Hall of Fame predictions and wardrobe changes
Baseball head coach discusses plans for new season
Ritch Price takes time before the season starts to discuss changes for the Jayhawks.
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Shawn Shroyer: “Well, this time last year, you would have been having practices, but because of the new NCAA rules you can’t start practicing until Feb. 1. Do you feel like you should be out doing something?”
Ritch Price: “I’ll tell you what, my wife told me last night that I’m wound tighter than a drum. It’s the longest I’ve gone without coaching baseball in 30 years. It’s been hard for me to deal with. Yesterday I did my charts and everything for the season, so right now we’re just doing all the preparation things. It’s definitely a weird feeling.”
SS: “Uniform-wise, I heard yesterday, you guys are going to have some Expos-style hats. How of often are you going to break those out?”
RP: “We’re going to wear those with our red tops. That’s Ryno’s suggestion. He loves the Expos hats, so we actually copied that three-color tier. To me, it looks like a surfer/skateboarder hat from California, but the players are absolutely in love with them. I’m sure when the students see them, they’ll be the No. 1 seller in the bookstore.”
SS: “So are you going to kind of be like the Oregon football team with all these uniform combinations?”
RP: “Yeah, a little bit. One of the things we’re going to try to do is wear our blue top at home on a Tuesday night and, if we play a two-game set, we’ll switch to red on Wednesday and we’ll wear the traditional white on Friday night and Saturday. Usually we go to blue on Sunday, which has been our tradition.”
SS: “Moving on to the Major Leagues, they announced this year’s Hall of Fame class a couple weeks ago. What did you think of Goose Gossage getting into the Hall?”
RP: “I was thrilled for him. I was at the Orange Bowl actually when that was announced and I read that one great stat in the paper that he had 52 saves where he entered the game in the seventh inning. And in this day and age when you watch Trevor Hoffman, who I think will be a first ballot Hall of Famer and is one of the greatest pitchers of his era, he pitches the ninth inning. You never see him in the seventh. That’s somebody else’s job now. Gossage pitched in a different era and I think his numbers were very, very deserving of the Hall of Fame.”
SS: “Do you think any guys were left out this year?”
RP: “You know, the criteria is interesting. I read all the debates about who got in and who didn’t get in. I’ve been a Cub fan my whole life and I was disappointed Ron Cey didn’t get in. I think his numbers are as good as guys already in the Hall. The interesting thing is going to be what happens to Mark McGwire when this whole thing plays out. If he doesn’t get in, I think you could see a situation with Barry Bonds maybe not getting in, which would be amazing politically as far as debate in the game.”
SS: “Speaking of Bonds, you said you grew up always listening and watching the Giants. What do you think will happen to them now that Bonds is gone?”
RP: “They needed to get younger. The one good thing about this is Bonds, in 15 years, won five MVP awards and helped build that beautiful stadium. It’s been a great era to be a Giant fan to watch, but I also think the whole team has really aged in the last three years. Now they need to get younger. The one thing about the Giants is they have good pitching. If you look at the Padres, they don’t score many runs, but they pitch and they play defense. I think they’ll actually be better moving him and moving a couple of the other guys, I think you’ll actually see the Giants be better.”
SS: “And you can’t turn on SportsCenter without hearing stuff about steroids. What are your thoughts on steroids in baseball?”
RP: “It needed to be addressed. In college baseball, if you test positive for steroids, it’s a one-year ban. There’ve been some college guys who’ve been caught and suspended for an entire season. If those rules were in place in professional baseball, they wouldn’t even be having this problem. You would hope that a kid could go chase his dream and not have to get into the steroid use in order to advance to be a professional baseball player at the big league level. If you didn’t do it, I think it was a disadvantage, so I think it’s a great thing that they’re finally cleaning it up.”
SS: “Can you make any sense out of the Roger Clemens situation? Nobody else seems to be able to.”
RP: “The thing that’s amazing to me about the whole steroid use thing is you’re talking about hundreds of guys doing it, but they’re singling out the two or three superstars. Clemens is getting the same scrutiny right now that Bonds has gotten. He’s become the poster child. Whether he’s guilty or he’s not guilty, it’s got to be an awful thing for his family and his career as he finishes up. You wouldn’t want to see anybody go through it, but I also think it sends a message to every young guy who’s coming up because it’s a pretty humiliating experience for Clemens right now.”
SS: “And looking ahead, your team is going to be playing in a tournament over spring break just outside of Sarasota, Fla., so are you going to sneak away to watch any spring training baseball?”
RP: “If my guys are down there during that time, I’m going to try to get over and see some of our ex-players. I know the Phillies are down there, so I’ll try to get by the ballpark and say hi to Mike Zagurski. I may take our guys so our kids can get into a minor league complex and see some of our players who are in those systems. What a great motivational factor that would be because they all have the same dream.”
SS: “For sure. And this summer you’re going to be going all over the world with the USA Baseball National Team. Have you been brushing up on your Czech?”
RP: “You know, I’m an American through and through. I’m going to just follow the line with regards to that. It’s going to be a unique experience and it’s something I’m certainly really honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to do. Not only for me personally, but I also get to sell the University of Kansas in the process and represent our baseball program and I’m going to try to do that in a first class manor.
SS: “And, last question for you, I can’t let you out without getting your Super Bowl prediction.”
RP: “I don’t think you can bet against the Patriots with the way they’re playing right now. It’s been remarkable to watch. They had two or three of those games where they could have lost regular season games and found a way to win late. I remember when the 49ers were 17-1 and I watched the final game at Stanford Stadium in person when they won the world championship. It was amazing to watch a team chase perfection like that because they were about as professional as you could be.”
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