Head Coach Jim Wells
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Head Coach Jim Wells
Lisa, Lauren, Drew, Melissa and Jim Wells. The success of the Alabama baseball program dates back to the turn of the century. The Crimson Tide is the winningest baseball program in Southeastern Conference lore, with more than 2,000 all-time wins, 25 conference championships, 19 NCAA Regional appearances and five trips to the College World Series. Since his arrival to the Capstone on June 4, 1994, Jim Wells had continued that tradition of excellence and in the process has set Alabama records for most coaching appearances and most coaching victories on the baseball diamond. Wells is back for his 14th season with the Tide in 2008 and has compiled a 554-272 (.671) in 826 games. He set the all-time record for most games coached last year at Mississippi State when he notched his 823rd game in a Tide uniform on May 18, 2007 at Dudy Noble Field. Dr. Barry Shollenberger held the previous record with 822 games in his UA career from 1980-94. Wells became the school’s all-time winningest baseball coach with his 488th win at Alabama on March 3, 2006 as the Tide defeated Appalachian State, 4-3, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Shollenberger held the previous record with 487 wins in his UA career. Overall, Wells begins his 19th season as a Division I head coach, where he has compiled a 748-361 (.675) record in 1,109 games. He is currently 00th among active Division head coaches in terms of career wins and 00
42
in terms of career winning percentage. In his 18 previous seasons, Wells has won five regular-season conference championships, eight post-season conference championships and taken 13 of his 18 teams to NCAA Regional play, with three teams (1996, 1997 and 1999) advancing to the College World Series. The Crimson Tide captured the 2006 SEC Championship with a 20-10 league record. Alabama (44-21) won its sixth NCAA Regional championship and fourth under Wells last season. The Tide played in the NCAA Super Regionals for the second time in school history and first since 1999. Alabama has played in 10 NCAA Tournaments in 12 years under Wells. UA has also won six SEC Tournament (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003) titles. He has twice been named SEC “Coach of the Year” (1996, 2002) by his peers. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year three times. The Bossier City, La., native was named Alabama’s 29th head baseball coach on June 4, 1994. Since taking over the Crimson Tide program, Wells has averaged 43.5 wins per year, including three seasons of 50 or more wins and nine seasons of 40 or more wins. He has taken 10 of his 12 teams to NCAA Regionals. The tradition of Alabama baseball goes back into the 19th century. Alabama has won more SEC Championships (14) than
any other school. The Crimson Tide has also put more than 50 players in Major League Baseball, also the second-best total in SEC lore. Wells made his mark on that Alabama tradition with his first season in 1995. And, he has been building on that foundation ever since. Alabama wrapped up his rookie season (1995) with a 42-23 record and its first national ranking since 1991. Along the way, Wells directed the Crimson Tide to a schoolrecord tying 18 SEC wins and the 1995 SEC Western Division Tournament Championship. The Tide posted four consecutive come-from-behind wins in four days to win its first post-season tournament since 1983. UA’s 8-7 win over LSU in the tourney opener, snapped the Crimson Tide’s 10-game tourney losing skid. Wells also became the school’s winningest first-year head coach when Alabama defeated Samford, 12-5, on April 5, 1995. It was his 22nd win for the Tide, breaking the previous record of 21 wins set by J.W.H. Pollard in 1907. In addition, his .646 rookie winning percentage was the second best in Alabama history. Tilden “Happy” Campbell posted a 10-2 (.833) mark in his first year for the Tide in 1935. The 1995 season ended with a runner up finish to Clemson at the NCAA East Regional on the Clemson campus. A hardfought game with Clemson ended a storybook season that fell just one game short of the College World Series. In 1996, Alabama won the SEC Championship. It was the Crimson Tide’s first SEC title since 1983 and first regular-season crown since 1968. The Crimson Tide also landed its first-ever NCAA Regional at Sewell-Thomas Stadium and won that 1996 South I Regional championship with wins over Princeton, South Alabama, Stetson and Virgina to advance to the College World Series for the first time in 16 years. The Crimson Tide entered the CWS as the No. 1 seed and after a dramatic win over Oklahoma State in the first round, the Crimson Tide lost its next two games to Miami and Clemson and the season ended with a school-record 50 wins. The following year (1997), Alabama put together its finest season in school history as the Crimson Tide won a school-record 56 games and played in the national championship game at the College World Series. The hard work by the Alabama coach and his staff paid off as the Tide mentor was tabbed Baseball America “National Coach of the Year” after that record-setting season. Alabama shattered numerous school, SEC and NCAA records along the way to hosting its second consecutive NCAA Regional at
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide won the NCAA South II Regional championship against the toughest six-team bracket in the 48-team field. The Crimson Tide posted wins over Troy State, Wichita State, North Carolina State and Southern California. The Shockers and Trojans were ranked in the Top 10 in the country while the Wolfpack held a Top 20 national ranking. The Crimson Tide clinched its second straight trip to the CWS with a 9-8 (10-inning) win over USC in the South II title game. Matt Frick’s two-out, solo home run provided the winning margin in what remains as one of the most exciting games in the Wells era. It was ironic that a home run would propel the Tide back to the CWS. The Crimson Tide hit a school-record 160 home runs in 1997, the third-highest mark in NCAA history. In addition, the Tide became the only team in NCAA history to have four players with 20 or more home runs. Dustan Mohr (25), Roberto Vaz (22), G.W. Keller (21) and Robbie Tucker (20) all eclipsed the 20 home run barrier in 1997. The Crimson Tide also led the nation in runs scored (679), hits (860), total bases (1,571) and captured the NCAA statistical national championship with a .621 slugging percentage. The school-record clip was 100 points higher than the previous UA record set in 1983. Alabama’s .621 slugging mark is the second highest in NCAA history. The 1979 Wichita State team set the record with a .625 slugging percentage. Alabama’s 860 hits were the most by a Division I team since Wichita State pounded out 914 hits in 1991. The 1,571 total bases were the most since Florida State’s 1,580 total bases in 1985. In addition to his Baseball America award, Jim was also the recipient of the Sington Soaring Spirit Award, presented by the Sington Foundation. The award is named for the late Alabama football and baseball letterman Fred Sington, who was one of the most distinguished sports leaders in this state’s history. Wells is only the third coach to be honored, and the first baseball coach. In 1998, Wells guided Alabama to a 46-18 overall record and a runner-up finish to Long Beach State at the NCAA West Regional at Palo Alto, Calif. The Tide entered as the number-two seed at the six-team regional, but lost 5-3 to the 49ers in the title game, missing its third straight trip to the CWS. Alabama also finished 19-10 in the SEC, which ranked them second in the Western Division behind LSU and third overall. Bama also finished third at the SEC Tournament, snapping its string of three straight post-season championships. In 1999, Wells directed Alabama to its third College World Series appearance since 1996, posting a 53-16 overall record en route to a fourth place national ranking. He led Alabama to the best overall record in the SEC and posted a second-place finish in the SEC with a 21-9 league record, one-game behind league champion Arkansas (22-8). Wells led
the Crimson Tide to its fourth SEC Tournament title in five years with a perfect 4-0 mark at 1999 SEC tourney. He directed the Crimson Tide to an undefeated NCAA regional post-season, winning all three games from Navy and Southern Miss (twice) at the NCAA Regionals in Tuscaloosa. The Tide swept LSU in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals to advance to Omaha. Alabama set or tied 34 school records in 1999 and set the NCAA record with 13 home runs in a 30-4 win at UAB (April 14, 1999). For his efforts, he was named South Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. In 2000, Wells guided Alabama to a 41-24 overall record and a sixth-straight trip to the NCAA Regionals, finishing runner-up to College World Series participant Stanford in the Palo Alto Regional. The Tide’s string of seven straight NCAA Regional appearances came to end with a 32-23 record in 2001, but the absence was short-lived. After a one-year absence from the postseason scene, Wells not only returned his troops to the 64-team field in 2002, , but he also landed the Crimson Tide the No. 3 national seed and the school’s fourth NCAA Regional Tournament at Sewell-Thomas Stadium since 1995. The 2002 squad posted the school’s fourth, 50-win season en route to the SEC Western Division Championship and SEC Tournament Championship. For his efforts, Wells was voted SEC “Coach of the Year” by his peers. The honor was the second by Wells at Alabama and the fifth
WELLSʼ MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS Player, Pos. Team ML Debut Tim Young, LHP Montreal 9-4-98 Dustan Mohr, OF Minnesota 8-29-01 Lance Cormier, RHP Arizona 6-19-04 Paul Phillips KC Royals 9-9-04 Andy Phillips NY Yankees 9-14-04 Taylor Tankersley Jeremy Brown
Florida Oakland
6-3-06 9-3-06
WELLSʼ PLAYERS IN MLB DRAFT Player, Pos. Team (Year Drafted) Skip Ames, RHP Chicago Cubs (1996) Sam Bozanich, INF NY Yankees (2000) Jeremy Brown, C Boston (2001) Oakland (2002) Evan Bush, INF San Francicso (2006) Brent Carter, LHP San Diego (2005) Mark Carter, LHP Chicago Cubs (2001) Joe Caruso, 2B Kansas City (1997) Aaron Clark, 1B Tampa Bay (2001) Joel Colgrove, RHP Oakland (1996) Lance Cormier, RHP Houston (2001) Arizona (2002) Matt Downs, INF San Francisco (2006) Pete Fisher, RHP Minnesota (1998) Matt Frick, C Florida (1998) Kelley Gulledge, C Minnesota (2000) Doug Hall, OF Chicago Cubs (1996) Beau Hearod, OF Houston (2003) Tommy Hunter, RHP
Texas (2007)
Doug Hurst, RHP G.W. Keller, OF Jarrod Kingrey, RHP Casey Lambert, SS T.J. Large, RHP Wade LeBlanc, LHP Scott McClanahan, OF Dustan Mohr, OF Dax Norris, C Greg Paiml, SS Adam Pavkovich, SS Spencer Pennington, OF Andy Phillips, INF Paul Phillips, C Brian Reed, RHP David Robertson, P Emeel Salem, OF
Cincinnati (1997) Oakland (1999) Toronto (1998) Colorado (2001) Boston (2005) San Diego (2006) NY Yankees (2002) Cleveland (1997) Atlanta (1996) Chicago White Sox (2007) Anaheim (2003) Milwaukee (2005) NY Yankees (1999) Kansas City (1998) Toronto (2003) New Yankees (2006) Tampa Bay (2007) Baltimore (2006) Tampa Bay (2002) Cincinnati (1995) Oakland (2005) New York Mets (1998) Seattle Mariners (1999) Minnesota (1996)
Shane Sanders, RHP Will Schleuss, LHP Trey Shields, RHP Justin Smith, LHP Corey Spiers, LHP
Taylor Tankersley, LHP Florida (2004)
Byron Tribe, RHP Brett Taft, SS David Tidwell, OF Kody Valverde, C Roberto Vaz, UTL Tim Young, LHP
Chicago Cubs (1996) Kansas City (1996) Cincinnati (1997) San Diego (2006) Oakland (1997) Montreal (1996)
BOLD indicates first-round draft selection
Rank
SEC ALL-TIME MAJOR LEAGUERS School MLB Players
1.
