Sports
NU players drafted by Yankees, Brewers
By I odd Looper
Staff Reporter
Nebraska second baseman Kevin Jordan
and first baseman Bobby Benjamin will not
return next season as both have already signed
and reported to the rookie camps of the teams
that drafted them.
Jordan, who was drafted in round 20 of the
June 5 major league baseball draft, has re
ported to the New York Yankees camp in
Tampa, Fla. Benjamin, taken in the seventh
round, reported to the Milwaukee Brewers
tamp in Phoenix, Ariz.
Both Jordan and Benjamin said that they’ll
iind oul in a couple weeks where they’ll be
assigned.
It’s always been my desire to play pro
ball, Jordan said, in a phone interview from
his hotel room in Tampa. “I wanted to gel into
it as soon as possible.”
Last year, Jordan was drafted out of Canada
College in Redwood City, Calif., in the 10th
round by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose
to attend Nebraska.
‘ ‘Having now seen a little bit of the pros and
with my experience at Nebraska...Coach (John)
Sanders really treats you on a professional
level, I’m more prepared now than what I was
out of junior college just because of what
Coach Sanders has taught me,” Jordan said.
Benjamin will switch back to the outfield,
where he played his first two years at Nebraska
before being moved to first base.
Benjamin, in a phone interview from Phoe
nix, said he likes his chances with Milwaukee.
“I definitely was excited,” he said. “The
(Brewers’) outfield’s getting up there in age
and the Brewers always look for power hit
lers.”
Benjamin, who broke Nebraska’s career
home-run record this season, said that record
gives him confidence in the pros.
“The guy (former Husker Steve Stanicck)
that I broke the records of played in the majors
and is now iri triplc-A ball,” he said. “I’m
setting a goal that after next year I’d like to get
a shot in the majors...I won’t stop playing ball
until I make it.”
Both Jordan and Benjamin said they’ll take
Sanders’ coaching philosophies with them.
“He’s a great coach, no matter what anyone
says,” Benjamin said. “Just the things that he
has taught me I will always appreciate.”
Nebraska’s other two draftees, senior pitcher
Dale Kislaitis and junior right fielder Shawn
Buchanan have yet to be signed. Kislaitis was
drafted by Toronto in the 29th round, while
Buchanan was drafted later by Pittsburgh.
Merger could provide more than economic advantages
The recent proposai, cr, specula
tion of the Big Eight and Southwest
conferences joining together may have
more economic advantages
Todd
Cooper
for both of these probation-stricken
conferences.
The thought of the alliance was
thrown around in early June, after
Arkansas, one of Southwest’s usual
powers in football and men’s basket
ball (the two sports that bring in the
most revenue) announced its consid
eration of joining the Southeastern
Conference, that already includes
Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Alabama,
Florida and Kentucky-tonamcafew.
The Big Eight's Oklahoma and
Oklahoma State were on probation in
football last year, as well as Houston
and Southern Methodist University
of the Southwest Conference.
As a result of these probations,
each conference has lost valuable
television revenue and the programs
on probation subsequently face un
wanted rebuilding.
Though premature, the proposal
of the two hooking-up would provide
welcome relief for both conferences
as well as an opportunity for Ne
braska fans to capitalize on some
hidden advantages.
Consider the following advantages
of the merger:
• First and foremost, the alliance
would bring a welcome face back to
the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Moc
Iba, the only coach to lead Nebraska
to the NCAA basketball tournament,
now presides over Texas Christian
University of the Southwest Confer-1
ence. Once again, Iba’s roaring voice
would fill the upper levels of Dcva
ney as well as the hearts of Husker
fans everywhere. Think of it...Husker
coach Danny Nee and Iba matching
strategics on the court. The game
would be a sellout for sure.
• Nebraska fans also would be
able to enjoy a counterpart in oddity
See COOPER on 8
Teacher lived traveling baseball fantasy
Arc you a baseball fan?
