Lobos’ coach Ray Birmingham doesn’t give a flying fastball how the UNM baseball team starts.
And he shouldn’t.
Last year, the Blitzkrieg Lobos whirled through the start of their season like Sherman through the South(west), marching to a 22-3 record. The best start for the Lobos since 1973.
He does, however, care how the Lobos finish.
At the end of the season, in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, UNM surrendered like General Lee at Appomattox.
Two losses — albeit one to San Diego State and its former pitcher Stephen Strasburg — bounced UNM out of the postseason and into the offseason.
Even more unsettling were the circumstances. UNM was ripe with veteran players, including Brian Cavazos-Galvez, Dane Hamilton, Mike Brownstein and Kevin Atkinson — all of whom have departed.
Perhaps the unraveling, Birmingham said, was because his team last year was wound too tight.
“Fear of failure seems to be something that kids today have a lot of, and I try my dang-est to take that away from them,” he said. “In my personal opinion, (it’s) because, today, kids haven’t been allowed to fail. Somebody was always there to catch them. Ask yourself in your own personal life how many times did your parents pick you up at the age of 19 or so. That didn’t used to happen. It was either, ‘You get it done, or you’re in trouble, dude.’ I think they’re nurtured to not have to deal with it. ‘Let me protect you.’”
Or maybe it was something else.
The Lobos started last season playing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, not an imposing, or elite, baseball program.
Consequently, the Lobos whimpered at the conclusion of the season, when they faced unrelenting competition.
Nobody will be shielded this season, though.
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In those former players’ places are seedlings ready to sprout, but when will they?
The Lobos will undergo a fundamental restructuring of their infield, with several players moving to fill up voids left by departing cornerstones. Catcher Adam Courcha will move to third base, while sophomore Ben Woodchick takes over for Brownstein at second and Justin Howard steps in at first base.
So, Birmingham — whose name sounds like a minister’s — arranged for the Lobos to have a baptism by fire this season. They’ll start off playing one of the premier programs in the nation — Texas.
“We have 22 underclassmen. That’s a lot,” Birmingham said. “I’m putting them in the fire, and people might panic. We could very well easily be 0-4 to start the
season. So what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is how we finish.”
Rest assured, Birmingham would rather have an NCAA Regional reception than an early-season gala.
Pegging UNM’s problem last season, Courcha said the Lobos hit the “panic button,” which is all too easy to do.
“We had a great start,” he said. “It was a very big step for us and the program, but with that we kind of fell away from the ideal. We got a little bit distracted with the national ranking (No. 18 in the Baseball America Poll). You get sidetracked. It’s a very big confidence builder, but, at the same time, we got distracted from our bigger goals.”
Birmingham said he doesn’t foresee encountering any problems. If anything, the Lobos will be stronger.
“Replacing guys? All my years as a junior-college coach, teaching kids how to play has always been my deal,” Birmingham said. “And hopefully I taught these kids how to replace those guys. As a (former) junior-college coach, I’m in replacement mode every year. Might as well do what I did there, here.”
If nothing else, this year’s set of saplings will need to grow into a broad, deeply rooted tree trunk.
“You don’t want them to go down in the hole,” Birmingham said. “But you want them to feel it, because someday you want them to be independent, be able to carry themselves.”
