Curious about college baseball?

[NavyCrimson]

is college baseball a money-maker @ the div 1 level...even if its a small profit?

or do u need to make the regionals to make it work?

no doubt football & b-ball are the real money-makers but i'd be curious for any of u that are in the know?

thanx in advance.

[EastStang]

Only in some places, UT probably makes money, I think, because it has no competition for fans and its scholarship costs are low because its a state school. Rice does okay, attendance wise, but it probably still loses money due to scholarship costs. The problem of course is Title IX, to have baseball, you'd have to have softball plus another sport which won't draw flies. Also, I understand that there is little TV revenue from the College World Series to the participating schools. It is essentially a break even proposition for the schools. They basically get their travel costs paid.

[smudad]

Scholarships cost next to nothing comparatively. Baseball only gets 11.7 scholarships. I doubt Cliff gave Roger Clements a full one. The real cost is travel, and other peripherals. In our case, a stadium would be needed. However, as we've recently been reminded, whatever the cost to TCU, it is a winner for them. The pub and warm fuzzies they got this year from their accomplishments was greater than any cost to their AD. And I think their new coach will accept nothing less than winning from here on. He's wound pretty tight. I expect RICE feels it's gotten its money's worth as well from their program.

But at the rate SMU is picking off successful men's sports, baseball could never happen. If track can't make it (another TCU success story) then baseball has no chance. You'll need to go to White Rock to see the ladies' crew row, since I'm sure football and basketball are sold out by now.

[scoreboard1910]

Baseball can be a moneymaker with the right support. There is no doubt that we could have an extremely strong program with all of the talent in the Metroplex and the state. The issue continues to be title 9. If we added men's baseball, we would have to add two women's sports just to stay even. We have the support for bringing back baseball, but we haven't figured out how to successfully deal with title 9.

[NavyCrimson]

its a shame too b/c every yr i watch the cws it becomes more & more enjoyable with a very big 'what-if' for us.

you're right - there is sooo much talent in the dfw area!

[NavyCrimson]

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college ... yers.shtml

maybe someday we'll be back -

"In days of yore, when all bats were made of wood and saliva wasn’t a foreign substance, Joe 'Goobers' Bratcher (1898-1977) of Grand Saline and Alex Hooks (1906-1993) of Edgewood were running down a dream — the dream of playing in the Major Leagues." - Tom Faulkenberry in Van Zandt News

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive chart of every Southern Methodist University alumnus who played baseball at the Southern Methodist University AND made it to the Major League level.

Southern Methodist University
"Mustangs"

Major League Baseball Player Alumnus

Name [Click for M.L. Stats]
Dates Played
Debut / Box

Gene Bedford
1916 - 1920
06-25-1925

Jack Knott
1924 - 1926
04-13-1933

Syd Cohen (Alabama)
1928 - 1929
09-18-1934

Alex Hooks
1926 - 1928
04-17-1935

Bob Finley
1936 - 1937
07-04-1943

Bubba Floyd
1936 - 1939
06-16-1944

Danny Lynch
1947 - 1948
09-14-1948

Rick Herrscher
1955 - 1958
08-01-1962

Name [Click for M.L. Stats]
Dates Played
Debut / Box

Southern Methodist University M.L.B. Player Alumnus

Fast Facts

The Southern Methodist University's baseball program started in 1919 and Gene Bedford was their first player to make it to the Major League level.

Southern Methodist University's (SMU) baseball program has had its ups & downs over the years and the program has come & gone, but their fight song has remained a constant:

Here's to the Red and the Blue

We're the Mustangs from SMU

Give a cheer, give a fight

There's victory in sight

And our battle cry will be

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Spirit's the best in the land

And right to the end we'll stand for the

M-U-S-T-A-N-G-S

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Did you know that there are eight (8) former Southern Methodist University players who made it to "the show"? Send corrections (with documentation) or updates to Baseball Almanac.

[Sic_em]

I think SMU should start up a baseball program even if it had to kill another men's sport to do it. Personally, I'd put soccer on the chopping block. It's got to be a big money loser, what kind of gate does SMU generate for home games? The travel costs have got to be horrendous because virtually no Texas universities have men's soccer programs, so you have to travel further to find opponents.

I can't think of a D-1 school in Texas that doesn't have a baseball program other than SMU. Even North Texas is starting one up.

TCU built a nice stadium on a shoestring...less than $4 million, I believe. They hired a good coach and went to the NCAAs last year.

There would be lots of area schools for SMU to play non-conference that would involve minimal travel costs: TCU, UTA, Dallas Baptist, UNT, Baylor, Texas State, Sam Houston, A&M, UT, OSU...

SMU should have never stopped playing baseball in the first place, IMO.

[PK]

Men's soccer is probably our most successful sport today...it would be foolish to shut it down just to bring back baseball. Baseball, when we had it, was not very good and had terrible attendance. The attendance might be a little better with an on campus site, but I doubt it would be any better than soccer.

[NavyCrimson]

got to disagree with ya - PK -

baseball today is a 180 compared to when smu had it when we had to play @ local cit parks, etc. /

dag-gum tv - this past wkend - was full of pac 10, big 12 & some east coast teams here in socal -

have to agree with 'sic'em' on this one

[EastStang]

We are the only Div 1 school in Texas with Men's soccer. For all the DFW soccer clubs with Elite kids its pretty much us if they want to stay in state. Also kids who play soccer, but aren't good enough to play in college think about SMU because of its soccer program. For baseball, they have plenty of other options. We had baseball and we were last in the SWC for about 25 years. In 1976, we won 2 games and no conference games. At least our soccer team has been ranked #1 in the Country. I would not axe soccer, thats absurd. If you want to add baseball find someone with $40 Million to endow it and softball and women's bowling. And by the way, you'd need to find a name coach to get a buzz for the program and they don't come cheap.

[Roach]

Sic'Em, we appreciate your input on the site, but after the PR debacle after men's track got cut, the last thing we need to do is talk of cutting another program, especially one as successful as our soccer team for a baseball team that would get pounded in its early years. Soccer is going nowhere. Every hear, we have a chance to at least compete for the national title, and one of these days, we're going to win it under Coach Hyndman. And while the baseball team is built from scratch, the "ooh -- we have a baseball team" honeymoon would last a few weekends, after which few would watch as the great DFW players continue to go to already-established programs.

Besides, as long as colleges use metal bats, it's not baseball anyway.

[PK]

Besides, as long as colleges use metal bats, it's not baseball anyway.

Man I hate the sound an aluminum bat makes when it makes contact with a ball....give me the mellow sounding crack of a wood bat any day.

[Roach]

Metal bats are cheaper than wood -- not individually, but overall, because they don't break. Colleges will keep using them until a pitcher or a corner infielder is killed by a line drive.

[EastStang]

I agree on metal bats, plus it puts the inside of the plate in play, so a pitcher can't jam a hitter. I remember in high school we used wooden bats (before batter gloves became popular) and my hands were black and blue in the early part of the season when the games were played in 40/50/60 degree weather. Plus, I recall being the designated bat breaker because I would swing at inside pitches. I shattered about a half dozen bats during each year. In fact the coach made me go and buy my own bats for the senior year. Metal bats are cheaper and easier to use, but it cheapens the game.

[NavyCrimson]

couldn't agree more 'east stang'...

like u said earlier, once an injury or fatality occurs, it'll be the end of them -

too bad someone will have to pay the price