ALABAMA
58
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
LSU Florida Tennessee Auburn Arkansas Georgia Miss. State Ole Miss South Carolina Kentucky Vanderbilt
56 48 42 41 39 38 37 34 31 26 15
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2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells
time in his career he had been voted conference “Coach of the Year”. He was named Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” three times while at Northwestern State. In 2003, the Crimson Tide claimed its second consecutive SEC Tournament Championship with wins over South Carolina, Auburn (twice) and LSU at the Hoover Met. The four wins landed the Crimson Tide a No. 2 seed at the College Station (Texas) Regional. After missing out on the NCAA Regionals in 2004, Alabama was back in the national limelight in 2005 with another 40-win season and a trip to the NCAA Regionals. The Crimson Tide went 40-23 in 2005 and finished runnerup to No. 1 ranked Tulane at the NCAA New Orleans Regional played on the Tulane campus. The Tide won its 14th SEC Championship and 25th overall conference baseball title in 2006 and captured the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championship with wins over Jacksonville State and Troy (twice) to earn its second trip to the NCAA Super Regionals. Alabama lost both games to No. 5 North Carolina and ended the season with a 44-21 overall record. Alabama posted a 31-26 record last season
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and advanced to the SEC Tournament for the 11th time in Wells’ 13 seasons as head coach. Prior to being named head coach at Alabama, Wells compiled an impressive 192-89 (.683) mark at Northwestern State, his alma mater from 1990-94, where remains the school’s winningest all-time coach. He was named the Louisiana Sportswriters Association 1994 “Coach of the Year”. In his five-year tenure at Northwestern State, Wells averaged nearly 40 wins per season and had the Demons in the NCAA Regionals two times. In addition, he was selected as Southland Conference Coach of the Year three times. In 1990, Wells became head coach at his alma mater, Northwestern (La.) State, his first full-time collegiate coaching position. He inherited a program that had suffered 13 consecutive losing seasons in a state that was full of Division I baseball playing schools (13 to be exact). He won his first 20 games as a head coach at Northwestern State in 1990 and the following year (1991), he guided the Demons to the SLC Championship and a berth in the school’s first-ever NCAA Regional, losing to Louisiana Lafayette and the eventual national champion
LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium. The Demons won back-to-back Southland Conference championships in 1993 and 1994 and participated in the 1994 NCAA Midwest I Regional in Stillwater, Okla. In 1993, NSU posted a 40-14 (.741) record, including an 18-6 conference mark. The highlight of the season was an upset of eventual national champion LSU. The Demons posted a 6-3 win over the Tigers in front of a recordcrowd (3,388) in Natchitoches. Wells guided the Northwestern State to a school-record 45-15 (.750) mark in his final season. The Demons also won the SLC, its third title in five years under Wells. NSU compiled an 8-3 ledger against Top 25 foes. The 1994 Demons set 19 school and SLC records. Northwestern State University retired Jim Wells No. 17 prior to the AlabamaNorthwestern State game on April 9, 2003 at Brown-Stroud Field. A large contingent of Wells’ family and friends were in attendance for the pregame ceremony. In addition, Wells was inducted into the Northwestern State University Athletic Hall of Fame during the 2004-05 school year. Prior to his days at Northwestern State, Wells spent three years as a graduate assistant coach at LSU. During his tenure in Baton Rouge, the Tigers posted a 143-57 (.715) record and two NCAA Regional titles (1987 and 1989). He coached outfielders and hitters on LSU teams that ranked fourth nationally and participated in the College World Series. Among the notables at LSU during Wells’ three-year stay was 1989 firstround draft pick Ben McDonald and Albert Belle. After coaching summer league teams while in college and then serving as head coach at Loyola Prep High School (1982-86) for five seasons, Wells landed his first collegiate job, serving as a graduate assistant coach for Skip Bertman at LSU (1987-89). His baseball career was enhanced by Boots Garland, a close personal friend of Wells and his father. Wells earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Northwestern State in 1980. He earned his master’s degree in education and administration from LSU in 1989. Prior to his days at LSU, Wells was the basketball and baseball coach at Loyola Prep (1982-86). Wells was born March 21, 1955. He is married to the former Lisa Breazeale of Natchitoches and has three children, Lauren, Melissa and Drew.
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells Jim Wellsʼ Coaching Ledger Year School 2007 Alabama 2006 Alabama
Record 31-26 44-21
2005
Alabama
40-23
2004 2003
Alabama Alabama
29-26 38-24
2002
Alabama
51-15
2001
Alabama
32-23
2000 1999
Alabama Alabama
41-24 53-16
1998 1997
Alabama Alabama
46-18 56-14
1996
Alabama
50-19
1995
Alabama
42-23
1994
Northwestern St.
45-15
1993
Northwestern St.
40-14
1992 1991
Northwestern St. Northwestern St.
29-26 40-21
1990
Northwestern St.
38-13
Notes SEC Tournament Participant SEC Co-Champions NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Champions NCAA Super Regional Participant NCAA New Orleans Regional Runner-up SEC Tournament Participant SEC Tournament Champions NCAA College Station Regionals SEC Western Division Champions SEC Tournament Champions SEC “Coach of the Year” NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Runner-up Ended the season with four-game winning streak NCAA Palo Alto Regional College World Series (4th Place); NCAA Regional Champions NCAA Super Regional Champions SEC Tournament Champions ABCA South Region “Coach of the Year” NCAA West Regional Runner-up College World Series Runner-up NCAA South II Champion SEC Tournament Champion Baseball America “Coach of the Year” College World Series (T5th Place) SEC Champions SEC Tournament Champions NCAA South I Regional Champions SEC “Coach of the Year” SEC Western Division Tourney Champs NCAA East Regional Runner-up UAʼs winningest first-year coach Southland Conference Champions NCAA Midwest II Regional Louisiana “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference Champions Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference Champions NCAA South I Regional Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” NSUʼs first winning season in 13 years.
