Behind the Mike
for 2006 OSU baseball broadcast schedule. Reminder: Mike Parker's radio play-by-play of home baseball games is also available with video included for members of Beaver Nation Online (). Words Can't Describe...7:58 AM CT June 26, 2006, Omaha, NE The Beavers play for a national championship tonight. The Beavers play for a national championship tonight. It needed to be written twice and I needed to see it twice just to be sure. This incredible run has gone as far as it possibly can: a winner take all ballgame for the title tonight at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. The night before I mentioned I brooded, tossing and turning, replaying every pitch, every little thing that didn't go the Beavers way in that tough 4-3 defeat. Last night I don't think I slept much either, but this because of the anticipation. The scene back at the Omaha Hilton was as sweet as it gets last night. Many of the players, their families, great citizens of Beaver Nation who made the trip to Omaha....we all sat down in front of the big screen TV in the lobby and watched the game from the seven run fourth inning on on a DVD Jeff Taylor got from the media room. We must have replayed Bill Rowe's HR four times, and each time the place went crazy. Now just one more... It's Time! 11:08 AM CT June 24, 2006, Omaha, NE As I sit down on this Saturday morning it is raining in Omaha. Good sign? Probably. I'm not sure nay team has played better through weather issues this year than the Beavers. It is still difficult to fully comprehend the setting we are in. I mean, two teams left playing for the national championship and we're one of them? The Omaha Herald has a great story today, headlined "Unusual Suspects," and it's apt because neither of these programs has ever played for a national title in baseball. The story also chronicles the local nature of the team Pat Casey has built.While driving across the state of Nebraska yesterday en route to the Ashfall Fossil Beds I was heartened to hear the sports talk guys on various stations picking Carolina to win the series. Few have believed in the Beavers chances in this thing, esp. after the loss last week to Miami, and thus it has been wholly satisfying to watch the club defy expectations day after day. I look forward to seeing them do it again tonight against the great LHer Andrew Miller, Baseball America's national player of the year. The Beavers go with Dallas Buck; I'm so glad he feels good enough to go. He deserves a shot to expunge whatever bad feelings he has left after last week. Believe It! 12:08 PM CT June 23, 2006, Omaha, NE The euphoria in the hotel after last night's game was something I'll never forget. Nor, of course, will I or anyone who saw it forget Jonah Nickerson's performance for the ages last night. I expected him to pitch well; I did not expect him to pitch the game of his life on two days rest. I hope ESPN recognized the special quality of that performance; I may have been over the top in comparing Jonah on two days' rest to Koufax in Game 7 in 1965, but certainly that was the outing that came to mind as Jonah kept getting guys out inning after inning.The Beavers are playing for a national championship in baseball. Let that statement sink in, and appreciate the amazing quality of this team, this coaching staff, and may we all savor this incredible run. On the off day I will be driving across the state to look at some fossil beds. The Henry Doorly Zoo is great, but after six days at looking at live animals, its time to view some dead ones. The Beavers are alive and well and it's awesome to be in Omaha playing for a championship. -MP Rice Again! 1:01 PM CT June 22, 2006, Omaha, NE This is the best event I've ever been around in my professional life as a sportscaster, and on a personal note, I've never been around anything quite like this experience in Omaha. So we here we go tonight with a chance to play for the national championship on the line...Unbelieveable. The Beavers will use a committe approach to the pitching part of the equation: perhaps Nickerson/Buck/Kunz/Paterson/Gunderson or any combination thereof. Rice counters with curveballing specialist Eddie Degerman, who will remind many of Tim Lincecum, save for the fact that he doens't bring it at plus 95 MPH. He's hard, but not that hard. I'm told that while Degerman is very good, Lincecum is undoubtedly better. The Beavers scored four on Lincecum in Corvallis. If the Beavers, who are the visitors, can score a run or two early and get up, I think momentum, defense, pitching etc. will carry them to the championship round. This is the longest road trip I've ever been on with Oregon State. The great Fiesta Bowl experience--the only other event that can be mentioned in the same breath as this one for me--was a long stay for most, but I didn't arrive until Dec. 28th. The longer this goes, the better it gets. Have a great time watching/listening tonight.