Baseball’s new generation still making transition

Transition ““ “passage from one state, stage, subject or place to another.”

That’s the definition given by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, and nowhere is the use of the word more appropriate than in describing the UCLA baseball team’s infield this season.

This year has been a sort of passing of the torch from one generation to the next. Neither of the players in the Bruins’ current infield ““ first baseman Cody Decker, second baseman Eddie Murray, shortstop Niko Gallego and third baseman Casey Haerther ““ spent significant time at their positions last season.

Haerther played in 58 games last year, starting 56 of them, but at first base.

Decker played in 51 games, starting 46 of them, but the majority of those starts and appearances came as the designated hitter or a pinch hitter.

Gallego, as a freshman, played in 19 games, but at second base.

Murray played in 15 games but primarily as a pinch hitter or pinch runner late in games.

The numbers are striking when one truly appreciates the incredible consistency the Bruins have had at the infield positions the past three years.

Former Bruin shortstop Brandon Crawford is the best example. In his three-year career, Crawford started at shortstop every single game of his career, from his very first game as a freshman in 2006 until last year’s discouraging loss to Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA Regionals.

That’s 179 games! That’s Cal Ripken Jr.-like.

Former Bruin third baseman Jermaine Curtis was very similar. Coming in the same year as Crawford, Curtis started 44 games his freshman year. In 2007, Curtis missed the first half of the season due to an academic issue but returned to the team at the start of Pac-10 conference play and started in every game for the rest of the season. Last year he started and played in all 60 games.

You could even look to second baseman Alden Carrithers who transferred from UC Santa Barbara in 2007 and played two seasons for the Bruins. In his two-year stint at UCLA, Carrithers missed just one game.

The result: an immense sense of continuity and a tremendous rise in the UCLA baseball program.

If you look at the 2005 season, coach John Savage’s first and the year before Crawford and Curtis arrived in Westwood, the Bruins went 15-41 overall, including a stretch in which the team lost 19 games in a row.

Enter the freshmen. Crawford and Curtis, even catcher Ryan Babineau, played a large role in turning the Bruins’ home in the cellar into a regional berth.

During their tenure, the Bruins made it into the postseason three years in a row, the first time the team accomplished that in the history of the program.

Savage said that a part of that success and consistency came from the state of the program prior to their arrival.

“We were kind of spoiled with Jermaine, Brandon and Babineau being ready to play as freshmen,” Savage said. “They had to play because of the state the program was in, and we were trying to build it.”

That program is now built, and Crawford, Curtis, Carrithers and Babineau have moved on to the major leagues.

That leaves the Bruins with players already within the program ““ Murray, Gallego, Haerther and Decker ““ and talented freshmen in Chris Amezquita, Tyler Rahmatulla and Adrian Williams.

Thus far, the results have been largely expected, with positives and negatives sprinkled throughout.

One positive Savage pointed to was the offensive production from Murray. Batting first, second and ninth in the lineup this year, Murray has the second-highest batting average (.337), the third most hits (31) and the highest on-base percentage (.496) for the Bruins.

“He’s gone beyond expectations,” said Savage of Murray’s offense.

Yet there is the flip side of the coin. Starting in 28 games at second base this season, Murray has the lowest fielding percentage of the other infielders (.920) with a team-high eight errors.

“He’s been solid defensively but has made some careless errors,” Savage said.

Then there is the question of the freshmen, most notably Amezquita, who played shortstop and third base in high school, Rahmatulla, who played shortstop in high school, and Williams, a shortstop in his final three seasons of high school.

This year, playing time has been limited for the three players, largely due to the presence of veteran players and the continuing adjustments they are making to the college game.

This group of incoming freshmen has the opportunity to continue what has been started before them. The group of Crawford, Curtis, Carrithers and Babineau transformed the Bruin baseball team from an unknown entity into a consistent playoff team.

This new group has the talent to take the Bruins one step further, the next level that those first players could not: the College World Series.

“You can see it. They have a bright future,” Savage said.

Let’s hope this transition completes what was started four years ago.

E-mail Howard at ahoward@media.ucla.edu.

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