45
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells JIM WELLS CAREER HIGHLIGHTS *Alabama has averaged 42.6 wins per season since 1995. *Three College World Series appearances (1996, 1997 and 1999) *Two SEC Championships (1996 and 2006) *Three SEC Western Division titles (1996, 2002 and 2006) *Six SEC Tournament Championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003) *Four 50-win seasons, including school record 56 wins in 1997 *12 40-win seasons, including six in-a-row from 1995-2000 *12 NCAA Regional Appearances *Two-time SEC “Coach of the Year” (1996 and 2002) *1997 Baseball America “Coach of the Year” *1999 American Baseball Coaches South Region “Coachof the Year” *Six Major League Players *50 Players selected in Major League Baseball Draft *1999 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Andy Phillips) *2002 Johnny Bench Award Winner (Jeremy Brown) *2002 Collegiate Baseball/Redline Defensive Player of the Year (Jeremy Brown) *2002 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Jeremy Brown) *2003 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Beau Hearod) *2004 National Freshman of the Year (Wade LeBlanc) *2006 Academic All-American and SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Emeel Salem) *2007 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athelte of the Year (Emeel Salem) *2007 Academic All-American and SEC Baseball ScholarAthlete of the Year (Emeel Salem) *Seven First-Team All-Americans *26 Second and Third-Team All-Americans *13 Freshman All-America Selections *35 All-SEC Selections *Eight Academic All-America Selections *14 Academic All-District Selections
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2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Jim Wells vs. All Opponents Team Arkansas Arkansas- Little Rock Arkansas-Monticello Arkansas State Appalachain State Auburn Austin Peay
First Meeting 1992 1991 1990 1999 2006 1995 1999
Last Meeting 2007 1998 1993 2002 2006 2007 2002
Overall Record 29-17 7-2 8-0 5-1 3-0 28-21 4-0
Home 15-5 5-1 8-0 5-1 3-0 12-5 4-0
Road 10-10 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-12 0-0
Baptist Christian Belmont Birmingham Southern Brigham Young Butler
1990 2003 1996 2000 2005
1994 2003 2006 2000 2005
9-0 1-0 5-1 2-1 1-0
9-0 1-0 5-0 2-1 1-0
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Cal-State Fullerton Canisius Centenary Central Florida Clemson
1994 2007 1990 2000 1995
1999 2007 2004 2001 1996
3-4 3-0 16-3 2-4 0-2
2-1 3-0 10-2 2-1 0-0
1-2 0-0 6-1 0-3 0-1
0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Dartmouth Duquesne
1991 1997
1991 2005
1-0 4-0
1-0 4-0
0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0
Eastern Illinois Eastern Kentucky
1998 1996
1998 1996
1-0 1-1
1-0 1-1
0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0
Florida Florida Atlantic Florida International
1995 2002 2006
2007 2002 2006
28-14 2-1 3-0
13-4 1-1 3-0
8-7 0-0 0-0
7-3 1-0 0-0
Georgia Georgia Tech Georgia Southern Georgia State Grambling
1996 1996 2000 2002 1990
2007 1996 2002 2006 1994
25-12 1-0 5-0 4-0 10-1
16-2 0-0 5-0 4-0 5-0
8-10 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-1
1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Harding Hawaiʼi Henderson State Houston Houston Baptist
1990 2005 1990 1991 1990
1992 2005 1994 2003 1990
4-0 2-2 9-0 6-5 2-0
4-0 0-0 9-0 3-0 2-0
0-0 2-2 0-0 2-3 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0
Illinois Illinois State Indiana Wesleyan
1995 1994 1991
1997 1994 1991
5-0 1-0 2-0
3-0 0-0 2-0
0-0 0-0 0-0
2-0 1-0 0-0
Neutral 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-4 0-0
Jacksonville State
1999
2006
5-4
4-2
1-2
0-0
Kansas State Kent State Kentucky
1999 2006 1996
2004 2006 2005
2-1 3-0 22-5
2-0 3-0 9-3
0-0 0-0 10-2
0-1 0-0 3-0
Lamar Lipscomb Long Beach State Louisiana College Louisiana Lafayette Lousiana Monroe Louisiana Tech LSU Loyola (NO) Loyola Marymount
1991 2006 1998 1990 1992 1990 1990 1990 1994 1998
1994 2006 1998 1994 2005 1996 2004 2007 1994 1998
5-3 1-0 0-1 9-0 8-4 14-10 19-6 24-34 2-0 1-0
3-0 1-0 0-0 4-0 1-2 5-4 15-0 11-11 2-0 0-0
2-3 0-0 0-0 5-0 4-1 9-6 4-5 8-18 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 3-1 0-0 0-1 5-5 0-0 1-0
Massachusetts 2003 Marshall 1997 McNeese State 1990 Memphis 1994 Mercer 1998 Miami, Fla. 1996 Miami, Ohio 2001 Michigan 1997 Middle Tennessee 1995 Minnesota 1998 Mississippi State 1991 Mississippi Valley St.2002 Murray State 1996
2003 1997 2007 2006 1998 1999 2005 1997 1997 2002 2007 2007 1996
3-0 3-0 17-7 1-2 2-0 2-4 4-2 3-0 4-1 1-1 28-21 8-0 1-1
3-0 3-0 13-5 1-1 2-0 0-0 4-2 3-0 3-1 0-0 11-7 8-0 1-1
0-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-1 10-14 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 2-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 7-0 0-0 0-0
First Team Meeting Navy 1995 Nebraska 2006 Nevada 2000 New Mexico 1995 New Orleans 1991 Niagara 1999 Nicholls State 1990 North Alabama 1998 North Carolina 1996 North Carolina-Asheville 2005 North Carolina State 1997
Last Meeting 1999 2007 2000 1995 2004 1999 2001 2002 2006 2005 1998
Overall Record 2-0 1-5 2-0 2-0 3-2 3-0 9-6 2-0 0-3 3-0 2-1
Home 1-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 3-0 3-0 8-3 2-0 0-2 3-0 1-0
Road 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
1996 1999 1995
1996 2003 1995
2-1 3-0 1-1
2-1 2-0 0-0
0-0 1-0 1-1
0-0 0-0 0-0
2001 1992 1995 1994 1990
2002 1997 2007 1994 1994
4-0 2-2 20-23 1-2 10-0
3-0 0-0 10-8 0-0 10-0
1-0 0-2 9-11 1-2 0-0
0-0 2-0 1-3 0-0 0-0
Penn State Peru State Princeton Purdue
1995 1993 1996 2000
1995 1993 1996 2000
2-1 2-0 1-0 2-1
2-1 2-0 1-0 2-1
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Radford Rhode Island Rice Richmond
1996 2003 1993 1995
1996 2003 2003 1995
2-0 2-1 2-2 1-0
2-0 2-1 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0
0-0 0-0 2-0 1-0
Samford 1995 Sam Houston St. 1990 South Alabama 1992 South Carolina 1995 SE Louisiana 1990 SE Missouri State 2002 Southern Arkansas 1990 Southern 1994 Southern California 1997 Southern Mississippi1997 Southwest Texas 1990 Stanford 2000 Stephen F. Austin 1990 Stetson 1996
2007 1994 2007 2007 2006 2004 1993 1994 1997 2007 1994 2000 1994 1996
15-4 10-6 14-6 18-17 11-2 6-2 8-3 1-0 1-0 12-2 9-5 1-2 11-4 1-0
11-3 7-3 9-2 8-7 6-2 6-2 4-2 1-0 1-0 10-0 3-3 0-0 7-2 1-0
4-1 3-3 5-4 4-11 4-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 2-2 6-2 1-2 4-2 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Tennessee Tennessee Tech Texas A&M Texas-Arlington Texas Christian Texas San-Antonio Troy Tulane
2007 2007 2003 1994 1994 1994 2007 2005
23-12 0-1 0-3 9-7 2-1 3-2 6-3 0-4
11-4 0-1 0-0 2-5 0-0 1-1 6-2 0-0
10-8 0-0 0-3 7-2 1-1 2-1 0-1 0-4
2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
NC-Greensboro Northwestern State Notre Dame Oklahoma Oklahoma State Ole Miss Oral Roberts Ouachita Baptist
1995 2007 1995 1990 1994 1993 1995 1994
Neutral 1-0 0-0 2-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-1
UAB
1995
2007
20-5
10-2
10-3
0-0
Vanderbilt Villanova Virginia
1996 2007 1996
2007 2007 1996
20-10 2-1 1-0
11-4 2-1 1-0
9-6 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0
1996 1997 1995 1995 1995 1995
1996 1997 2006 2003 1995 1995
1-0 1-0 6-4 8-1 1-0 2-1
0-0 1-0 5-3 7-1 1-0 2-1
0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0
1-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
Wake Forest Wichita State Winthrop West Alabama West Florida Western Michigan
47
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Mitch Gaspard ASSISTANT COACH & RECRUITING COORDINATOR – 8TH YEAR AT ALABAMA LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE, 1988 Long-time University of Alabama assistant coach Mitch Gaspard has returned to the Capstone to become the Crimson Tide’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Gaspard, 42, spent the last six years as head coach at Northwestern (La.) State in Natchitoches, La. He compiled a 211-128 (.622) record in his tenure at Northwestern State. During those six years, he led the Demons to a pair of Southland Conference championships, one SLC Tournament championship and a berth in the 2005 NCAA Baton Rouge (La.) Regional. In 18 years of coaching, Gaspard has worked with teams that have won eight conference championships, eight conference tournament championships, played in 14 NCAA Regionals and three College World Series. In Gaspard’s first season, he guided his team to NSU’s eighth conference title in 12 seasons as the Demons finished among the nation’s best in pitching and fielding while finishing 43-17 overall. After heavy graduation losses, Gaspard and his staff blended a core of highly-regarded high school products with some good junior college talent and led the club to a fourth-place showing in the league while compiling a 35-22 overall mark. In 2004, the Demons challenged for another SLC title before finishing second in the league. Northwestern was sixth nationally in stolen bases, 44th in the country with a team ERA of 4.11, 26th in double plays per game and the Demons batted a robust .296. NSU (33-23) won eight of its nine SLC series, including beating SLC champ Lamar, and the Demons averaged seven runs per game. Sophomore first baseman Bobby Barbier won Academic All-America honors. The 2005 season was another banner year for the Demons and Gaspard. Having being named the SLC’s Coach of the Year, Gaspard and the Demons steamrolled through the league schedule with a remarkable 22-5 record - 41-20 overall - setting a new conference record for most league wins in a season. The Demons won the league race by six games. The team also cracked into the national polls, continuously ranking in the NCBWA Top 35 and Collegiate Baseball Top 30. As a result of its success, Northwestern State was selected as an at-large participant to the NCAA Baseball Tournament where it finished 1-2 in the Baton Rouge Regional. Gaspard continued the tradition of great coaches at NSU, surpassing the win totals of former head coach Jim Wells (1990-95), Dave Van Horn (1996-98) and John Cohen (1999-2001), all of whom are now head coaches in the Southeastern Conference. During his days as Wells’ assistant at NSU, the Demons won SLC titles in 1993 and 1994, winning in NCAA regional play in 1994. Gaspard was a pivotal figure as an ace recruiter and a shrewd tactician in the remarkable revival of the Crimson Tide. Alabama had four
48
SEC wins in 1994, but after Wells and Gaspard arrived, the Tide won the SEC Tournament in 1995 and were one win away from the College World Series. By the time Gaspard returned to NSU, Alabama had earned six NCAA Regional appearances and three College World Series berths, including a national championship game loss to LSU in 1997. In each of his seven seasons at Alabama, Gaspard molded the Tide into one of nation’s finest defensive units. As the chief recruiter, he landed five straight Top 20 recruiting classes, including three Top 10 finishes in 1997, 1998 and 1999. An all-state shortstop at Port Arthur Jefferson, he his team to the Texas state title as a senior and then became the starting second baseman in 1985 for a first Skip Bertman-coached LSU team that advanced to NCAA Regional play. He played his final two collegiate seasons as a starter at second for the University of Houston, where he became an assistant coach in 1988. Gaspard moved to Louisiana-Lafayette from 1989-92, helping the Ragin’ Cajuns reach three NCAA Regionals and win three conference titles. He and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Brae (14) and Paeton (10).
