StLouBlue Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 I was able to make Saturday's game against Creighton, and really enjoyed it. Creighton won 3-0 on a day with the wind blowing in. When I went to SLU, baseball played their games over in Sauget & I never went to a game. I was really impressed with the field and hope to make a few more games this year. I don't know if there is anyone out there that has knowledge of SLU baseball or not, but I have some questions. Has there ever been a good period of SLU baseball? The head coach Hughes has been here around 15 years and only has maybe 2 winning seasons, is this the best we hope for or will he be replaced if we don't start winning? Has SLU ever put anyone in the major leagues? I know we have had some kids drafted recently, but I don't think they have made the majors. Thanks for any info you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eskimo Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Left handed pitcher Dan Shouse was drafted by the Cardinals late in the draft, three years ago. After a stint in the rookie league, Johnson City, he was moved up to Peoria. The next season he was traded to the Cleveland Indians organization...and was unsuccessful in low A ball somewhere in Georgia. Now works in the St. Louis area and is out of playing baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 i may be wrong, but i thought john duncan, who was an outfielder/catcher for the billikens in the 80's was drafted by seattle and may have had a cup of coffee in the majors. other than that, i dont know of anyone that made it to the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 No one that I played with or know of. I've been watching since I left in 1979. I think we had a pitcher, Dennis Becker, drafted by the Phillies. But he never showed up anywhere that I can remember. Beck was a lunatic ... Tim Rossovich lunatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 I checked baseball-reference.com, it doesn't show a John Duncan. I also checked baseballcube.com and it does show the recent players in the minors, Shouse, Jaillet, and Wehrfritz, but none in the majors. Thanks for the name though. Any ideas on why SLU always seems to be bad in baseball? Should we start expecting more with the on campus field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 If you go back to the mid 60"s they were one of the best teams in the country. They went to the college world series at least one year. A couple of basketball players John Davsco and Tommie Thomas were also excellent baseball players who played both sports. Hughes seems like a nice guy but his record is pretty awfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 i still believe the scholarship limitations really make it tough to bring in quality players. slu tuition is about $26k and room and board about $9k. so $35k to come to slu. if they only have 11 scholarships to split up, you are still looking for the players to either be able to pony up a sizeable amount of money or be extremely bright to find the academic scholarships to offset the finances. apparently the other schools are under the same athletic scholarship restraints, but if the other state schools dont hit the players as hard on their share, who can blame them for not coming to slu? second, the jucos are where most of the top baseball players go because they are sold on the fact that they can still be drafted out of juco at anytime. whereas i believe if they go to a 4 year school, they have to wait till they are juniors to be drafted. this also brings back the old juco transfer dilemna that slu has always had and has only gotten more difficult. if the best players are in jucoland, and then decide not to go pro or dont get drafted and thus look to transfer to a four year school, not only is the financial burden still there, now you have the academic transfer problem to deal with as well since they are coming from a junior college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sluer Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 I think it was 1965 and the Bills finished 3rd in the college World Series behind Arizona State (Reggie Jackson) and Ohio State. One of the problems is the cold vs. warm weather schools. If you looked at the teams that made the NCAA playoffs last year only a handfull weren't from the South, Southwest or California. My recollection is that E. Carolina, S. Florida, TCU and Tulane all went from C-USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Alum Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 BRoy, the scholarship issue has been a problem since the early 70's when I played at SLU. (By the way, our "home" games were at ABC Park in St. Ann, so we never got any fans.) They have more scholarships now, but it's tough to compete in baseball when by the time the weather gets decent, the school year is over. I know Nebraska, Notre Dame and a few others do fairly well for being cold-weather schools, but the scouts spend most of their time in the south. Most of the kids that come out of the St. Louis area that sign seem to be "roster-fillers" at the minor league level. I think the cost of the university was much more of an issue a generation ago. It's pretty expensive, but I see all kinds of kids from varying socio-economic backgrounds attending and dorming there. I don't see the local Juco's doing as well nationally as they used to, either, so I don't know what kind of athletes are coming through that system that might