Pitchers, beware.
This year's BYU baseball team should have this caution sewn to their uniforms: "The Surgeon General has determined that pitching to us will be hazardous to your earned run average."While the university stresses clean living and loving your neighbor, there is, nevertheless, a Murderer's Row at BYU.
Call 'em the BYU Bombers.
OK, so the 1997 Cougars aren't the 1927 Yankees. But one thing is certain - these guys can hit.
"I marvel at the type of players we get here," said Gary Pullins, who is entering his 21st season as head coach. "This could be one of our best offensive teams ever."
Last year, BYU finished first in the nation in slugging percentage, first in home runs (the Cougars went out of the yard 113 times) and second in hitting with a team average of .361. BYU was also No. 3 in the country in runs scored.
And most of the batters who ravaged to opposing pitching staffs last year are back as the Cougars ready themselves to open the season.
There's designated hitter Brad Winget, who hit .391 and crushed 16 homers in '96. Centerfielder Matt Stringham batted .438, while third baseman Tyson DowDell compiled a .412 average. Catcher D.G. Nelson, who played second base last season, batted .396 with 19 home runs.
Add to that group a couple of young stars, like starting first baseman Will Waldrip, a freshman, and shortstop Chris Circuit, who last year had the highest batting average of any true freshman in BYU history (.446 in 83 plate appearances), and you can count on the Cougars to put up more offensive fireworks in 1997.
Another promising hitter, freshman Kevin Feterik, has decided to redshirt this season. The southpaw, who was a backup quarterback at BYU last fall and is battling for the starter's job for next season, is taking this season off in order to prepare for spring football drills in March.
Even without Feterik, there are plenty of lethal weapons in the Cougars' batting order.
Despite last year's gaudy statistics, the Cougars didn't swing the bats well early in the season. Pullins hopes it will be different this time around. He believes this team will take the first month of the season a little more seriously.
"We didn't play with confidence last year," he said. "Frankly, we didn't put anything together that first month. I think it was the players not realizing how important the preseason is. Our team this year has the view that every game is critical."
He also hopes his club enjoys a better campaign than last year. Although the Cougars claimed another WAC Eastern Division title, Pullins wasn't exactly pleased. "We didn't feel we had a good year," he said. "It was disappointing. We were runners-up in the WAC. Compared to where we could have been, it leaves you reeling."
Of course, baseball is more than hitting. There are those little things called pitching and defense. Those two facets of the game have posed problems in the past. The Cougar defense was pathetic at times.
"Defensively we were terrible at the start of the season," Pullins said. "We committed so many errors (99 on the season). Our pitching struggled, and a lot of it because of defense. It was the worst defensive team I've had at BYU."
As for pitching, the Cougars weren't exactly stellar, either. But there is good news as BYU welcomes back to the roster returned missionary Shane Bloomfield, who went 8-4 in 1994.
"He's our No. 1 guy," Pullins said. "He had a good fall and he's an outstanding college pitcher. He's won some clutch games for us. He has better stuff than he did three years ago. If he doesn't become our ace, we're going to be a little shaky."
Brett McDermaid, who went 7-1 last season, returns while a pair of newcomers, Jared Jensen and lefty Jeff Stone will also anchor the staff.
If BYU's pitching and defense are solid in 1997, the Cougar bats should take care of the rest.
"We're going to beat a lot of people this year," said Pullins. "I just hope it doesn't take us five hours to do it."