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Baseball coach John Savage earns peers’ respect through sport and culinary success

UCLA baseball coach John Savage (right) fields questions at the Southern California Baseball Coaches Media Day on Wednesday at ESPN Zone in Anaheim.

Credit: UCLA ATHLETICS

By Daily Bruin Staff

Jan. 27, 2011 11:40 a.m.

ANAHEIM “”mdash; The slider is one of baseball’s most elusive pitches. When thrown well, it can keep hitters guessing for days.

So when UCLA baseball coach John Savage was told he had to construct a slider Wednesday morning at the Southern California Baseball Coaches Media Day, he knew exactly what to do.

Savage made four jalapeno sliders, or miniature hamburgers, that won him the award for best presentation at the cooking challenge that accompanies the media day event at the ESPN Zone.

“I don’t know how that happened,” Savage said of the honor. “No one gave me any advice and my wife didn’t have any time for me, so I just focused on building the slider when I was here and thankfully we had a Bruin on the panel.”

While it was clear that the judges respected Savage’s cooking prowess, the various coaches in attendance also had nothing but respect for the coach of the nation’s preseason No. 3 team and last season’s national runner-up.

“I think UCLA’s always got a target on their back because of who they are and with coach Savage and his staff,” UC Riverside coach Doug Smith said.

“I think you can always look at them as being one of the programs that you’re going to have to compete against in order to have a chance.”

The event was a reunion of sorts for Savage and UC Irvine coach Mike Gillespie. Savage, who was a pitching coach at USC while Gillespie was the head coach there, considers him a mentor. Savage then took over as the head coach at UC Irvine in 2002, leading them to the postseason in 2004 before landing in Westwood. Gillespie now leads a successful program in Irvine but owes a lot of that success to Savage.

“I’m the president of his fan club,” said Gillespie of Savage. “I’m not surprised with what’s going on at UCLA in any way. Every chance I get, I remind people that he is the guy that brought the UC Irvine program back from the dead.”

Similarly, Savage speaks glowingly of Gillespie. He even named his award winning dish, Fillet de Gillespie, after his friend.

“I have the utmost respect for Mike Gillispe and what he’s done in his career and developing programs and players and just being an unbelievable person,” Savage said.

Pitching rotation takes shape

Amidst preparing sliders of the edible variety and sharing stories with fellow coaches, Savage had time to announce the conclusion of a few position battles in the pitching rotation.

Freshman right-hander Adam Plutko, out of Glendora High School, appears to be the weekend’s third starter on Sundays, behind right-handed juniors Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer.

“Right now it looks like it will be Plutko,” Savage said. “We’ve been very fortunate in years past to finish the season with what we start with, but it’s not always that way.”

The only starting position left for UCLA to determine is the Tuesday night pitcher. Savage said sophomore right-hander Scott Griggs and freshman right-hander Zack Weiss are the most likely pitchers to fill the role left by the graduated Garett Claypool.

Savage also said freshman right-hander Nick Vander Tuig will replace Dan Klein as the Bruins’ closer. Klein was drafted by the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles in the 2010 MLB Draft.

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