-MP Victory and Pizza!.. 2:21 PM CT June 21, 2006, Omaha, NE Computer problems at the Omaha Hilton have prevented me from filing earlier, but I am glad to say that the delay allowed me to bump into Colin Cowherd of ESPN just before he got into his limo to head to Rosenblatt. I was just finishing up a run and he said "Who runs in this?" referring to the heat and humidity. Today is actually ideal for running...little wind, temperature down, and low humidity. Colin proceeded to ask about Mike Riley, about the Beavers 2006 prospects in football, and expressed his amazement about what the Beavers are doing in baseball. And isn't this an amazing run? The Final Four is a term usually reserved for hoops, but it has a nice ring when applied to baseball team. The Beavs are four wins away from a national championship. Will they get them? Who knows, but it's going to be a thrill to watch them try. Last night after the game we got back to the hotel about 1:30 a.m. Hugs, fist bumps, high fives all the way around ensued in a mini celebration in the lobby. The only food available in town was from "Home Run Pizza" so we promptly ordered up and waited for delivery; at 3AM the pizzas arrived. More like "Advanced Runner With a Grounder Pizza." But the pie was good, just as the Beavers victory.-MP The Linda Cohn Sighting...1:40 PM CT June 20, 2006, Omaha, NE I don't get the chance to name drop very often, so let's give it a whirl today. So I'm standing in line to get coffee this morning when Linda Cohn of ESPN walks up and she asks me if I've seen a Starbucks around and I say no and I say that's hard to believe and she says she was in another city of similar size recently that didn't have one but she couldn't remember where and I said that I certainly will make it a point to never go there and she said she didn't blame me and then I ordered "the biggest coffee" and she asked me why I just didn't say "large" and I said "large" doesn't quite mean what it used to in the days of grandes and ventis and she said good point and I asked her what she was going to be doing in Omaha and she said filing reports for Sportscenter but never asked me what I was doing in Omaha but if she had I would have said getting ready to broadcast another winner for the Beavers against Miami tonight. -MP
8:43 AM CT June 20, 2006, Omaha, NE I hope absenteeism wasn't running too high yesterday as the Beavers made history with their first ever victory in the CWS; on the other hand, I hope you didn't miss it. It was a vintage Beavers victory, with Nickerson sharp on the mound, with the offense doing just enough, with the defense making some big plays, and with Gundy coming in to close things out. As for the defense, did you see that Tyler Graham's catch on the soft liner by Joey Side was one of ESPN's Top Five web gems on "Baseball Tonight?" A huge cheer rose through the hotel lobby when that replay was shown. Many of the locals have told us that they are really pulling for us against Miami tonight. They say they just don't like Miami. Something about what familiarity breeds? The locals have been so gracious to us, well, Mike Stutes and the rest of the guys believe they owe them a favor.-MP 9:03 AM CT June 19, 2006, Omaha, NE A Sunday brunch at a local country club, a short workout at Creighton, and some off time to regroup, recharge, and get ready for today's elimination game with Georgia was on the schedule yesterday for the baseball team. Several of the guys took the opportunity to go through one of the world's great zoos, viz. The Henry Doorly Zoo. Last year my family spent half of its time in Omaha in said zoo, and this year has been no different. So on my first trip through this year I was happy to see the familiar faces of Mike Stutes, Ryan Gipson, and John Wallace. John had an experience he will never forget: he was tapping the glass trying to get the attention of the largest gorilla in the "Gorilla Valley" exhibit when all of a sudden this great beast pivoted and jumped toward the glass right at the Beaver freshman; John's dad, Mike Wallace said he hadn't seen his son that scared in a long, long time. All of the rest of us have had a good laugh at John's expense. Glad to see the kid take one for the team.