'96 In Review
Like a nightmare that never resolved itself, the California
baseball team suffered through a disappointing 1996 season,
finishing 27-29 overall and 10-20 (fifth) in the Pacific-10
Conference Southern Division.
The Golden Bears lost several games during the year due to
injuries, disastrous innings, key errors and just plain bad
luck. What made the season even more disappointing was Cal's No.
5 preseason ranking in Collegiate Baseball and No. 7 ranking in
Baseball America. "There is no doubt that this was one of the
most disappointing years in my coaching career," said veteran
coach Bob Milano, who did earn his 600th career victory with a
5-3 victory over Fresno State Feb. 24 at Evans Diamond.
The Bears entered their conference schedule with a 11-7
non-league mark, including winning two-of-three games in series
versus Pepperdine, Long Beach State and Fresno State. But before
Cal took on UCLA to start its Six-Pac schedule, the Bears lost
two star players in junior shortstop Dan Cey to a fractured left
wrist sliding into second base Feb. 11 against Long Beach State,
and sophomore righthander Ryan Drese to a strained ligament in
his right elbow/forearm Feb. 23 against Fresno State. Plus, top
freshman catcher Jason Hill had broken his right thumb prior to
the season opener and didn't return to action until Mar. 17, and
Andy Tarpley, a top hitter from 1994, failed to become eligible
academically. Cal never really rebounded from its early season
adversity and was swept by UCLA to open league play. Things did
not get any better for the Bears as Milano's squad lost
conference series to every Six-Pac team except Arizona, whom Cal
won all six contests.
Despite the below average season, the Bears finished with a
respectable .295 team batting average and 4.67 team ERA. Cal
also had several individuals who had fine seasons. Freshman
second baseman Brian Oliver was named a freshman All-American in
both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball as he was superb
both in the field and at the plate, batting .335 and leading the
Bears in assists with 195 and helping Cal turn 55 double plays.
Cey rebounded from his injury to become one of the Six-Pac's top
hitters, batting .377 with 22 stolen bases and hitting safely in
22 of 24 conference games he played.
Senior co-captain Jonathan Petke concluded an excellent
collegiate career, batting .322 and leading the Bears in runs
(46), hits (69), home runs (7), walks (35) and RBI (56) in '96.
Petke finished his Cal career fourth on the school's all-time
list in games (221), fifth in hits (241), sixth in runs (153)
and doubles (41), and eighth in RBI (136). Junior center fielder
Ivan Lewis was once again the conference leader in stolen bases,
going 44-for-46 (tied for ninth nationally) and was a perfect
21-for-21 against conference foes. Lewis also batted .300 on the
year and currently has 96 career stolen bases, the fifth-best
Cal all-time career mark.
Cey was the winner of the Robert A. Roos Batting Cup as the
Bears top hitter, Petke earned the Clint Evans Award as Cal's
most valuable player, senior infielder Jason Rianda (.305, 18
RBI) won the Edwin E. Lord Jr. Award as the most inspirational
player and freshman right-hander Tyler Walker (2-1, 3.58 ERA,
one save) won the George Wolfman Award as the most improved
player. Cey and Petke were also selected to the All-Pac-10
Southern Division team and junior first baseman John Furstenthal
was picked as a member of the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America
District VIII Team.
