How a Michigan Team Virtually Nobody Believed in Became a Team to Remember
6/22/2019 7:27:00 PM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
OMAHA, Neb. -- Nobody on the outside saw this coming.
The Wolverines have arrived at the summit, meeting No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt in the College World Series championship series beginning Monday night (June 24), and one Las Vegas casino had them at 200-1 odds entering the 64-team tournament.
They were among the last four schools in, and now are one of the last two standing.
The University of Michigan's 35 baseball players and its coaches could end up being more amazing than even those 1969 Amazin' Mets, who beat odds half that steep to win the MLB World Series.
So, how did they do it?
How did they let a huge lead in the Big Ten standings get away over the last two weekends, going 2-4 to finish second by a half game?
How did they lose the opener of the conference tournament, and in an elimination game trail by two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, only to get a walk-off win before reeling off three consecutive victories to boost their NCAA tourney resume just enough to get in?
How did they blow a three-run lead in the ninth inning of the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional, allow seven runs in a game that could've clinched the championship and then rebound the next day with an exclamation point win over Creighton by a 17-6 score?
How did they go into the dragon's den, face No. 1 UCLA in Los Angeles, and slay that fire-breathing team, to win the Super Regional in the deciding third game that got truly hairy?
And how did they come here, to TD Ameritrade Park, and twice beat No. 8-ranked Texas Tech, which had demolished them three times in Lubbock in March, throw in Tommy Henry's 2-0 shutout of Florida State in between and reach the best-of-three series for all the marbles?
The Wolverines have been asked to explain how they've beaten all the odds and obstacles, and it's summed up in a small round maize sticker they have pasted onto everything that has blue letters reading:
"TEAM 153
WE BELIEVE"
Belief seems easy, doesn't it? You just say you believe and take it from there. But it really isn't easy at all. Belief has many layers that must be folded over and over and over until the proof is in the performance.
And it all began May 23, right here at TD Ameritrade, when Michigan was dangling by the proverbial thread. There were two on with two out and Illinois led by two runs. The Illini had its ominous closer, Garrett Acton -- the NCAA leader with 19 saves, on the mound to lock the door.
Only a funny thing happened. The Wolverines, it turned out, held the keys to that door.
Designated hitter Jordan Nwogu ripped a fat 1-1 fastball for a double to the gap in left-center that hit the wall on one bounce, and both Miles Lewis (who singled) and Christan Bullock (pinch-running for Ako Thomas, who walked) raced home. Bullock, the fastest player on the team, had no trouble scoring from first, but wasn't taking any chances. He slid, grabbing the precious plate with his left hand to make it a 5-4 Michigan win.
"I'm just glad I had that big AB," Nwogu told me here several days ago. "I just wish everybody else in our lineup could've come up and done the same thing. But after that, we all kind of responded to everything and we got hot.
"Then, after beating UCLA at their home, Coach (Erik) Bakich told us, 'You can beat anybody, win anything.'"
Bullock
And so that "lightning in a bottle" that Bakich and his players have often spoken of had been captured. It might as well have been a genie in a bottle, and the Wolverines (49-20) haven't wasted that one wish and are now two wins away from a national championship.
"It means everything, man," said shortstop Jack Blomgren, the grittiest player on a very gritty team. "A couple weeks ago we were down to our last out and in the same dugout, and now we're playing for a national championship. It's pretty crazy, and we just hope we can make Michigan proud."
First baseman Jimmy Kerr, who has been a World Series hero, said, "We saw the end of our season right in front of us against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. And I think that kind of made the whole team appreciate every single game that we've had together since then. And that's kind of the bigger picture. It's not that we're playing in a Regional, Super Regional, College World Series championship; it's just that we get another game with each other."
Bakich said his players "think they're on vacation," and never want the trip to end.
He was named the national coach of the year during the CWS run, and has accomplished so much along with do-everything assistant coach Nick Schnabel, pitching coach Chris Fetter, volunteer assistant Michael Brdar, strength coach Jason Cole and an amazing support staff.
Bakich summed up this wild ride after beating Texas Tech, 15-3, on Friday (June 21):
"To play the final two weeks of the Big Ten pressing and tight, playing not to lose, and see how that backfired, how that's not the way the game should be played. When we did get into the (NCAA) Tournament, at first it was a relief. Then it was like, what are we doing? This is crazy. It was a light-bulb moment.
"The repetition of having adverse moments and every time we've gotten knocked down, we've gotten back up.
"It's a totally different mindset, and I don't want to change that. I don't want to let the moment get too big. Whoever we face next week (Vanderbilt hadn't eliminated Louisville at that hour Friday night) is who we face. It's not going to be about any storylines. We're playing another baseball game. If we can make it that simple, that's been a great recipe to our success, and I don't see any reason to change."
Bakich completely trusts this team.
"I feel like I handed the keys off and I'm letting someone else drive right now and I'm just a passenger," said Bakich. "And they're taking a lot of us for a ride right now. But we've seen both ends of the spectrum. What Jimmy referenced, too, a month ago in the Big Ten Tournament, we were playing not to lose the regular-season conference title. And we were squeezing it. And you could tell we were just puckered up, and we weren't playing well.
"And now they're loose and they're laughing and smiling and having a great time. And they're not thinking ahead. They're not making the moment too big like they mentioned. They're just playing pitch-to-pitch and competing as hard as they can. And when they make mistakes, they're aggressive mistakes. And that's a sign of a group that isn't scared and the moment isn't too big for them and they feel like they have that playground mentality."
He paused, rubbed his hands, and added, "All of those experiences have calloused our mind and have made us a very resilient group."