- MP 9:37 AM CT June 18, 2006, Omaha, NE The sense of bravado that was so strong coming into the CWS took a big hit from the Miami Hurricanes last night, but if any club has ever taught me lessons about perseverance, resiliency, etc., it is this Oregon State baseball club. I fully expect Jonah Nickerson to pitch his usual strong game and for the Beaver bats to come to life and for the team to keep this thing going even after Monday. I have a few things in common with Harold Reynolds: he grew up in Corvallis; my kids are growing up in Corvallis; he is a good friend of big Jim Wilson; Jim's a friend and broadcast partner. Now this: last year in Omaha I dropped a foul ball hit into the booth during the first inning of game one betwwen the Beavers and Tulane...Yesterday in the Georgia/Rice game, Harold muffed one hit directly at him in the ESPN booth. When I tried to console him later about my own misfortunes a year ago he retorted "Yeah, but you don't have three gold gloves." A commonality we do not share. -MP 2:52 PM CT, June 16, 2006, Omaha, NE The CWS is underway with Georgia Tech taking on Clemson; tonight, one of the premiere matchups all year will unfold with Fullerton's Wes Roemer going up against UNC's Andrew Miller. Beaver fans should study the game closely to see just OSU might fare against either. The Beavs worked today at Bellevue East HS...Other than catcher Casey Priseman getting stung by a bee during BP, all was well. There is a looseness about this club that encourages me about the team's chances to make a deep run this time around. I asked Kevin Gunderson about that today after practice...You will hear his thoughts during one our "Road To Omaha" moments in the upcoming broadcasts on the Beaver Radio Network. Gundy essentially said that Coach Casey has come to trust in this club's ability to focus, to dig deep, and to get the job done regardless of circumstances. That belief has allowed Pat to not be anxious or at all unnerved when the club is borderline goofy. He knows they are all business between the lines. -MP 10:59 AM CT, June 16, 2006, Omaha, NE Hello Beaver Nation from Omaha! We all awakened to a powerful thunderstorm Thursday morning, but by 10 AM things had settled down from a rain standpoint, but as the day went on the wind and humidity increased steadily, and by the time all the teams got to take BP, the ball was absolutely flying out of Rosenblatt Stadium. At the press conference with all eight coaches, one of them said that in Omaha you need to be able to launch when the wind is blowing out and play small when the wind is blowing in. We in Beaver Nation are hoping for the latter.The opening ceremonies were stirring, just as they were a year ago. Once again I had tears in my eyes as Cole Gillespie bore the OSU flag to lead the team into the Stadium before over 20,000 fans. They do a great job in Omaha of rolling out the red carpet and treating you as though you've accomplished something remarkable. And so these Beavers and the other seven teams have. Pat Casey said it several times in his press availablity yesterday: it's an honor and blessing to be here. -MP
Omaha-Bound...June 13, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation, Comparisons, we are told, are odious, but they also are unavoidable. All season long the 2006 Beavers have been measured against the amazing club from one year ago, and until the last couple of weeks there was a sense in some corners that perhaps this year's club fell slightly short in that comparison. No superstar in the lead-off hole and patrolling centerfield in the manner of Jacoby Ellsbury; no spiritual leader in the mold of Andy Jenkins. But since grinding out the 9-8 win in Tempe in the one hundred degree heat on May 14th on Mother's Day, the 2006 Beavers have managed to do the almost impossible: they have seemed to surpass the 2005 club in that whole nebulous comparative realm. The on-field celebration following the 15-0 demolition of Stanford on Sunday night at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field was a prime example of the businesslike attitude of this year's club. This team fully expected to beat Stanford and go back to Omaha. Granted, last year's Super Regional series with USC with a trip to Omaha on the line was fraught with tension on each pitch; when Dallas Buck came out of the pen in the ninth to get the final three outs in the 10-8 victory the ensuing celebration provided an unforgettable series of images and emotions: the players dawgpiled, rollicking and rolling on the infield grass...players, coaches, fans (broadcasters) whooped and hollered, teary eyed at the spectacle. In contrast, this past Sunday night when the final out was recorded, the players were genuninely thrilled to be going back to the heartland, but there was no rollicking or rolling, but instead a quiet celebration that bespoke an attitude of "We're not finished yet." All aspects of this ballclub are coming together at precisely the right time. Yet it's true that every other club at the College World Series is saying the same thing; else, they wouldn't be headed to Omaha. So there are no guarantees. Each club in Omaha has the ability to win it all. But I like the look of this Beaver team and its chances of coming back with a national championship. We will be traveling by charter out of Eugene to LA where we will pick up the Cal State Fullerton team to make the rest of the journey. Fullerton is on the other side of the bracket; One question: if the two schools meet for the championship next weekend, they (NCAA) would not have us fly back together too? I've seen "Clash of the Titans" and know what they're capable of when upset. Enjoy the games and savor these great days for Beaver baseball.-MP
