Brown Standing on the Brink
posted by David Cloninger, 6/01/2009 10:31:00 AM
He’s gotta be sure,
And it’s gotta be soon,
And he’s gotta be larger than life.”
--------------------------- BONNIE TYLER
Remember Steven Bondurant?
He was good in 2002, rising from a past mostly spent on the bench and in midweek games to become an integral starter. He made the travel roster for the College World Series, saw the Gamecocks fall into the losers’ bracket and was then handed an impossible task.
Cool off Clemson, for the second straight game after the Gamecocks forced a winner-take-all matchup, and put USC into the national championship game. Clemson, which had beaten USC three of four times in the regular season. Clemson, which had a trio of sluggers in the middle of the lineup that had pulverized pitching staffs all year and was playing in a notorious hitters’ paradise.
Bondurant could have turned in his cap and glove and high-tailed it home to North Carolina. Instead, on one glorious afternoon, he became a legend.
I’m a big believer in emotion winning ballgames – not so much in baseball, but definitely in football and basketball, where you have a lot of physical contact with the other team. In baseball, as a former coach once told me, you have to limit the emotion because too much of it will impair your fundamentals.
Finding the right mix, as Bondurant did on that Omaha afternoon, is the key to success.
This is the situation the Gamecocks find themselves in. Beginning at 6 p.m., they take the field with no momentum, no win streak and not many on-site fans in their corner.
What I’m hoping they do have – besides the solution to the hitting woes that hampered them last night – is the memories of those standout performances.
Bondurant wasn’t the only one through the years. I recall Kip Bouknight coming out of the bullpen to save the day, closer Blake Taylor starting a game in Omaha, freshman Aaron Rawl throwing a complete game, Wynn Pelzer untouchable for one summer evening. Because it was against Clemson, in such a situation, though, Bondurant is always the one that tops the list.
Jay Brown gets the ball tonight. If he’s got his Bondurant mojo working, he could be out there a while. The Gamecocks’ best four relievers – Curtis Johnson, Parker Bangs and Alex Farotto, plus former starter Adam Westmoreland – are behind him.
The stats say USC has a great chance to light up the remnants of East Carolina’s pitching staff. I say stats only show so much – they won’t help you put the bat on the ball once you’re standing up there.
Plus, you’ve always got to defend the lead. That’s where Brown and his cronies come in.
The team hotel is a few miles away. Anybody who wants to FedEx a DVD of Bondurant against Clemson, let me know, and I’ll take care of the rest.
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“I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light,
He’s gotta be sure,
And it’s gotta be soon,
And he’s gotta be larger than life.”
--------------------------- BONNIE TYLER
Remember Steven Bondurant?
He was good in 2002, rising from a past mostly spent on the bench and in midweek games to become an integral starter. He made the travel roster for the College World Series, saw the Gamecocks fall into the losers’ bracket and was then handed an impossible task.
Cool off Clemson, for the second straight game after the Gamecocks forced a winner-take-all matchup, and put USC into the national championship game. Clemson, which had beaten USC three of four times in the regular season. Clemson, which had a trio of sluggers in the middle of the lineup that had pulverized pitching staffs all year and was playing in a notorious hitters’ paradise.
Bondurant could have turned in his cap and glove and high-tailed it home to North Carolina. Instead, on one glorious afternoon, he became a legend.
I’m a big believer in emotion winning ballgames – not so much in baseball, but definitely in football and basketball, where you have a lot of physical contact with the other team. In baseball, as a former coach once told me, you have to limit the emotion because too much of it will impair your fundamentals.
Finding the right mix, as Bondurant did on that Omaha afternoon, is the key to success.
This is the situation the Gamecocks find themselves in. Beginning at 6 p.m., they take the field with no momentum, no win streak and not many on-site fans in their corner.
What I’m hoping they do have – besides the solution to the hitting woes that hampered them last night – is the memories of those standout performances.
Bondurant wasn’t the only one through the years. I recall Kip Bouknight coming out of the bullpen to save the day, closer Blake Taylor starting a game in Omaha, freshman Aaron Rawl throwing a complete game, Wynn Pelzer untouchable for one summer evening. Because it was against Clemson, in such a situation, though, Bondurant is always the one that tops the list.
Jay Brown gets the ball tonight. If he’s got his Bondurant mojo working, he could be out there a while. The Gamecocks’ best four relievers – Curtis Johnson, Parker Bangs and Alex Farotto, plus former starter Adam Westmoreland – are behind him.
The stats say USC has a great chance to light up the remnants of East Carolina’s pitching staff. I say stats only show so much – they won’t help you put the bat on the ball once you’re standing up there.
Plus, you’ve always got to defend the lead. That’s where Brown and his cronies come in.
The team hotel is a few miles away. Anybody who wants to FedEx a DVD of Bondurant against Clemson, let me know, and I’ll take care of the rest.
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David Cloninger. David is a full-time staff writer for GamecockCentral, and covers Gamecock football, men's basketball, baseball and recruiting. He may be reached by email at david(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.