Pregame ceremonies on Sunday honored retiring coach Gary Adams.
The team then honored him with a 14-0 thrashing of Washington
State. Combined, it was a fitting day to celebrate the man who has
devoted the last 30 years to the UCLA baseball program. “It
was one of the best days I’ve ever experienced,” Adams
said. “In fact, it was going so well from the beginning of
the day that in about the middle of the day I said, “˜How can
it get any better than this?'” First, Adams was
presented with a Los Angeles city resolution describing his
contributions to the community. Athletic director Dan Guerrero next
spoke about what Adams has meant to the school, detailing a lengthy
list of career highlights. Guerrero culminated the speech by
announcing that UCLA would be retiring Adams’ No. 13 uniform
number ““ only the second number baseball has retired along
with Jackie Robinson ““Â and displaying it permanently on
the right field wall beginning next season. “It was
emotional,” Adams said. “I can’t fake it like at
the beginning of the year and pretend like it’s like any old
game or any old year. It’s different.” Adams then
accepted the microphone and thanked everyone from his friends to
his fans to his players, choking up as he went on. “I’m
going to be a 65-year-old soon,” he said. “But
I’ve always felt like I’m 18-23 from hanging around
these guys.”
SENIOR SENDOFF: Before Adams’ tribute,
UCLA held its annual senior ceremonies. This year, the program said
goodbye to five departing seniors ““ Brandon Averill, Chad
Concolino, Preston Griffin, Casey Janssen and Mike Svetlic ““
all significant contributors. Each came onto the field with his
family members and had a list of his career accomplishments read
from the loudspeakers. “The ceremony was special for me
because it was not only senior day, but to go out with Skip (Adams)
it’s pretty amazing,” Griffin said. “I’m
glad we could come out and whip on a team for him.” It was an
unusually large senior class for Adams, who usually has a number of
juniors leave after they are drafted. “I heard a coach from
another team say he didn’t have good senior
leadership,” Adams said. “In my case, this senior
group, all five of them, have been leaders. This is a special group
of seniors.”
GRIFFIN’S PRODUCTION: While the third
baseman’s 12-game hitting streak ended on Friday, he
continued his impressive stretch, collecting hits on Saturday and
Sunday. His streak ended partly on his own volition, as he took
himself out of Friday’s game in the seventh inning after
fouling a ball off his shin. Nevertheless, the senior is finishing
his career memorably. “It definitely means more to me to end
up on such a good note,” Griffin said. “I started off
slow this season which was disappointing, but to turn it around is
awesome.”