Home Run Club Season Previews

[HuskersNC949597]

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Omaha: Saturday, Jan. 19th
9-11 a.m., Holiday Inn Central (72nd & Grover)

Grand Island: Saturday, Jan. 26th
9-11 a.m., 3311 W Stolley Park Rd

Both are free to get in.

[HuskersNC949597]

Just in case anyone needed a reminder.

[HuskersNC949597]

Anybody else check this out? It was pretty freakin' cold out, my brain is still frozen so my details may be fuzzy. The turnout was good. Coach A talked for a while, stressed the importance of faith and family, talked about the problems the team had last year and how they are doing a ton of community service this year. Coach also went into the scheduling process. Our strength-of-schedule was 5th last season, which put our RPI in the 20s, which pretty much guaranteed us a spot in the NCAA tournament. Coach hopes the NCAA mandated opening day will be advantageous for us. He also mentioned the new transfers: Erik Anderson (no relation, unless he plays well Mike said), Tyler Farst and Cody Neer. No mention, that I recall, of Joe Hatasaki.

The players all introduced themselves (just position players. Pitchers and catchers were in Lincoln working out.) They gave their name, hometown, and why they decided to go to UNL. All gave fairly pat answers (to win a championship, or because of the fans, stuff like that), except Opitz (who went first), saying he came to "play for Coach Anderson." That got a bit of a laugh, Coach called him a "funny guy", the look on Mike's face was rather priceless. Also, DJ Belfonte said he chose Lincoln because his mom wouldn't let him go any further. The players signed stuff, as did Mike Anderson and Dave Bingham, and that was when I left. It was fun, and Coach Anderson's speech was pretty cool, about the outlook for this season. His quote (paraphrased) about Tom Osborne: "People say he's a football guy, forget about football, he doesn't know anything about football, he's a baseball guy!" He played third and pitched for Hastings. Mike has talked to TO about putting together an indoor batting facility-type thingy near Haymarket Park. So donate money if you can to get that done.

[HuskerFan2002]

Thanks for sharing that. I didn't get a chance to go although I would show up if there was one in Lincoln.

Another thing I want to mention that there's a Husker Home Run Club banquet set for February 1st. It's held at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln. There's a silent auction plus a dinner and a guest speaker. Last year it was Harold Reynolds. This year its Kyle Peterson from ESPN.

[HuskersNC949597]

I forgot to mention what Anderson said about the pitchers. We all know Johnny Dorn is back, but who else will start? He mentioned Dan Jennings and Erik Bird. Erik Anderson may also get a look (or "Erik, Anderson" as the Huskers.com roster lists him  :? ). Since the pitchers and catchers will be present at the Grand Island preview, it'd be nice if someone on the board could get to that one and file a report for us