June 7, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation, The scene was contentious in the Goss Stadium at Coleman Field press box just before Sunday's regional final between the Beavers and Hawaii. I offered up the notion that it would be one of the great travesties ever perpetrated if Oregon State would be sent to Palo Alto for the Super Regional, and that it was just ridiculous that there was any question whatsoever about where the series would take place. An NCAA rep. happened to be standing nearby and (naturally) took offense at my audacious remark. We proceeded to dialogue for the next ten minutes, with me not able to elicit from him that if the Beavers were to be sent packing that that would just be flat out dead wrong. He referred me to some sort of bylaw 31.1 in the NCAA championship handbook, to the whole process clearly spelled out in said handbook, and that I would do my listeners a service by referring them to ncaasports.org instead of emoting in such an uninformed way. While strongly tempted to make suggestions about what could be done with such bylaws, handbooks, and processes I instead sought rapprochement as I realized that this guy was playing the good company man. By the end of the conversation he had virtually assured me that Oregon State had all arguments to host in its favor and that I (and others) were probably getting worked up over nothing. As you know, it played out as Lady Julian of Norwich said it would: "All manner of things shall be well." The Beavers romped over Hawaii and the following evening were offically awarded the host site for the Super Regional. Now, in the department of 'Careful what you wish for,' here comes Stanford, a team which cruised through the Austin regional and now rolls into Corvallis playing its best baseball of the season. The Cardinal beat North Carolina State in the regional final 17-7, pounding out 24 hits in the process. The starting pitcher for Stanford Saturday night will be Greg Reynolds, taken second overall in the first day of the MLB amateur draft. The guy taken 86th overall, one Dallas Buck, will be intent on delivering a big message this weekend. This should be a terrific weekend of baseball. Two teams playing their best ball of the year, two wins away from Omaha. Hope to see you at the ballpark.- MP May 30, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation, The old song about accentuating the positive ought to be my anthem after Sunday's selection show on ESPN for the NCAA baseball tournament. The Beavers are the outright Pac-Ten champions for the second consecutive season, and they are hosting in the first round of post-season play. But the former clause in the previous sentence should have assured the Beavers a top eight national seed and thus the opportunity to host in the Super Regional round. The selection committee seemed to try to have it both ways with regards to the Pac-Ten; on one hand it apparently penalized the Beavers for winning the Pac-Ten in a "down" year, while selecting Stanford for an at-large berth after the Cardinal went 11-13 in conference play. You know, that Pac-Ten is such a tough league. Granted, Stanford had some success against very good teams on its non-conference slate and Stanford is Stanford, but still...All I can hope is that if the Beavers are ever sitting at 11-13 in the conference with thirty plus wins that they will warrant similar consideration. I think we know how that would go. All that said, the Beavers have the wherewithal to win their own regional this weekend, to go on to Austin and win there too, and then go on to the heartland and win the whole thing. The final game of the regular season nothwithstanding, the Beavers are playing their best baseball of the year at the right time. Before Sunday's finale, they had scored 57 runs and banged out 71 hits in winning five in a row to clinch the Pac-Ten outright with two games left in the regular season. The Beavers margin of victory in the final standings is the biggest since the unification in the Pac-Ten in 1999. The last two seasons of Oregon State baseball has been as special as anything I've been around in sports. To see a team comprised of mostly northwest kids (and primarily Oregonians to boot) win back to back Pac-Ten championships in a sport dominated by the warm weather schools through the years has been a great thrill and an honor to be around. Pat Casey and his staff of Dan Spencer, Marty Lees, and David Wong have done a tremendous job and they have made my job so enjoyable by including me in the entire experience of what it's like to grind through an entire baseball season. And the players themselves, to a man, have been a delight to be around. They represent the university so very well. On two separate occasions on