Lobos will bring lucky duds wherever they go
Don’t call it superstition: Cream unis got it done, tourney-bound team says
ALBUQUERQUE — Hockey players have their playoff beards.
The Lobo baseball team has its kits.
At the suggestion of the assistant coaches and the pitching staff, the University of New Mexico headed into the postseason by opting to wear their baggy, cream-colored throwback uniforms for last weekend’s Mountain West Conference Tournament in Albuquerque. The players took a step further, each of them wearing their favorite superhero T-shirt under their game jersey.
“These things did OK, I guess,” said Lobos third baseman Carl Stajduhar. “I have no complaints.”
“You do something special in these and you get a chance to unbutton the jersey and show everyone in the dugout your superhero shirt underneath,” said designated hitter Chris DeVito. “It’s hard to unbutton if you’re wearing batting gloves but, man, it’s worth it if things are going right. What a great thing.”
The wardrobe game plan worked to perfection. The Lobos swept through the double-elimination field to win the league title and earn an automatic trip to the NCAA Tournament. On Monday they will learn where they go when pairings for this week’s regionals will be announced by the NCAA.
It’s their sixth trip to regionals since 2010. Each of the 16 regional sites will be a four-team, doubleelimination format. The winners advance to the following week’s super regionals. The final eight move onto the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The Lobos have never advanced past the regional round.
“I could literally care less where
they put us,” said DeVito. “We’re going to have three other teams that we’re going to have to beat and I could care less who it is. I just want to win.”
The Lobos (38-21) will be sure to take their special uniforms along with them. They worked so well when put to the test that not even head coach Ray Birmingham is questioning the powers of the wardrobe gods.
“Well, I have another piece of garment I haven’t changed for four weeks,” he joked. “I’m teasing, but it’s just part of the deal. That’s what baseball players do. We’re not changing the uniform. We’re going to wear this every day when we get to Omaha.”
When told that a lower seed might mean his team will be forced to wear something else in the regional, Birmingham wasn’t budging.
“My team may have to wear something else,” he said, patting his hand on his right pant leg. “I’m wearing this.”
The throwbacks were one of several looks the Lobos wore this season. They have six different jerseys; white, red, gray, anthracite, turquoise and cream. They complement that with four different colored pairs of pants.
Had UNM lost at any point last weekend, changing outfits would have been a non-issue. But leave it to a former hockey player to sum it up best.
“I actually used to play hockey, so I’m really superstitious personally,” DeVito said. “These [the cream uniforms] are my own personal favorites and I’d wear these every day for the rest of the year I wouldn’t be upset. We have to. They’ve worked so far.”
LOBO NOTES
Viewing party: The Lobos will gather at Kelly’s Brew Pub near the UNM campus on Monday morning to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show. It starts at 10 a.m., and the party is open to the general public.
Coach’s preference: When asked about his team’s travel plans for the regional round, Birmingham was quick to point out where he does — and does not — want to go.
“I do not want to go to Tempe [Ariz.],” he said. “That yard’s not an offensive yard. If they have it in Lubbock, I want to go to Lubbock.”
UNM has gone to California or Arizona for each of its previous tournament appearances. The difference in climate can be a killer for the free-swinging Lobos.
“We’ve always gone to the West Coast places that are non-offensive yards,” he said. “That’s what happens on the West Coast because the ball, you can smoke it and it doesn’t go anywhere. You can crush it and they catch it at the fence. I want to go where it works out for us.”
An even split: DeVito and Stajduhar each took a few minutes to mingle among the crowd after Saturday’s clincher against Nevada. When he came back to the field to take a few celebratory pictures with his teammates, DeVito said it was the fans who helped make things possible.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “They get at least 50 percent of this. We get 50 for playing, but they get 50 for supporting us.”