The Mitch Gaspard File Born: Wife: Children (2): Education:
May 26, 1965 Kim Brae and Paeton Louisiana Lafayette, 1988 (B.S., General Studies)
Coaching Experience: Houston (1988) Assistant Coach Assistant Coach UL Lafayette (1989-92) Assistant Coach Northwestern State (1993-94) Assistant Coach Head Coach Assistant Coach
Alabama (1995-2001) Northwestern State (2002-07) Alabama (2007-Present)
Gaspard Head Coaching Record 2002 43-17 SLC Champions 35-22 2003 2004 33-23 2005 42-10 SLC Champions 2006 25-28 2007 33-28
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
B.J. Green ASSISTANT COACH – 7TH YEAR AT ALABAMA ALABAMA, 2002
A veteran member of the Alabama baseball program, B.J. Green is in his 10th season with the Crimson Tide and his second as full-time assistant coach. In December 2007, Green was placed on medical leave at the University and will not coach this season due to health issues. During his 10-year career as a player, student assistant coach, volunteer coach and assistant coach, Green has been a part of one SEC Championship (2006), three SEC Tournament championships (1999, 2002 and 2003), seven NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regionals and one College World Series appearance (1999). During his stint as the Crimson Tide’s volunteer assistant coach, Green worked with the Crimson Tide pitching staff. In 2006, Alabama pitchers led the SEC with a 3.51 ERA. In 2004, Alabama picthers ranked second in the SEC and eighth nationally with a 3.36 ERA. Green has tutored four All-Americans on the mound in his tenure with the Crimson Tide, including 2004 National and SEC Freshman of the Year, Wade LeBlanc. Green has seen 18 Crimson Tide pitchers taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, including first-round selection Taylor Tankerlsey (2004). Two of Green’s pupils - Tankersely (Florida Marlins) and Lance Cormier (Atlanta Braves) - have reached the big leagues. Green has also served as the coordinator of the Alabama Baseball Camps. In 2003, Green served as the pitching coach for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League.
While with Harwich, Green coached the No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 Major League Draft Jason Niemann, Cape Cod League All-Star (Justin Hedrick) and five other pitchers taken in the MLB Draft. Green played for Coach Jim Wells and the Crimson Tide from 1998-2001. He compiled an 18-4 (.818) career record. In 1998, he set the UA freshman record with eight wins on the mound. In 1999, Green was a member of the Crimson Tide team that posted a 53-16 overall record and finished third at the College World Series. Alabama also won the 1999 SEC Tournament championship, the 1999 NCAA South Regional and the 1999 NCAA Super Regional championship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports fitness management from the University of Alabama in 2002. Green was a four-year letterman at Gardendale High School for coach Barry Brake. He was the 1997 USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Alabama after setting the state record with 455 career strikeouts. A native of Gardendale, Ala., Green was born Jan. 2, 1979.
The BJ Green File Born: Education:
Jan. 2, 1979 Alabama, 2002 (Sports Fitness Management)
Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach, Alabama (2007-Present) Volunteer Assistant Coach, Alabama (2003-06) Pitching Coach, Harwich Mariners (Cape Cod League, 2003) Student Assistant Coach, Alabama (2002) Playing Experience: High School: Gardendale High School (1994-97) *1997 USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Alabama Set then-state record with 455 career strikeouts College: Alabama (1998-2001) *Compiled 18-4 career record and set freshman record for wins (8) in 1998 *Played on 1999 SEC Tournament Championship Team and CWS Team
49
2008 20 008 8 ALABAMA ALAB BAMA A BASEBALL BASSEBA ALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Dax Norris INTERIM ASSISTANT COACH – 3RD YEAR AT ALABAMA ALABAMA, 2008 One of the cornerstones of the University of Alabama’s baseball revival under head coach Jim Wells has returned to the Capstone as the school’s interim assistant coach. Dax Norris, a two-year starter at catcher in 1995 and 1996, was hired last summer as the Tide’s volunteer coach, but was promoted to interim assistant coach when B.J. Green was placed on medical leave in December, 2007. A hard-nosed player, Norris brings that same work ethic to the field as an assistant coach, where he will work the Tide hitters and catchers and assist coach Wells with the pitching staff. Norris played in 132 games for the Crimson Tide, including 122 starts, and batted .329 (177-for-538) with 10 home runs and 83 RBI. He added 39 doubles, two triples and 42 walks and compiled a .994 fielding mark as one the top backstops in school history. He spent the 2007 season as an assistant coach at Niceville (Fla.) High School, where he worked under former Bama assistant coach Kevin Berry and tutored UA pitching signee Jimmy Nelson. A journeyman minor leaguer, Norris played 11 seasons with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros organizations, reaching the Triple A level with both clubs. He played in 846 career minor league games and batted .265 (771-for-2,914) with 73 home runs and 421 RBI. He had a careerhigh 122 hits and 72 RBI for the Greenville (S.C.) Braves (Class AA, Southern League) in 2000 and smacked a career-high 15 home runs in Greenville in 1999. During the offseasons, Norris ran his own hitting school in Florida. A 23rd-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1996, Norris was a two-year starter for the Crimson Tide. He batted .283 (72-for-254) as a junior in 1995 with three home runs and 34 RBI in 63 starts. Norris was named to the 1995 NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team at the Clemson, S.C., where he batted .316 (6-for-19) with two runs scored and five RBI in five games. He also turned in 36 errorless chances behind the plate. He was elected team captain on the Crimson Tide’s 1996 SEC Championship team that finished with a then-school record 50 wins. Alabama also captured the 1996 SEC Tournament championship at the Hoover Met and hosted the school’s firstever NCAA Regional. Norris led UA to its first College World Series appearance since 1983 during his senior year. He batted .370 (105-for-284) with seven home runs and 49
500
RBI en route to being named First-Team All-American by the Super Smith Team. He was also a First-Team All-SEC honoree and American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region pick. Prior to playing at Alabama, Norris was a two-year starter at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, Ala. A native of LaGrange, Ga., Norris was born Jan. 14, 1973. He is married to the former Rene’ Simpkins.
The Dax Norris File Born: Wife:
Jan. 14, 1973 LaGrange, Ga. Reneʼ
Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach Niceville (Fla.) High School, (2006-07) Assistant Coach Alabama, (2007-Present) Playing Experience: High School: LaGrange High School (1990-92) College: Central Alabama CC (1993-94) Alabama (1995-96) Professional: Atlanta Braves (1996-2002) Houston Astros (2003-06)
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Drew French
Joe Hoffer
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Athletic Trainer
Drew French was named a volunteer baseball coach at the University of Alabama on January 7, 2008. He came to Alabama after spending last season as the pitching coach at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. He has also served as the head coach of the Austin Slam (15-17-year old team) from 2005-07. French works with the Crimson Tide pitchers and outfielders and assists with day-to-day operation of the baseball program. A three-sport letterman at Concordia University in Austin Texas, French starred in baseball (2003-06), soccer (2003-04) and cross country (2003). He was 4-0 during his collegiate baseball career with six saves. A three-time Academic All-Southwestern Conference selection, French earned the Dawnna Dukes Leadership Award and was named Texas State Representative for academics. He graduated with a 3.45 GPA with an emphasis in marketing and management in 2006. A two-time all-district pitcher and outfielder, French graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas in 2002. He helped the school to a runner-up finish in the Class 5A state playoffs in 2001. A native of Seguin, Texas, French was born July 19, 1984.
Joe Hoffer (pronounced HO-fer) was named Assistant Athletic Trainer on August 17, 2007, after a two-year stint at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and four years of experience with USA Baseball. Hoffer worked the past two seasons at UW-Stout in Menomonie, Wis., where he served as the athletic trainer and pitching coach for the Division III school. He has also been involved with USA Baseball during his athletic career. He served as the Junior Olympic Athletic Training Site Coordinator in Peoria, Ariz., in 2004, 2005 and 2007. In 2006, he was the Head Athletic Trainer for USA Baseball’s 16-and-under team that captured the gold medal at the Pan Am Games in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Hoffer earned his master’s of science degree in Sports Administration and Health Promotion from Northwestern (La.) State University in 2005. During his two years at NSU, Hoffer worked with football, track and field and baseball. In 2005, he was the trainer for the Demons baseball team that won the Southland Conference Championship under then-head coach Mitch Gaspard and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, La. He earned his bachelor’s of arts degree in Exercise Physiology with an emphasis in Athletic Training from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., in 2003. Hoffer was a four-year letterman on the men’s tennis team that advanced to the Region Finals all four years (2000-03) and earned the Region Championship in 2001. He also worked as a student athletic trainer. A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Hoffer attended The Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn. He is engaged to Steph Miettunen, who is currently working on her doctoral degree in pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, with the wedding date set for July 26, 2008. Hoffer was born Dec. 18, 1980.