Tired of that summer job? Of course.
Like lo live oul a baseball fantasy?
Of course, who wouldn’t?
Can you spare seven to eight weeks
and drive throughout North America
to see a ballgamc in each of the 26
Major League parks?
OK, that might be a bit constrict
ing to an already tight schedule, not to
mention a bank account. But, what if
this fantasy was yours for about S20
and a few hours of free time.
You're thinking, maybe this guy’s
had one too many beers while looking
over some stats in the USA Today
sports page and somehow got a few
numbers mixed up. Wrong...sort of.
Bob Wood, a junior high school
teacher and author of * * Dodger Dogs
to Fenway Franks,” lived out such a
fantasy in the summer of 1985.
He wrote about it for those of us
not fortunate enough to have a job
that calls us to duty for only nine
months, but gives us a steady pay
check each month.
Wood didn’t just compile a travel
guide telling die address, average
attendance and other the stone-cold,
bare essential facts of the various
ballparks. Announcers, managers,
players and other baseball celebrities
could have done that.
Only a fan; only a dreamy, wide
eyed, head in the skies, little kid in
side fan, could have given the book
its romantic quality that make it a
ijucst, an adventure. The book em
bodies that same quality that, more
than anything, maintains baseball as
a major part of our national identity.
Wood brings the adventure home
with that essentia! human touch.
A vacation guide? Yes. But leav
ing it at that would grossly understate
the book’s adventure.
The pages of Wood’s book evoke
a feeling of having been there. For
example, a conversation with a good
natured California Angel’s employee
creates as much feeling fora baseball
fans as Thoreau’s “Walden Pond”
for the nature lover.
Wood has created the only vaca
tion guide that renders the vacation
unnecessary.
The book made me truly appreci
ate a free society. Maybe, my patriot
ism is taking things a bit overboard,
but that is the kind of power the book
can have over the generally imagina
tive mind of a baseball fan.
Readers feel frustration in the
Kingdomc,desert-like heal in Arling
ton Stadium, nausea in the Astro
dome and the charm of Fenway Park.
Being proud of my midweslem
roots, my baseball tastes attest to this
fact. 1 was embarrassed of my igno
rance about one gem of a ballpark
here in the heartland.
A team (and its stadium) I’ve
never paid much attention to is the
Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin.
They might as well be in Utah.
They’re terribly close in relation to
most of the major league teams, yet I
never heard much about them or their
stadium
In looking over Wood’s report card
that precedes the actual quest, I no
ticed that the Brewers’ County Sta
dium received an A+ for atmosphere,
edging out my favorite, Royals Sta
dium.
1 was dismayed, angry and hurt. I
turned immediately to the section on
County Stadium. What could it be?
Did they have dancing girls during
the seventh-inning stretch?
No dancing girls. But beer, bratwurst
and “Roll Out The Barrel’’ sing
alongs arc a winning combination in
the category of atmosphere.
I was ashamed of my negligent
past. Something this good and I never
heard of it. What a sheltered life. My
baseball connoisseur status was in
jeopardy. Wood had made me a be
liever.
Wood as he admits, is not a great
writer. He’s no Thoureau, Dickens or
Hemingway, but for baseball fans he
has pul together one of the most
powerful novels ever.
The book has a 1988 copyright and
some things have changed. Still, it’s
worth your while, because as Wood
says, “At heart...the game, the ball
parks, and the fans who fill the ball
parks aren’t really much different today
than they were in 1937 when ivy
came to Wrigley Field.”
In replying to Wood’s request for a
complimentary ticket to a game, the
Chicago White Sox replied: “Such a
sojourn is a fantasy that exists some
where in the minds of all baseball
fans...”
Now that sojourn can be lived by
all baseball fans, relived and stored
again on a bookshelf, thanks to Bob
Wood.
Hill is a Daily Nebraskan sports reporter
and columnist and a senior broadcasting
nuqor.
Introductory
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