Bruins, Adams shed ‘failure’ label

Tuesday, 5/27/97 Bruins, Adams shed ‘failure’ label COMMENTARY:
First visit to College World Series since ’69 redeems UCLA

One has to wonder if Gary Adams, the head coach of the UCLA
baseball team, sensed a large axe hanging over his coaching neck as
the Bruins entered Sunday’s regional final. After all, the man’s
resume in NCAA regional play wasn’t exactly glowing, and his
College World Series resume: Well, it didn’t exist. In Adams’ 23
years at UCLA, a Bruin baseball team had never been to the College
World Series. Finally, however, Adams has shed the mother of all
monkeys from his back by leading his team through the loser’s
bracket of its region to the Big Show. But not before that axe
almost dropped. It was fitting, however, that this team would again
put the fear of God into a student body that was probably all
geared up for another failure. As the regionals – with
fourth-ranked UCLA, the top seed, in its bracket – kicked off, the
rope holding the axe began to fray. Adams, who was nearing a silver
anniversary of postseason futility, watched his squad get dumped by
sixth-seeded Harvard in the first round. After having posted double
digits against some of the best pitchers in the country, the
Harvard Crimson somehow silenced the UCLA bats. Let’s be honest.
When that 7-2 score came across the wire, who among us did not
think that it was business as usual for this bunch of perpetual
underachievers. After all, last year, the team floundered down the
stretch and almost played itself out of the regionals. The year
before, it didn’t even make regionals. Even this season, when the
Bruins looked unbeatable early on, rocketing to the No. 1 ranking
in the country behind a cavalcade of offense, they gave us reason
to worry. Reasons like dropping the Six-Pac title to Stanford,
meaning the team would have to play its way into the Series, a
dangerous bet for a team with this kind of track record. But no,
this team shed 23, count them, 23 years of futility under Adams by
doing what it does best – hitting the ball. It was like they had
been teasing us, making us think that even with their gaudy
statistics and high ranking, this team still had no backbone. But
this was no joke and, while the executioner with his axe stood
ready over Adams, the Bruins hacked their way to a doubleheader
sweep of Oklahoma State to claim the Midwest Region. As they did
battle, one thing was apparent. That Harvard score – well, that was
just an anomaly because with another year of failure breathing down
their necks, the Bruins put up 36, that’s 36, runs in two games, an
effort which left OSU battered and broken and UCLA booking tickets
to Omaha. And behind that avalanche of offense, the executioner
that was coming for Adams has been buried, his axe rendered
useless, as the UCLA baseball team returns to the College World
Series for the first time since 1969. Mark Shapiro is a Daily Bruin
sports writer and columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at
[email protected]. Mark Shapiro