51
Head Coach Jim Wells
Lisa, Lauren, Drew, Melissa and Jim Wells. The success of the Alabama baseball program dates back to the turn of the century. The Crimson Tide is the winningest baseball program in Southeastern Conference lore, with more than 2,000 all-time wins, 25 conference championships, 19 NCAA Regional appearances and five trips to the College World Series. Since his arrival to the Capstone on June 4, 1994, Jim Wells had continued that tradition of excellence and in the process has set Alabama records for most coaching appearances and most coaching victories on the baseball diamond. Wells is back for his 14th season with the Tide in 2008 and has compiled a 554-272 (.671) in 826 games. He set the all-time record for most games coached last year at Mississippi State when he notched his 823rd game in a Tide uniform on May 18, 2007 at Dudy Noble Field. Dr. Barry Shollenberger held the previous record with 822 games in his UA career from 1980-94. Wells became the school’s all-time winningest baseball coach with his 488th win at Alabama on March 3, 2006 as the Tide defeated Appalachian State, 4-3, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Shollenberger held the previous record with 487 wins in his UA career. Overall, Wells begins his 19th season as a Division I head coach, where he has compiled a 748-361 (.675) record in 1,109 games. He is currently 00th among active Division head coaches in terms of career wins and 00
42
in terms of career winning percentage. In his 18 previous seasons, Wells has won five regular-season conference championships, eight post-season conference championships and taken 13 of his 18 teams to NCAA Regional play, with three teams (1996, 1997 and 1999) advancing to the College World Series. The Crimson Tide captured the 2006 SEC Championship with a 20-10 league record. Alabama (44-21) won its sixth NCAA Regional championship and fourth under Wells last season. The Tide played in the NCAA Super Regionals for the second time in school history and first since 1999. Alabama has played in 10 NCAA Tournaments in 12 years under Wells. UA has also won six SEC Tournament (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003) titles. He has twice been named SEC “Coach of the Year” (1996, 2002) by his peers. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year three times. The Bossier City, La., native was named Alabama’s 29th head baseball coach on June 4, 1994. Since taking over the Crimson Tide program, Wells has averaged 43.5 wins per year, including three seasons of 50 or more wins and nine seasons of 40 or more wins. He has taken 10 of his 12 teams to NCAA Regionals. The tradition of Alabama baseball goes back into the 19th century. Alabama has won more SEC Championships (14) than
any other school. The Crimson Tide has also put more than 50 players in Major League Baseball, also the second-best total in SEC lore. Wells made his mark on that Alabama tradition with his first season in 1995. And, he has been building on that foundation ever since. Alabama wrapped up his rookie season (1995) with a 42-23 record and its first national ranking since 1991. Along the way, Wells directed the Crimson Tide to a schoolrecord tying 18 SEC wins and the 1995 SEC Western Division Tournament Championship. The Tide posted four consecutive come-from-behind wins in four days to win its first post-season tournament since 1983. UA’s 8-7 win over LSU in the tourney opener, snapped the Crimson Tide’s 10-game tourney losing skid. Wells also became the school’s winningest first-year head coach when Alabama defeated Samford, 12-5, on April 5, 1995. It was his 22nd win for the Tide, breaking the previous record of 21 wins set by J.W.H. Pollard in 1907. In addition, his .646 rookie winning percentage was the second best in Alabama history. Tilden “Happy” Campbell posted a 10-2 (.833) mark in his first year for the Tide in 1935. The 1995 season ended with a runner up finish to Clemson at the NCAA East Regional on the Clemson campus. A hardfought game with Clemson ended a storybook season that fell just one game short of the College World Series. In 1996, Alabama won the SEC Championship. It was the Crimson Tide’s first SEC title since 1983 and first regular-season crown since 1968. The Crimson Tide also landed its first-ever NCAA Regional at Sewell-Thomas Stadium and won that 1996 South I Regional championship with wins over Princeton, South Alabama, Stetson and Virgina to advance to the College World Series for the first time in 16 years. The Crimson Tide entered the CWS as the No. 1 seed and after a dramatic win over Oklahoma State in the first round, the Crimson Tide lost its next two games to Miami and Clemson and the season ended with a school-record 50 wins. The following year (1997), Alabama put together its finest season in school history as the Crimson Tide won a school-record 56 games and played in the national championship game at the College World Series. The hard work by the Alabama coach and his staff paid off as the Tide mentor was tabbed Baseball America “National Coach of the Year” after that record-setting season. Alabama shattered numerous school, SEC and NCAA records along the way to hosting its second consecutive NCAA Regional at
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide won the NCAA South II Regional championship against the toughest six-team bracket in the 48-team field. The Crimson Tide posted wins over Troy State, Wichita State, North Carolina State and Southern California. The Shockers and Trojans were ranked in the Top 10 in the country while the Wolfpack held a Top 20 national ranking. The Crimson Tide clinched its second straight trip to the CWS with a 9-8 (10-inning) win over USC in the South II title game. Matt Frick’s two-out, solo home run provided the winning margin in what remains as one of the most exciting games in the Wells era. It was ironic that a home run would propel the Tide back to the CWS. The Crimson Tide hit a school-record 160 home runs in 1997, the third-highest mark in NCAA history. In addition, the Tide became the only team in NCAA history to have four players with 20 or more home runs. Dustan Mohr (25), Roberto Vaz (22), G.W. Keller (21) and Robbie Tucker (20) all eclipsed the 20 home run barrier in 1997. The Crimson Tide also led the nation in runs scored (679), hits (860), total bases (1,571) and captured the NCAA statistical national championship with a .621 slugging percentage. The school-record clip was 100 points higher than the previous UA record set in 1983. Alabama’s .621 slugging mark is the second highest in NCAA history. The 1979 Wichita State team set the record with a .625 slugging percentage. Alabama’s 860 hits were the most by a Division I team since Wichita State pounded out 914 hits in 1991. The 1,571 total bases were the most since Florida State’s 1,580 total bases in 1985. In addition to his Baseball America award, Jim was also the recipient of the Sington Soaring Spirit Award, presented by the Sington Foundation. The award is named for the late Alabama football and baseball letterman Fred Sington, who was one of the most distinguished sports leaders in this state’s history. Wells is only the third coach to be honored, and the first baseball coach. In 1998, Wells guided Alabama to a 46-18 overall record and a runner-up finish to Long Beach State at the NCAA West Regional at Palo Alto, Calif. The Tide entered as the number-two seed at the six-team regional, but lost 5-3 to the 49ers in the title game, missing its third straight trip to the CWS. Alabama also finished 19-10 in the SEC, which ranked them second in the Western Division behind LSU and third overall. Bama also finished third at the SEC Tournament, snapping its string of three straight post-season championships. In 1999, Wells directed Alabama to its third College World Series appearance since 1996, posting a 53-16 overall record en route to a fourth place national ranking. He led Alabama to the best overall record in the SEC and posted a second-place finish in the SEC with a 21-9 league record, one-game behind league champion Arkansas (22-8). Wells led
the Crimson Tide to its fourth SEC Tournament title in five years with a perfect 4-0 mark at 1999 SEC tourney. He directed the Crimson Tide to an undefeated NCAA regional post-season, winning all three games from Navy and Southern Miss (twice) at the NCAA Regionals in Tuscaloosa. The Tide swept LSU in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals to advance to Omaha. Alabama set or tied 34 school records in 1999 and set the NCAA record with 13 home runs in a 30-4 win at UAB (April 14, 1999). For his efforts, he was named South Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. In 2000, Wells guided Alabama to a 41-24 overall record and a sixth-straight trip to the NCAA Regionals, finishing runner-up to College World Series participant Stanford in the Palo Alto Regional. The Tide’s string of seven straight NCAA Regional appearances came to end with a 32-23 record in 2001, but the absence was short-lived. After a one-year absence from the postseason scene, Wells not only returned his troops to the 64-team field in 2002, , but he also landed the Crimson Tide the No. 3 national seed and the school’s fourth NCAA Regional Tournament at Sewell-Thomas Stadium since 1995. The 2002 squad posted the school’s fourth, 50-win season en route to the SEC Western Division Championship and SEC Tournament Championship. For his efforts, Wells was voted SEC “Coach of the Year” by his peers. The honor was the second by Wells at Alabama and the fifth
WELLSʼ MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS Player, Pos. Team ML Debut Tim Young, LHP Montreal 9-4-98 Dustan Mohr, OF Minnesota 8-29-01 Lance Cormier, RHP Arizona 6-19-04 Paul Phillips KC Royals 9-9-04 Andy Phillips NY Yankees 9-14-04 Taylor Tankersley Jeremy Brown
Florida Oakland
6-3-06 9-3-06
WELLSʼ PLAYERS IN MLB DRAFT Player, Pos. Team (Year Drafted) Skip Ames, RHP Chicago Cubs (1996) Sam Bozanich, INF NY Yankees (2000) Jeremy Brown, C Boston (2001) Oakland (2002) Evan Bush, INF San Francicso (2006) Brent Carter, LHP San Diego (2005) Mark Carter, LHP Chicago Cubs (2001) Joe Caruso, 2B Kansas City (1997) Aaron Clark, 1B Tampa Bay (2001) Joel Colgrove, RHP Oakland (1996) Lance Cormier, RHP Houston (2001) Arizona (2002) Matt Downs, INF San Francisco (2006) Pete Fisher, RHP Minnesota (1998) Matt Frick, C Florida (1998) Kelley Gulledge, C Minnesota (2000) Doug Hall, OF Chicago Cubs (1996) Beau Hearod, OF Houston (2003) Tommy Hunter, RHP
Texas (2007)
Doug Hurst, RHP G.W. Keller, OF Jarrod Kingrey, RHP Casey Lambert, SS T.J. Large, RHP Wade LeBlanc, LHP Scott McClanahan, OF Dustan Mohr, OF Dax Norris, C Greg Paiml, SS Adam Pavkovich, SS Spencer Pennington, OF Andy Phillips, INF Paul Phillips, C Brian Reed, RHP David Robertson, P Emeel Salem, OF
Cincinnati (1997) Oakland (1999) Toronto (1998) Colorado (2001) Boston (2005) San Diego (2006) NY Yankees (2002) Cleveland (1997) Atlanta (1996) Chicago White Sox (2007) Anaheim (2003) Milwaukee (2005) NY Yankees (1999) Kansas City (1998) Toronto (2003) New Yankees (2006) Tampa Bay (2007) Baltimore (2006) Tampa Bay (2002) Cincinnati (1995) Oakland (2005) New York Mets (1998) Seattle Mariners (1999) Minnesota (1996)
Shane Sanders, RHP Will Schleuss, LHP Trey Shields, RHP Justin Smith, LHP Corey Spiers, LHP
Taylor Tankersley, LHP Florida (2004)
Byron Tribe, RHP Brett Taft, SS David Tidwell, OF Kody Valverde, C Roberto Vaz, UTL Tim Young, LHP
Chicago Cubs (1996) Kansas City (1996) Cincinnati (1997) San Diego (2006) Oakland (1997) Montreal (1996)
BOLD indicates first-round draft selection
Rank
SEC ALL-TIME MAJOR LEAGUERS School MLB Players
1.