Kauffmann
Starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann, who is 2-0 in the CWS, said, "We're just excited to get to stay here and play for two more wins. We haven't been thinking about it, blowing it out of proportion, trying to stay in the moment, keep taking it one pitch at a time and come to play."
Third baseman Blake Nelson, batting .333 with two RBI and two runs in the CWS, said, "It's something pretty special. I think a lot of people slept on us because we barely got into the tournament. But we caught fire and everything's hitting on all cylinders now. Everybody's having fun and enjoying it. So, it's kind of like the icing on the cake. We didn't just come here to be here. We want to win it all, and none of us in this locker room are surprised."
Center fielder Jesse Franklin said, "It's crazy. I just feel really blessed, and so thankful that my parents are here to see it along with my aunts, uncles and cousins. My friends are watching and I'm so thankful. It's like a dream right now, and it probably won't set in until I see it on TV -- the national championship matchup.
"I just want to bottle up this feeling and have it forever."
First baseman Jimmy Kerr and Franklin have wielded humongous bats in the CWS.
Franklin is 5-for-12 (.417) with one double, one homer, five RBI, four runs and three walks -- getting on base over half the time.
Kerr has hit for the cycle over three games and regained the homer lead from Franklin with two in the third game for 14 on the season, one more than Franklin. Kerr is batting .462 (6-for-13) with six RBI and five runs. He's got one double, one triple, those two taters, one stolen base and one walk -- reaching base exactly half the time.
Asked about any friendly competition they might be having, Franklin said: "I don't think either of us really are aware about the College World Series RBIs. But Jimmy this whole postseason has been unbelievable with the amount of RBIs and the amount of big hits, actual big home runs, like in Corvallis the ball going over the batter's eye. And he's had so many clutch RBIs for our team which is really awesome as a senior. I don't know about him, but I do kind of notice, like, the home run totals on the year. So, I'm glad we have a couple more games."
Everyone laughed and Kerr added, "Yeah, it's been a fun postseason, but none of it would happen without J.G. (Nwogu), Jordan Brewer and Jesse hitting in front of me. They make it easy with guys on base all the time. A lot of credit goes their ways because RBIs are just guys in front of you doing their job."
Thomas
They are a team functioning at the highest level, and Kerr said Thomas predicted this and more last week:
"After we won the first game, we were feeling good and (second baseman) Ako came up to me and said, 'We're winning it all.' So, we had that confidence to get there. Now we're getting that chance to win it all."
Thomas said, "I had no doubt in my mind -- the way we were playing. And we're still playing, and I'm very confident in this team. We're playing really good baseball. Everybody always talks about how it's one thing to be here, and we have our work cut out for us. But I have no doubt about the team. This team is very special, very talented, very athletic.
"All we had to do was put everything together, and that's what we're doing here in the College World Series. It's amazing, but I'm not really surprised. We worked so hard, and these coaches have put the work in with us. My teammates are great -- all of them. But it's still crazy that we're going for the national championship."
Jeff Criswell, the starter turned reliever who has thrown five scoreless innings in the CWS while allowing only two singles and getting 10 strikeouts, said, "This is what we've played all year for. We couldn't be happier. We're going to be ready to go."
Criswell was asked about moving to the bullpen.
"I just do the same thing as I've done all year," he said. "I stick to my pitches, stick to the game plan. If I do that, I feel I'm going to have success. I'm not changing anything."
Georgia's 1990 national champions were the last team to reach the championship round of the CWS by using three or fewer pitchers. Kauffmann, Criswell and Henry have carried the load of the first 27 innings. Henry will start Monday night against No. 2 seed Vanderbilt.
TD Ameritrade, or "TD AmeriPlayground," as Franklin referred to it after beating the Seminoles in the second game of the CWS, has become home for the Wolverines, who played five games here in the Big Ten Tournament and will play at least that many in the World Series as well.
"I think there's a big correlation," Bakich said of the Omaha factor. "I think that's a huge advantage. And what we talked about is kind of the same thing that Karl alluded to of not making this bigger than it is. So the field is the same. TD Ameritrade, between the white lines is exactly the same. The difference between the Big Ten Tournament and the College World Series is the external -- the crowd is full, there's beach balls going everywhere. It's noisy. It's just a lot more uncontrollable and external things that are added to it.
"The same thing with now we're going to be playing for a national championship. We'd had three days off where we heard about how great we are, and talked about (how) those are all external things. So, if we can just stay centered and make it about baseball and just get back to focusing on how we play, then we're going to have a lot of success as long as we stay loose. And the guys are doing a really, really good job of that."
Michigan played its final regular-season games in Lincoln, Nebraska, and stayed in the state before the conference tourney began in Omaha. A large group of Wolverines attended a Kenny Chesney concert in Lincoln, and Kauffmann bought the black cowboy hat that he now wears when going out.
In that fateful ninth inning against Illinois, Nwogu's heroics were foreshadowed by a Chesney song blaring on the public-address system. Several players questioned didn't know the song's name, but they know its sound and it provides them energy.
"When it came on," said Henry, "We all said, 'Did you hear that? Did you hear that?'
"No, I didn't get a cowboy hat at the concert. But I wish I got a shirt or something because, reflecting back on that, and how much of a milestone and turning point it was connected to and how much of a role it's played since then (it plays during CWS games as well), it would be kind of cool to have a T-shirt or something that helps you reflect back on that."
Now, Chesney's music is on the team's play list and is heard regularly during team activities.
A song to remember.
Big hits to remember.
Big plays to remember.
Big pitches to remember.
Big wins to remember.
And, most certainly, a team to remember -- Team 153.
They believe.