make a difference for SLU. Bob Hughes is a great guy that works hard, has tried to raise funds to assist the program, but just can't get enought quality players into the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Roy you are correct John Duncan got drafted by Seattle and made his way all the way to the AAA and the extended spring training roster as a catcher. He faced Rick Sutcliffe in his heydey in the Cactus League. The problem was that his moves through the farm system was due largely to injuries. John was personally more interested in pursuing his education/business career than his iffy prospects in baseball (I think he felt they would trade for talent for some time to come at the catcher rather than promote him or anyone from AAA}. AlumniFan knew Duncan as well so he may remember some other things. I charted pitches and wrote UNews articles about the team back in 85. The manager once asked me to suit up (with no intention of using me) just to make it look like he had more pitch hit/relief pitching options to the other team but I was not interested. This was in their 35+ losses in a row phase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 Thanks for the info, I was able to look into those seasons a little. Found out SLU finished the season ranked 3rd, with a College World Series appearance(don't know if this means finished 3rd there or not) in 1965. Also finished ranked 14th in 1966 and 30th in 1967. Have one All-American John Marcum-pitcher in 1965(don't think he made the major leagues). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 We are showing our age by going back to the 60's but that is when the Dix brothers played for SLU and they did go to the college WS then (I believe it was Jim and Tom Dix). I think both of them may have played some minor league ball. Jim was my neighbor when we lived in St. Peters, MO and at that time was HC for UMSL. Since then, SLU's baseball team has pretty much sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StLouBlue Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 I also don't understand why SLU baseball is so bad. Good to hear Hughes is a good guy and works hard, because the results are just not there. I am not blaming him though if the school isn't behind his program, ie no money for recruiting travel or bringing kids in, no travel budget for spring games etc. On the surface it looks like SLU is trying with the program with the on campus stadium, but again the results are just not there. Last eight years in CUSA SLU has finished: '03--12 out of 12 teams '02--8 out of 12 teams '01--9 out of 10 teams '00--10 out of 10 teams '99--10 out of 10 teams '98--Tied last out of 10 teams '97--9 out of 10 teams '96--9 out of 9 teams Again, I would encourage people to attend the games, I enjoyed the game this past weekend and hope to make a few more this season. The price is certainly right--free. There was plenty of room to let my kids run around and play during the game, but no concession stands so my daughter did not get cotton candy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 gman said, "I don't see the local Juco's doing as well nationally as they used to, either, so I don't know what kind of athletes are coming through that system that might make a difference for SLU." neil fiala, the head coach at belleville's swic, is nationally ranked just about every year. he has players enter the pro ranks almost every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 kwyjbo, i used to hang on campus with eric kilman who was on the baseball team at that time. eric and i played some softball together for a few years after that. i just saw eric a few weeks ago at a benefit auction. if i remember correctly, eric was on that same team with duncan. duncan coaches a grade school girls basketball team now over here in belleville now, but i never talk to him. i need to reintroduce myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 A couple of reasons for recent lack of baseball success. (1)Poor weather in Jan-Feb-Mar is a killer as a higher percentage of area non-conference (winnable) games are cancelled. The Bills generally practice indoors most of Jan-Feb-Mar. (2) The baseball competition in C-USA is top-notch. I believe five C-USA schools made it to the NCAA post-season tournament last year. Southern conference schools like Tulane, Houston, TCU, South Florida, UAB and SoMiss have a huge recruiting advantage in weather and facilities. (3) Generally, all SLU baseball players get partial athletic grants and some academic award monies. The last $10k or so comes from Dad. It's tough for a private school to compete with state school tuition teams. I can only assume schools like Stanford and Rice have some of their baseball scholarships endowed. Marquette and DePaul don't even bother with college baseball. I anticipate that SLU's baseball will be more competitive in the A-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoat Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 I have worked with the SLU baseball team and Billiken athletics in general for the last 5 years. Everything you hear about Coach Hughes is true. There may not be a nicer guy in the world. Problem is that in the past, he just has never had a full team to work with. Sure there are occasional players that have gone on to better things: Dan Shouse, Wes Jalliet, Brad Wehrfritz, Adam Shea and others. However, after working the game on Saturday and scheduled to work lots more this year I can say that