ALABAMA
58
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
LSU Florida Tennessee Auburn Arkansas Georgia Miss. State Ole Miss South Carolina Kentucky Vanderbilt
56 48 42 41 39 38 37 34 31 26 15
43
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells
time in his career he had been voted conference “Coach of the Year”. He was named Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” three times while at Northwestern State. In 2003, the Crimson Tide claimed its second consecutive SEC Tournament Championship with wins over South Carolina, Auburn (twice) and LSU at the Hoover Met. The four wins landed the Crimson Tide a No. 2 seed at the College Station (Texas) Regional. After missing out on the NCAA Regionals in 2004, Alabama was back in the national limelight in 2005 with another 40-win season and a trip to the NCAA Regionals. The Crimson Tide went 40-23 in 2005 and finished runnerup to No. 1 ranked Tulane at the NCAA New Orleans Regional played on the Tulane campus. The Tide won its 14th SEC Championship and 25th overall conference baseball title in 2006 and captured the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championship with wins over Jacksonville State and Troy (twice) to earn its second trip to the NCAA Super Regionals. Alabama lost both games to No. 5 North Carolina and ended the season with a 44-21 overall record. Alabama posted a 31-26 record last season
44
and advanced to the SEC Tournament for the 11th time in Wells’ 13 seasons as head coach. Prior to being named head coach at Alabama, Wells compiled an impressive 192-89 (.683) mark at Northwestern State, his alma mater from 1990-94, where remains the school’s winningest all-time coach. He was named the Louisiana Sportswriters Association 1994 “Coach of the Year”. In his five-year tenure at Northwestern State, Wells averaged nearly 40 wins per season and had the Demons in the NCAA Regionals two times. In addition, he was selected as Southland Conference Coach of the Year three times. In 1990, Wells became head coach at his alma mater, Northwestern (La.) State, his first full-time collegiate coaching position. He inherited a program that had suffered 13 consecutive losing seasons in a state that was full of Division I baseball playing schools (13 to be exact). He won his first 20 games as a head coach at Northwestern State in 1990 and the following year (1991), he guided the Demons to the SLC Championship and a berth in the school’s first-ever NCAA Regional, losing to Louisiana Lafayette and the eventual national champion
LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium. The Demons won back-to-back Southland Conference championships in 1993 and 1994 and participated in the 1994 NCAA Midwest I Regional in Stillwater, Okla. In 1993, NSU posted a 40-14 (.741) record, including an 18-6 conference mark. The highlight of the season was an upset of eventual national champion LSU. The Demons posted a 6-3 win over the Tigers in front of a recordcrowd (3,388) in Natchitoches. Wells guided the Northwestern State to a school-record 45-15 (.750) mark in his final season. The Demons also won the SLC, its third title in five years under Wells. NSU compiled an 8-3 ledger against Top 25 foes. The 1994 Demons set 19 school and SLC records. Northwestern State University retired Jim Wells No. 17 prior to the AlabamaNorthwestern State game on April 9, 2003 at Brown-Stroud Field. A large contingent of Wells’ family and friends were in attendance for the pregame ceremony. In addition, Wells was inducted into the Northwestern State University Athletic Hall of Fame during the 2004-05 school year. Prior to his days at Northwestern State, Wells spent three years as a graduate assistant coach at LSU. During his tenure in Baton Rouge, the Tigers posted a 143-57 (.715) record and two NCAA Regional titles (1987 and 1989). He coached outfielders and hitters on LSU teams that ranked fourth nationally and participated in the College World Series. Among the notables at LSU during Wells’ three-year stay was 1989 firstround draft pick Ben McDonald and Albert Belle. After coaching summer league teams while in college and then serving as head coach at Loyola Prep High School (1982-86) for five seasons, Wells landed his first collegiate job, serving as a graduate assistant coach for Skip Bertman at LSU (1987-89). His baseball career was enhanced by Boots Garland, a close personal friend of Wells and his father. Wells earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Northwestern State in 1980. He earned his master’s degree in education and administration from LSU in 1989. Prior to his days at LSU, Wells was the basketball and baseball coach at Loyola Prep (1982-86). Wells was born March 21, 1955. He is married to the former Lisa Breazeale of Natchitoches and has three children, Lauren, Melissa and Drew.
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells Jim Wellsʼ Coaching Ledger Year School 2007 Alabama 2006 Alabama
Record 31-26 44-21
2005
Alabama
40-23
2004 2003
Alabama Alabama
29-26 38-24
2002
Alabama
51-15
2001
Alabama
32-23
2000 1999
Alabama Alabama
41-24 53-16
1998 1997
Alabama Alabama
46-18 56-14
1996
Alabama
50-19
1995
Alabama
42-23
1994
Northwestern St.
45-15
1993
Northwestern St.
40-14
1992 1991
Northwestern St. Northwestern St.
29-26 40-21
1990
Northwestern St.
38-13
Notes SEC Tournament Participant SEC Co-Champions NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Champions NCAA Super Regional Participant NCAA New Orleans Regional Runner-up SEC Tournament Participant SEC Tournament Champions NCAA College Station Regionals SEC Western Division Champions SEC Tournament Champions SEC “Coach of the Year” NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Runner-up Ended the season with four-game winning streak NCAA Palo Alto Regional College World Series (4th Place); NCAA Regional Champions NCAA Super Regional Champions SEC Tournament Champions ABCA South Region “Coach of the Year” NCAA West Regional Runner-up College World Series Runner-up NCAA South II Champion SEC Tournament Champion Baseball America “Coach of the Year” College World Series (T5th Place) SEC Champions SEC Tournament Champions NCAA South I Regional Champions SEC “Coach of the Year” SEC Western Division Tourney Champs NCAA East Regional Runner-up UAʼs winningest first-year coach Southland Conference Champions NCAA Midwest II Regional Louisiana “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference Champions Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” Southland Conference Champions NCAA South I Regional Southland Conference “Coach of the Year” NSUʼs first winning season in 13 years.
