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Morris: Baseball stadium debut is perfect time to retire jerseys
Posted on 02.11.09
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NOW IS AS good a time as any to broach the subject of retired jerseys at USC. More specifically, it is time to retire a few baseball jerseys.
Moving into a new home that pushes the USC baseball program into the future also signals a time to recognize the program’s past. USC is set to open its new digs in a couple of weeks, and perhaps no sport at the school has a more illustrious history than baseball.
Yet, for whatever reason, not a single player or coach has been recognized by USC with the retirement of his baseball jersey.
“The other sports have been doing it, so certainly baseball should be doing the same thing,” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “It’s time we take a look at retiring baseball jerseys.”
USC has four retired jerseys in football and five in men’s basketball. The time has come to retire five in baseball for now: coaches Bobby Richardson (No. 7) and June Raines (No. 16) and players Earl Bass (No. 13), Kip Bouknight (No. 14) and Hank Small (No. 12). Justin Smoak’s No. 12 can be retired in 2013 after a mandatory five-year waiting period.
In compiling a list of worthy nominees, it is imperative to follow the policies for retiring jerseys as set forth by the USC athletics department in 2001. As it applies to baseball, the nominees must be one of the following: a university record-holder, a consensus All-American, a consensus national player of the year, or an All-SEC first- or second-team member for three years.
Also, according to athletics department policy, each of the retired jersey numbers still could be worn by current and future players. Nevertheless, their numbers would hang on the press box/sky-box facade at the new stadium.
Unfortunately, the school policy does not address the issue of retired jerseys for coaches in the only sport in which coaches wear numbers. So we will assume the folks who determine jersey-retirement policy will make an exception for former USC coaches Richardson and Raines.
“I definitely feel like both coaches should have their jerseys retired,” Tanner said. “I would agree with that. It’s been a traditionally strong program, and coach Richardson, although he only did seven years here, he sort of put the program on the map.”
Richardson, wearing No. 7 in honor of his one-time New York Yankees teammate Mickey Mantle, was USC’s first full-time coach. In seven seasons from 1970-76, Richardson’s teams won more than 70 percent of their games and finished runner-up in the 1975 College World Series.
If Richardson put USC on the baseball map, then Raines established it as a perennial power. Raines’ teams won 763 games during his 20 seasons and played in four College World Series.
There is any number of players who distinguished themselves with outstanding play over the years at USC. Among them are Mike Cook, Mike Curry, Ryan Bordenick, Tim Lewis, Landon Powell, Greg Ward and Mac White. All were All-Americans, some twice.
Yet there were only four who established an even higher level of play at USC. Smoak, who finished as USC’s all-time leader in home runs with 62, was a consensus All-American in 2008. Tanner will have to wait five years before writing a letter of recommendation for Smoak.
For the other three, Tanner must write a letter supporting such a move and get the endorsement of Eric Hyman, USC’s athletics director. A five-member committee would then determine whether the jerseys would be retired.
The credentials of those three are beyond reproach.
Bass was a first-team All-American in 1974 and ’75. His 34-3 career record included 23 consecutive wins, which remains the second-longest streak in NCAA history. He holds school records for shutouts (10) and earned run average (1.34).
Bouknight’s 45 wins are the most by a USC pitcher. He went 17-1 in 2000, setting an SEC record for most wins in a season. He won the 2000 Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the United States.
Small introduced the home run to USC baseball, setting the school record of 48 that was broken by Smoak. Small was a consensus All-American in 1975 when he led USC to a national runner-up finish to Texas.
Of course, there is one other jersey that ultimately should be retired. But USC fans will have to wait for Ray Tanner to hang up his spikes before his No. 1 jersey is placed in retirement.
Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM.
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