College baseball dream season interrupted, canceled
Nightengale column: Arizona State coach reflects on impact to team and players.
PHOENIX – Arizona State baseball coach Tracy Smith sits behind a desk in his second-floor office, in a nearly deserted building, overlooking an empty baseball stadium, sitting atop a vacant locker room.
This was the most talented team Smith, the 2013 national coach of the year, had in his collegiate career. Arizona State was ranked in the top 10, forecast to reach the College World Series for the first time in a decade, with aspirations of winning their first College World Series championship since 1981.
They have eight players projected to go in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball draft, including first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who is the overwhelming favorite to be the first pick in June.
Now, here is Smith, with the college baseball season shut down, trying to soothe the anxiety and fear of his players in the midst of a pandemic.
“We never even got a team picture,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports. “We always do that in April, but our season just went bam.”
Just over a week ago, the Sun Devils won their fifth consecutive game, going to 13-4, with the belief this could be their year. Now, just 17 of their 35 players are on campus, as classrooms have been shut down, limiting students to online courses.
The players were working out at the facility until Friday morning, when Smith and the coaches at Arizona State were told that the weight rooms were to be closed. Smith expects the batting cages and locker room to be shut down soon, too.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Smith said. “But where does that fall into the social order of heartbreak? People are dying. They are literally dying. People are losing businesses. And we’re supposed to worry about baseball?
“All of us need to comprehend and deal with our new reality.”
Uncertainty
There is another reality, one that is not life or death, for high school and college baseball players across the country.
Will there be an MLB draft? Or will it be altered, moved or canceled, as teams deal with the potential loss of revenue as a result of games likely being lost?
Could the draft be limited to 10 rounds? Could there be a secondary draft in January? Or will two years of amateur players be combined into one draft in 2021?
What happens to the high school players who committed to school and received scholarships if those spots are taken by players who don’t turn pro? How about those high school seniors who didn’t bother focusing on academics because they planned to skip college and head straight to professional baseball?
“The high school seniors will be impacted the most, quite frankly,” Smith said. “There are a lot of high school kids that put education on the back burner, planning to sign out of high school. Now, if there’s no draft, some of these kids can’t even get into college now because they limited themselves on the academic side.
“I don’t even know what the solution is.”
So many questions.
And not a single answer.
“It has only been a week,” Smith said, “and it feels like six months. You go from this immediate shock and thinking, ‘How can they cancel the College World Series?’ to thinking, ‘This is so inconsequential. Who cares whether they canceled the College World Series? How important is the baseball draft?’
“These organizations literally are trying to keep their business afloat. So if you’re trying to manage and cut expenses as an organization, the draft is one of the first things to go, right? People say there could be $400 million lost in the draft, but there will be $130 billion lost in the airline industry. Look at the hotel industry. The restaurant industry. So when you look at it from a world level or a societal level, we’ve got to put this in perspective and say, ‘OK, really in the grand scheme of things, how important is this?’
“I literally hate the things that are coming out of my mouth, being a baseball guy, but all of these things are so much more important than things happening in baseball. In MLB. In the NBA. The NHL.
“You almost feel guilty talking about it now.”
Tracy had a conference call Sunday evening with 12 of his draft-eligible players and families. They wanted the latest updates. All Smith could do was plead patience.
He has no idea when scouts can even see them again, let alone talk to them. He shared a memo from MLB that said all club scouting activities have been suspended to prioritize the safety of players and scouts.
Draft’s prize
Smith, 54, who grew up in Kentland, Indiana, the son of the town barber, strolls through the Arizona State facility, proudly showing off the $4.7 million in recent upgrades.
As Smith steps outside, there’s the manicured field and a who’s who of names on the outfield wall: Reggie Jackson, Barry Bonds, Rick Monday, Bob Horner, Dustin Pedroia, Alvin Davis, Floyd Bannister and on and on.
The next to go up on that wall likely will be Torkelson, the two-time AllAmerican who was just three homers shy of breaking Horner’s school record. He is projected to be the first righthanded-hitting first baseman to ever be selected with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Arizona State had a video tribute ready for when Torkelson broke the home runs record, with Jackson, Bonds and Horner providing their personal congratulations.
“You have been going deep for a long time, now you have the all-time record,” Jackson said. “Congratulations, and the next time I see you, maybe it will be in the big leagues. In Yankee Stadium. Against the Yankees.”
Torkelson, who has remained on campus and is still participating in online classes, stands to lose the most if the draft if canceled. He’s projected to receive at least an $8 million signing bonus.
“He’s the best amateur player in the world right now,” Smith says. “But to Spencer’s credit, and his mindset, he has never made the comment, ‘Hey man, this really screws me over.’ Never.
“He knows this is not the most important thing facing our nation right now. This goes way beyond sports.”
There could be thousands if not millions of lives lost because of COVID-19. The country could be buried for years in an economic recession. Schools are closed. Restaurants, shopping malls, parks and beaches are shut down. State governments are ordering people to stay at home.
One day, sports will return. Baseball will again be played. Maybe then our recovery will begin.
“I’ll be glad when we’re able to integrate sports back into our society. I think that will make a huge statement to our nation that we are getting back to normal. It will give people a sense of calmness.
“Sports is synonymous with hope. We sure could use it.”