45
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Head Coach Jim Wells JIM WELLS CAREER HIGHLIGHTS *Alabama has averaged 42.6 wins per season since 1995. *Three College World Series appearances (1996, 1997 and 1999) *Two SEC Championships (1996 and 2006) *Three SEC Western Division titles (1996, 2002 and 2006) *Six SEC Tournament Championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003) *Four 50-win seasons, including school record 56 wins in 1997 *12 40-win seasons, including six in-a-row from 1995-2000 *12 NCAA Regional Appearances *Two-time SEC “Coach of the Year” (1996 and 2002) *1997 Baseball America “Coach of the Year” *1999 American Baseball Coaches South Region “Coachof the Year” *Six Major League Players *50 Players selected in Major League Baseball Draft *1999 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Andy Phillips) *2002 Johnny Bench Award Winner (Jeremy Brown) *2002 Collegiate Baseball/Redline Defensive Player of the Year (Jeremy Brown) *2002 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Jeremy Brown) *2003 NCBWA District III Player of the Year (Beau Hearod) *2004 National Freshman of the Year (Wade LeBlanc) *2006 Academic All-American and SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Emeel Salem) *2007 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athelte of the Year (Emeel Salem) *2007 Academic All-American and SEC Baseball ScholarAthlete of the Year (Emeel Salem) *Seven First-Team All-Americans *26 Second and Third-Team All-Americans *13 Freshman All-America Selections *35 All-SEC Selections *Eight Academic All-America Selections *14 Academic All-District Selections
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2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL
Jim Wells vs. All Opponents Team Arkansas Arkansas- Little Rock Arkansas-Monticello Arkansas State Appalachain State Auburn Austin Peay
First Meeting 1992 1991 1990 1999 2006 1995 1999
Last Meeting 2007 1998 1993 2002 2006 2007 2002
Overall Record 29-17 7-2 8-0 5-1 3-0 28-21 4-0
Home 15-5 5-1 8-0 5-1 3-0 12-5 4-0
Road 10-10 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-12 0-0
Baptist Christian Belmont Birmingham Southern Brigham Young Butler
1990 2003 1996 2000 2005
1994 2003 2006 2000 2005
9-0 1-0 5-1 2-1 1-0
9-0 1-0 5-0 2-1 1-0
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Cal-State Fullerton Canisius Centenary Central Florida Clemson
1994 2007 1990 2000 1995
1999 2007 2004 2001 1996
3-4 3-0 16-3 2-4 0-2
2-1 3-0 10-2 2-1 0-0
1-2 0-0 6-1 0-3 0-1
0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Dartmouth Duquesne
1991 1997
1991 2005
1-0 4-0
1-0 4-0
0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0
Eastern Illinois Eastern Kentucky
1998 1996
1998 1996
1-0 1-1
1-0 1-1
0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0
Florida Florida Atlantic Florida International
1995 2002 2006
2007 2002 2006
28-14 2-1 3-0
13-4 1-1 3-0
8-7 0-0 0-0
7-3 1-0 0-0
Georgia Georgia Tech Georgia Southern Georgia State Grambling
1996 1996 2000 2002 1990
2007 1996 2002 2006 1994
25-12 1-0 5-0 4-0 10-1
16-2 0-0 5-0 4-0 5-0
8-10 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-1
1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Harding Hawaiʼi Henderson State Houston Houston Baptist
1990 2005 1990 1991 1990
1992 2005 1994 2003 1990
4-0 2-2 9-0 6-5 2-0
4-0 0-0 9-0 3-0 2-0
0-0 2-2 0-0 2-3 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0
Illinois Illinois State Indiana Wesleyan
1995 1994 1991
1997 1994 1991
5-0 1-0 2-0
3-0 0-0 2-0
0-0 0-0 0-0
2-0 1-0 0-0
Neutral 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-4 0-0
Jacksonville State
1999
2006
5-4
4-2
1-2
0-0
Kansas State Kent State Kentucky
1999 2006 1996
2004 2006 2005
2-1 3-0 22-5
2-0 3-0 9-3
0-0 0-0 10-2
0-1 0-0 3-0
Lamar Lipscomb Long Beach State Louisiana College Louisiana Lafayette Lousiana Monroe Louisiana Tech LSU Loyola (NO) Loyola Marymount
1991 2006 1998 1990 1992 1990 1990 1990 1994 1998
1994 2006 1998 1994 2005 1996 2004 2007 1994 1998
5-3 1-0 0-1 9-0 8-4 14-10 19-6 24-34 2-0 1-0
3-0 1-0 0-0 4-0 1-2 5-4 15-0 11-11 2-0 0-0
2-3 0-0 0-0 5-0 4-1 9-6 4-5 8-18 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 3-1 0-0 0-1 5-5 0-0 1-0
Massachusetts 2003 Marshall 1997 McNeese State 1990 Memphis 1994 Mercer 1998 Miami, Fla. 1996 Miami, Ohio 2001 Michigan 1997 Middle Tennessee 1995 Minnesota 1998 Mississippi State 1991 Mississippi Valley St.2002 Murray State 1996
2003 1997 2007 2006 1998 1999 2005 1997 1997 2002 2007 2007 1996
3-0 3-0 17-7 1-2 2-0 2-4 4-2 3-0 4-1 1-1 28-21 8-0 1-1
3-0 3-0 13-5 1-1 2-0 0-0 4-2 3-0 3-1 0-0 11-7 8-0 1-1
0-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-1 10-14 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 2-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 7-0 0-0 0-0
First Team Meeting Navy 1995 Nebraska 2006 Nevada 2000 New Mexico 1995 New Orleans 1991 Niagara 1999 Nicholls State 1990 North Alabama 1998 North Carolina 1996 North Carolina-Asheville 2005 North Carolina State 1997
Last Meeting 1999 2007 2000 1995 2004 1999 2001 2002 2006 2005 1998
Overall Record 2-0 1-5 2-0 2-0 3-2 3-0 9-6 2-0 0-3 3-0 2-1
Home 1-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 3-0 3-0 8-3 2-0 0-2 3-0 1-0
Road 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
1996 1999 1995
1996 2003 1995
2-1 3-0 1-1
2-1 2-0 0-0
0-0 1-0 1-1
0-0 0-0 0-0
2001 1992 1995 1994 1990
2002 1997 2007 1994 1994
4-0 2-2 20-23 1-2 10-0
3-0 0-0 10-8 0-0 10-0
1-0 0-2 9-11 1-2 0-0
0-0 2-0 1-3 0-0 0-0
Penn State Peru State Princeton Purdue
1995 1993 1996 2000
1995 1993 1996 2000
2-1 2-0 1-0 2-1
2-1 2-0 1-0 2-1
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Radford Rhode Island Rice Richmond
1996 2003 1993 1995
1996 2003 2003 1995
2-0 2-1 2-2 1-0
2-0 2-1 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0
0-0 0-0 2-0 1-0
Samford 1995 Sam Houston St. 1990 South Alabama 1992 South Carolina 1995 SE Louisiana 1990 SE Missouri State 2002 Southern Arkansas 1990 Southern 1994 Southern California 1997 Southern Mississippi1997 Southwest Texas 1990 Stanford 2000 Stephen F. Austin 1990 Stetson 1996
2007 1994 2007 2007 2006 2004 1993 1994 1997 2007 1994 2000 1994 1996
15-4 10-6 14-6 18-17 11-2 6-2 8-3 1-0 1-0 12-2 9-5 1-2 11-4 1-0
11-3 7-3 9-2 8-7 6-2 6-2 4-2 1-0 1-0 10-0 3-3 0-0 7-2 1-0
4-1 3-3 5-4 4-11 4-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 2-2 6-2 1-2 4-2 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Tennessee Tennessee Tech Texas A&M Texas-Arlington Texas Christian Texas San-Antonio Troy Tulane
2007 2007 2003 1994 1994 1994 2007 2005
23-12 0-1 0-3 9-7 2-1 3-2 6-3 0-4
11-4 0-1 0-0 2-5 0-0 1-1 6-2 0-0
10-8 0-0 0-3 7-2 1-1 2-1 0-1 0-4
2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
NC-Greensboro Northwestern State Notre Dame Oklahoma Oklahoma State Ole Miss Oral Roberts Ouachita Baptist
1995 2007 1995 1990 1994 1993 1995 1994
Neutral 1-0 0-0 2-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-1
UAB
1995
2007
20-5
10-2
10-3
0-0
Vanderbilt Villanova Virginia
1996 2007 1996
2007 2007 1996
20-10 2-1 1-0
11-4 2-1 1-0
9-6 0-0 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-0
1996 1997 1995 1995 1995 1995
1996 1997 2006 2003 1995 1995
1-0 1-0 6-4 8-1 1-0 2-1
0-0 1-0 5-3 7-1 1-0 2-1
0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0
1-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
Wake Forest Wichita State Winthrop West Alabama West Florida Western Michigan
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2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Mitch Gaspard ASSISTANT COACH & RECRUITING COORDINATOR – 8TH YEAR AT ALABAMA LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE, 1988 Long-time University of Alabama assistant coach Mitch Gaspard has returned to the Capstone to become the Crimson Tide’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Gaspard, 42, spent the last six years as head coach at Northwestern (La.) State in Natchitoches, La. He compiled a 211-128 (.622) record in his tenure at Northwestern State. During those six years, he led the Demons to a pair of Southland Conference championships, one SLC Tournament championship and a berth in the 2005 NCAA Baton Rouge (La.) Regional. In 18 years of coaching, Gaspard has worked with teams that have won eight conference championships, eight conference tournament championships, played in 14 NCAA Regionals and three College World Series. In Gaspard’s first season, he guided his team to NSU’s eighth conference title in 12 seasons as the Demons finished among the nation’s best in pitching and fielding while finishing 43-17 overall. After heavy graduation losses, Gaspard and his staff blended a core of highly-regarded high school products with some good junior college talent and led the club to a fourth-place showing in the league while compiling a 35-22 overall mark. In 2004, the Demons challenged for another SLC title before finishing second in the league. Northwestern was sixth nationally in stolen bases, 44th in the country with a team ERA of 4.11, 26th in double plays per game and the Demons batted a robust .296. NSU (33-23) won eight of its nine SLC series, including beating SLC champ Lamar, and the Demons averaged seven runs per game. Sophomore first baseman Bobby Barbier won Academic All-America honors. The 2005 season was another banner year for the Demons and Gaspard. Having being named the SLC’s Coach of the Year, Gaspard and the Demons steamrolled through the league schedule with a remarkable 22-5 record - 41-20 overall - setting a new conference record for most league wins in a season. The Demons won the league race by six games. The team also cracked into the national polls, continuously ranking in the NCBWA Top 35 and Collegiate Baseball Top 30. As a result of its success, Northwestern State was selected as an at-large participant to the NCAA Baseball Tournament where it finished 1-2 in the Baton Rouge Regional. Gaspard continued the tradition of great coaches at NSU, surpassing the win totals of former head coach Jim Wells (1990-95), Dave Van Horn (1996-98) and John Cohen (1999-2001), all of whom are now head coaches in the Southeastern Conference. During his days as Wells’ assistant at NSU, the Demons won SLC titles in 1993 and 1994, winning in NCAA regional play in 1994. Gaspard was a pivotal figure as an ace recruiter and a shrewd tactician in the remarkable revival of the Crimson Tide. Alabama had four
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SEC wins in 1994, but after Wells and Gaspard arrived, the Tide won the SEC Tournament in 1995 and were one win away from the College World Series. By the time Gaspard returned to NSU, Alabama had earned six NCAA Regional appearances and three College World Series berths, including a national championship game loss to LSU in 1997. In each of his seven seasons at Alabama, Gaspard molded the Tide into one of nation’s finest defensive units. As the chief recruiter, he landed five straight Top 20 recruiting classes, including three Top 10 finishes in 1997, 1998 and 1999. An all-state shortstop at Port Arthur Jefferson, he his team to the Texas state title as a senior and then became the starting second baseman in 1985 for a first Skip Bertman-coached LSU team that advanced to NCAA Regional play. He played his final two collegiate seasons as a starter at second for the University of Houston, where he became an assistant coach in 1988. Gaspard moved to Louisiana-Lafayette from 1989-92, helping the Ragin’ Cajuns reach three NCAA Regionals and win three conference titles. He and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Brae (14) and Paeton (10).