flights this year I've had a flight attendant pull me aside to tell me how impressed they are with how our guys comport themselves. After they say that they ask me if I'm the coach and of course I say "I sure am." -MP May 23, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation: In the sweep of Washington State the Beavers played their best three games of the season. The pitching of Dallas Buck, Jonah Nickerson, and Mike Stutes was unbelieveably stingy against a club that was leading the Pac-Ten in hitting. The Beavers' defense was strong as usual, turning four doubleplays back of Dallas on Friday, a great catch by Cole Gillespie with the bases loaded for Jonah on Saturday, and brilliant plays by Chris Kunda and Scott Santschi on Sunday. On top of all that, the Beaver offense awakened to the tune of 39 runs in three games, with Mitch Canham driving in ten of them. Going back to the Sunday game in Tempe, the Beavers have scored 48 runs in their last four games. They have the look of a club peaking at the right time with post-season play getting underway next week. First up, though, is a big series with UCLA this weekend in Corvallis. The Beavers need to win one of the three games to clinch the outright Pac-Ten title; there is also a school of thought suggesting that the Beavs need to sweep to assure themselves the opportunity host both rounds of regionals. Winning the Pac-Ten title outright ought to be enough to assure the double-host, but it would behoove the Beavers to eliminate as much wiggle room as possible from the NCAA selection committee. Beyond the great baseball this weekend, life on the Palouse was better than any other trip I can recall. For one, the weather was warm and the sun was out when we arrived. Pat Casey said we all better take a picture because we might never see it that way again. Of course, as the weekend proceeded, the wind kicked up, lightning forced a thirty four minute delay in Friday's game, and it absolutley poured for hours on Saturday morning. The weather was conducive for some decent runs through the hills of Pullman; at the bottom of Grimes Way it was fascinating to watch a grizzly bear and two cubs cavorting on a hillside. (The bears were well fenced in, I am happy to add; WSU is doing some research on grizzlies and has about eight of the majestic creatures on their live animal site). I also enjoyed a Saturday night Mexican food repast with Jonah Nickerson, Kevin Gunderson, and their families and friends. The primary topic of conversation was "Blinded by The Light," a song Jonah had heard during BP earlier that day. He wondered--as all souls have--just what precisely the lyrics were and what they meant in the section about a deuce and a runner (ronner?) in the night. I assured Jonah he was on to one of life's inscrutable mysteries.- MP May 17, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation, The Beavers have won many big games during this amazing run the past two years, but I'm not sure there has been a more satisfying, important, or exhilarating one than the game they were able to pull out in the 102 degree heat Sunday afternoon in Tempe. It had been an incredibly frustrating weekend up to that point for all of us: two games lost late, two games trimmed from the lead by ASU, two games that were emininently winnable but went the other way. Then on Sunday, after getting out to an early 3-0 lead, the Beavers watched a red hot Arizona State team score seven runs in the second and third innings. The Sun Devils were on the verge of putting the game away with runners at second and third with one out in the third, already up four runs, when Beaver reliever Joe Paterson made some great pitches to get the next two hitters and at least give his club a chance to chip away. And that's exactly what the Beavers did. One run in the fourth, three in the fifth, a run in the eighth and another in in the ninth...Gundy slammed the door with a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the ninth for the 9-8 win, turning the long trip back to Corvallis a giddy celebration. The team had banked so many wins recently to actually have some margin for error; from ASU's perspective, the Sun Devils really needed to sweep to make it a successful weekend for them, but, somehow, through the sweltering heat and a lot of things going wrong, the Beavers found a way to get one of their biggest wins in the last two years. They go to Pullman two games in front with six to play. Thanks to my boss at BSP I was able to take my family with me on this trip, and for the most part my wife and two daughters lived at the hotel pool. But they were right beside me in the booth at Tempe through the long grind on Sunday, reacting as jubilantly as the players when the final out was recorded. Big Bill Rowe, our first baseman, high fived Lydia at the airport, a gesture my 11 year old and I really appreciated. Bill went out of his way to make