this bunch of guys looks more promising than many I have seen over the last couple of years. I know that they didn't particularly show everything that they are capable of this weekend, but they can play. Here is to hoping that the team does well this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Tom Dix was my coach at SLU and I did get to actually bat against Jim in an exhibition we played at UMSL. He was still the coach there and that was 1976. Shortstop on that team was freshman Paul Dix. I think he was the youngest brother of the two you mention. A really nice guy but adequate to say the least. There were only like three of us that lived in the dorms as all the othes were St. Louis guys. Practices took place at places called the Greens and all over south County and in Forest Park. We also had a hitting machine set up in the third floor of the old abandoned warehouse that sat on the southwest corner of Laclede and Grand ... right before the old Shell Station and across from Laclede Towers Apartments. In other words, it sucked. As a walkon, I lasted a few months that might have been a few weeks or even a few days ... I don't recall. Anyway, given the squalid conditions at that time ... and the discovery that beer and broads were a much finer pursuit ... my priorities shifted. How can anyone compete with programs that can go year round like Miami, FSU, Stanford, Fresno and others do? I've always wondered about Maine's Black Bears, tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Alum Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Ooh, you guys are making me feel old. I played in the early 70's and I was Tom's ass't coach for three years in the mid-late 70's and the squad was very competitive then. Becker, Schwarz, Yates on the mound with Spitzfaden behind the plate. Bob Furrer, Tommy Sullivan and few others that my ancient memory can't recall. We played at Musial Field, which was fairly useful. Our budget for travel and uniforms was based solely on how much money we could raise through various fund rasiers - period. Tom battled the athletic department hard for any moneys he could get, but it finally got the better of him. He has continued his coaching at Kirkwood HS and in Legion ball. I don't think there are many who can teach the game as well as him. I was told by a scout recently that the Tom is still the best shortstop ever to come out of the St. Louis area. Jimmy was THE most hard-nosed player and coach I've ever seen. Steve and Paul also played for SLU, but have made their successes ($$$) in other fields. Those SLU teams of the 60's were legendary to us. Coached by the late Roy Lee (who later had great success at SIU-E), Marcum, Tocco on the mound, Gegg behind the plate; the two Dix's and Carl Gentile - wow that was a helluva squad. I think they all play a few years in the minors. Only back surgery kept Tom out of the Bigs. Thanks for letting me reminisce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 GMan Alum, It's been several years since Jim was our neighbor in St. Peters, and it seems to me that he also mentioned that he played basketball for SLU too. However, for the life of me I don't remember him as a player. Do you happen to know if Jim still lives in the St. Louis area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Alum Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 Schasz, Yes, the entire Dix family still lives in the area. Jim did also play basketball for SLU when Bennington was coaching. He usually came in off the bench, but was at full speed as soon as he entered the game. Bennington was more of a Soderberg type coach in that he like a more deliberate style play, while Jimmy wanted to run more. Anyway, Jim's still out in the St. Peter's area, but his wife has suffered from MS for many years and unfortunately she is in the advanced stages. He is still a great guy to hang out and listen to his stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlee Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 For those of you that don't know, GMan Alum was elected to the St. Louis Baseball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan Alum Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 (Blush) Thanks David, but I wouldn't have gotten that far if it wasn't for those great wiffle ball games in your back yard when we were kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 I played some around-the-yard Whiffle Ball during my childhood and adolescence in the '70s and '80s, but I didn't know that brand had been around much earlier than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 GMan Alum, Are you another Bills fan from Dogtown? Of course that is where Davidlee and I grew up. Sorry to hear Jim's wife (Diane)MS has taken a turn for the worse. We did hear that she had the disease. Jim and I would discuss both his baseball and basketball days at SLU, and if my memory isn't playing tricks tonight, he played on a SLU NIT team...wasn't it the same time that Gil Beckemeier (Sp?) played for the Bills. I had gotten interested in SLU during John Bennington's tenure as SLU HC. John lived in St. Luke's parish which was close to St. James the Greater. Back in those days, SLU was good in baseball, basketball, and soccer. I appreciate you passing along some of your memories of those good old days, as I am old enough to recall them even though it was just a tad before I went to SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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