The Mitch Gaspard File Born: Wife: Children (2): Education:
May 26, 1965 Kim Brae and Paeton Louisiana Lafayette, 1988 (B.S., General Studies)
Coaching Experience: Houston (1988) Assistant Coach Assistant Coach UL Lafayette (1989-92) Assistant Coach Northwestern State (1993-94) Assistant Coach Head Coach Assistant Coach
Alabama (1995-2001) Northwestern State (2002-07) Alabama (2007-Present)
Gaspard Head Coaching Record 2002 43-17 SLC Champions 35-22 2003 2004 33-23 2005 42-10 SLC Champions 2006 25-28 2007 33-28
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
B.J. Green ASSISTANT COACH – 7TH YEAR AT ALABAMA ALABAMA, 2002
A veteran member of the Alabama baseball program, B.J. Green is in his 10th season with the Crimson Tide and his second as full-time assistant coach. In December 2007, Green was placed on medical leave at the University and will not coach this season due to health issues. During his 10-year career as a player, student assistant coach, volunteer coach and assistant coach, Green has been a part of one SEC Championship (2006), three SEC Tournament championships (1999, 2002 and 2003), seven NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regionals and one College World Series appearance (1999). During his stint as the Crimson Tide’s volunteer assistant coach, Green worked with the Crimson Tide pitching staff. In 2006, Alabama pitchers led the SEC with a 3.51 ERA. In 2004, Alabama picthers ranked second in the SEC and eighth nationally with a 3.36 ERA. Green has tutored four All-Americans on the mound in his tenure with the Crimson Tide, including 2004 National and SEC Freshman of the Year, Wade LeBlanc. Green has seen 18 Crimson Tide pitchers taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, including first-round selection Taylor Tankerlsey (2004). Two of Green’s pupils - Tankersely (Florida Marlins) and Lance Cormier (Atlanta Braves) - have reached the big leagues. Green has also served as the coordinator of the Alabama Baseball Camps. In 2003, Green served as the pitching coach for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League.
While with Harwich, Green coached the No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 Major League Draft Jason Niemann, Cape Cod League All-Star (Justin Hedrick) and five other pitchers taken in the MLB Draft. Green played for Coach Jim Wells and the Crimson Tide from 1998-2001. He compiled an 18-4 (.818) career record. In 1998, he set the UA freshman record with eight wins on the mound. In 1999, Green was a member of the Crimson Tide team that posted a 53-16 overall record and finished third at the College World Series. Alabama also won the 1999 SEC Tournament championship, the 1999 NCAA South Regional and the 1999 NCAA Super Regional championship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports fitness management from the University of Alabama in 2002. Green was a four-year letterman at Gardendale High School for coach Barry Brake. He was the 1997 USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Alabama after setting the state record with 455 career strikeouts. A native of Gardendale, Ala., Green was born Jan. 2, 1979.
The BJ Green File Born: Education:
Jan. 2, 1979 Alabama, 2002 (Sports Fitness Management)
Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach, Alabama (2007-Present) Volunteer Assistant Coach, Alabama (2003-06) Pitching Coach, Harwich Mariners (Cape Cod League, 2003) Student Assistant Coach, Alabama (2002) Playing Experience: High School: Gardendale High School (1994-97) *1997 USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Alabama Set then-state record with 455 career strikeouts College: Alabama (1998-2001) *Compiled 18-4 career record and set freshman record for wins (8) in 1998 *Played on 1999 SEC Tournament Championship Team and CWS Team
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2008 20 008 8 ALABAMA ALAB BAMA A BASEBALL BASSEBA ALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Dax Norris INTERIM ASSISTANT COACH – 3RD YEAR AT ALABAMA ALABAMA, 2008 One of the cornerstones of the University of Alabama’s baseball revival under head coach Jim Wells has returned to the Capstone as the school’s interim assistant coach. Dax Norris, a two-year starter at catcher in 1995 and 1996, was hired last summer as the Tide’s volunteer coach, but was promoted to interim assistant coach when B.J. Green was placed on medical leave in December, 2007. A hard-nosed player, Norris brings that same work ethic to the field as an assistant coach, where he will work the Tide hitters and catchers and assist coach Wells with the pitching staff. Norris played in 132 games for the Crimson Tide, including 122 starts, and batted .329 (177-for-538) with 10 home runs and 83 RBI. He added 39 doubles, two triples and 42 walks and compiled a .994 fielding mark as one the top backstops in school history. He spent the 2007 season as an assistant coach at Niceville (Fla.) High School, where he worked under former Bama assistant coach Kevin Berry and tutored UA pitching signee Jimmy Nelson. A journeyman minor leaguer, Norris played 11 seasons with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros organizations, reaching the Triple A level with both clubs. He played in 846 career minor league games and batted .265 (771-for-2,914) with 73 home runs and 421 RBI. He had a careerhigh 122 hits and 72 RBI for the Greenville (S.C.) Braves (Class AA, Southern League) in 2000 and smacked a career-high 15 home runs in Greenville in 1999. During the offseasons, Norris ran his own hitting school in Florida. A 23rd-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1996, Norris was a two-year starter for the Crimson Tide. He batted .283 (72-for-254) as a junior in 1995 with three home runs and 34 RBI in 63 starts. Norris was named to the 1995 NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team at the Clemson, S.C., where he batted .316 (6-for-19) with two runs scored and five RBI in five games. He also turned in 36 errorless chances behind the plate. He was elected team captain on the Crimson Tide’s 1996 SEC Championship team that finished with a then-school record 50 wins. Alabama also captured the 1996 SEC Tournament championship at the Hoover Met and hosted the school’s firstever NCAA Regional. Norris led UA to its first College World Series appearance since 1983 during his senior year. He batted .370 (105-for-284) with seven home runs and 49
500
RBI en route to being named First-Team All-American by the Super Smith Team. He was also a First-Team All-SEC honoree and American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region pick. Prior to playing at Alabama, Norris was a two-year starter at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, Ala. A native of LaGrange, Ga., Norris was born Jan. 14, 1973. He is married to the former Rene’ Simpkins.
The Dax Norris File Born: Wife:
Jan. 14, 1973 LaGrange, Ga. Reneʼ
Coaching Experience: Assistant Coach Niceville (Fla.) High School, (2006-07) Assistant Coach Alabama, (2007-Present) Playing Experience: High School: LaGrange High School (1990-92) College: Central Alabama CC (1993-94) Alabama (1995-96) Professional: Atlanta Braves (1996-2002) Houston Astros (2003-06)
2008 ALABAMA BASEBALL Crimson Tide Baseball
Drew French
Joe Hoffer
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Athletic Trainer
Drew French was named a volunteer baseball coach at the University of Alabama on January 7, 2008. He came to Alabama after spending last season as the pitching coach at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. He has also served as the head coach of the Austin Slam (15-17-year old team) from 2005-07. French works with the Crimson Tide pitchers and outfielders and assists with day-to-day operation of the baseball program. A three-sport letterman at Concordia University in Austin Texas, French starred in baseball (2003-06), soccer (2003-04) and cross country (2003). He was 4-0 during his collegiate baseball career with six saves. A three-time Academic All-Southwestern Conference selection, French earned the Dawnna Dukes Leadership Award and was named Texas State Representative for academics. He graduated with a 3.45 GPA with an emphasis in marketing and management in 2006. A two-time all-district pitcher and outfielder, French graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas in 2002. He helped the school to a runner-up finish in the Class 5A state playoffs in 2001. A native of Seguin, Texas, French was born July 19, 1984.
Joe Hoffer (pronounced HO-fer) was named Assistant Athletic Trainer on August 17, 2007, after a two-year stint at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and four years of experience with USA Baseball. Hoffer worked the past two seasons at UW-Stout in Menomonie, Wis., where he served as the athletic trainer and pitching coach for the Division III school. He has also been involved with USA Baseball during his athletic career. He served as the Junior Olympic Athletic Training Site Coordinator in Peoria, Ariz., in 2004, 2005 and 2007. In 2006, he was the Head Athletic Trainer for USA Baseball’s 16-and-under team that captured the gold medal at the Pan Am Games in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Hoffer earned his master’s of science degree in Sports Administration and Health Promotion from Northwestern (La.) State University in 2005. During his two years at NSU, Hoffer worked with football, track and field and baseball. In 2005, he was the trainer for the Demons baseball team that won the Southland Conference Championship under then-head coach Mitch Gaspard and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, La. He earned his bachelor’s of arts degree in Exercise Physiology with an emphasis in Athletic Training from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., in 2003. Hoffer was a four-year letterman on the men’s tennis team that advanced to the Region Finals all four years (2000-03) and earned the Region Championship in 2001. He also worked as a student athletic trainer. A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Hoffer attended The Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn. He is engaged to Steph Miettunen, who is currently working on her doctoral degree in pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, with the wedding date set for July 26, 2008. Hoffer was born Dec. 18, 1980.
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