitters.
After hitting .153 in 2006 for Kansas, Murphy took the following summer off from baseball and went on to hit .332 in 2007. So, Land did the same thing last summer. Instead of heading to the ballpark day-in and day-out as he’d done his entire life, he took summer classes. In all, Land played in just five games, but there were times he missed the daily grind of summer baseball.
“Getting towards August I was like, ‘Wow, this is really boring. I don’t have any routine of going to the field every day, practicing every day, working out every day.’ So I was so anxious to get back into it,” Land said.
In the fall, Land felt like his old self. He returned fresh and found himself working harder, practicing longer and watching more film than he had before. By the end of the fall season, he said, his average was close to .500.
“It helped me mentally,” Land said of last season. “I know how bad I can be and I don’t want to ever get back there in my career again.”
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Getting towards August I was like, ‘Wow, this is really boring. I don’t have any routine of going to the field every day, practicing every day, working out every day.’ So I was so anxious to get back into it.
-Preston Land
Entering his junior season, Land hopes to live up to the All-Big 12 honors he received last season. If he can, he’ll give Kansas a tremendous boost to its lineup, which already figures to receive consistent production from six of its other starting position players. But even if Land should struggle again, he’s proven he can still be an asset on the field.
Despite his subpar offensive numbers last season, Land never let his offense affect his defense. In 400 defensive chances, Land committed just four errors, posting a .990 fielding percentage — the highest among starting Kansas infielders.
So, while Land must wait two more weeks for a chance to put that last 0-for-1 day behind him, his coach is already counting on him to deliver for Kansas in 2008.
“I’m hopeful that he’ll learn from last year and the experiences of what happens when you fail,” Price said. “He has all the physical abilities to be a double-digit home run guy for us and be an impact hitter in the middle of that lineup.”
—Edited by Madeline Hyden
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