her feel part of the whole thing. We made one day trip to Sedona. If you ever get the chance, do it. We enjoyed Slide Rock State Park, which I consider one of the most beautiful places on Earth. -MPMay 10, 2006 Hello Beaver Nation, Last Friday Goss Stadium at Coleman Field may have hosted more scouts than for any other game in the long history of the old ballpark; some 60 scouts were on hand for the showdown between Tim Lincecum and Dallas Buck, and a sellout crowd of 2,362 turned out for the "event." While the result was disappointing for the Beavers (a 6-4 loss) no doubt fans who attended the game will long remember various aspects of the evening: the SRO crowd, Dallas retiring the first nine Huskies, Cole Gillespie turning around a 95 MPH Lincecum fastball on an oh-two pitch to give the Beavers a 3-0 lead in the third, and the dazzling stuff of the whippet righthander Lincecum who ended up striking out 16 in eight innings. There is no shame in losing to Lincecum, who leads the nation in wins and strikeouts, but the Beavers know that if they had simply defended the way they normally do, they probably would have pinned a rare defeat on the phenom. Look for Lincecum in a major league bullpen this summer. On Saturday the Beavers did an admirable job of bouncing back to win, albeit in a struggle. For the longest while it seemed the Beavers might squander another strong outing by Jonah Nickerson, but in an odd ballgame they eventually got a big hit and a lucky bounce or two to come back and beat the Dawgs 5-3 in a game that was televised live by FSN. I taped the game, and since the Beavers prevailed, I actually had the desire to go home and watch the thing in its entirety. I thought Goss Stadium at Coleman Field looked great on camera; the afternoon was an excellent showcase for the program. I also enjoyed Bill Krueger's work on the broadcast. He and Pat Casey go way back to their days as teammates at the University of Portland in both baseball and basketball. Bill showed his true professionalism in being fully prepared for a rare opportunity as an analyst for a Pac-Ten game. Mike Stutes was tremendous on Sunday and the Beavers were able to win the series. We all waited out nearly four hours of various rain delays, but the win made the wait worthwhile. This weekend I don't expect any problems from the weather other than being a bit hot on Sunday; Stutes is expected to start at high noon with a projected high of 102. Cue up Tex Ritter, and get Sheb Wooley loose. The Beavs will be ready. -MP Hello Beaver Nation:
Back in February The Oregonian's Brian Meehan ballyhooed the Pac-Ten opening match-up between the Beavers and USC, a game which he correctly predicted would pit Dallas Buck against Ian Kennedy in what would be one of the best pitching match-ups of the season. He was right; the Beavers won the ballgame 4-1, and Dallas had thus beaten Kennedy head to head for a third consecutive time. Now, this weekend, Dallas and the Beavers have perhaps an even bigger challenge. The Washington Huskies come to town at 8-7 in the Pac-Ten with designs on a conference title. They also come in with a righthander named Tim Lincecum, who has been clocked on a couple of radar guns this year at 101 MPH. He has been projected as the possible #1 pick by Kansas City in this year's MLB amateur draft. Like the old flamethrower of yore, the legendary Steve Dalkowski (who was once reportedly clocked at 108 MPH), Linceucum goes about 5'11" and 160 pounds. The Buck/Lincecum showdown is one for the ages as far as Beaver baseball is concerned. I do not fear an accusation of hyperbole, nor do I fear putting any sort of pox on Dallas, because he is as competitive a sonuvagun as you'll ever find, and he is savoring the opportunity to pitch his team to a win and another step toward another Pac-Ten title. The Beavers are defending the yard as well as ever. The keystone combo of Darwin Barney and Chris Kunda continues to dazzle every weekend. And while this year's offense lacks the superstar of a Jacoby Ellsbury and the big time clutch presence of Andy Jenkins in the line-up, the Beavers do find a variety of ways to score. They push, drag, hit and run, run and hit....one of the key and, for my money, underrated stats for each of the past two seasons is that the Beavers ground into the fewest double-plays of any Pac-Ten school. They keep so many innings alive with speed, savvy, and aggressiveness on the basepaths. I hope you'll all be able to make it to the ballpark this weekend. We're in the midst of another special season.
Go Beavs!-MP
Mike Parker is in his seventh season as the radio voice of Oregon State football, men’s basketball and baseball. During the year he is host of the state-wide Beaver Sports Talk show in addition to anchoring KEJO 1240's During baseball season Mike’s broadcasts will be carried on KEJO 1240 and in the
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