June 1, 2009
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
To put into perspective the unbelievable hitting year RayBirmingham’s Lobos had in 2009, all you have to do is glance at the2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket and do some math, do somecomparing.
Question: Which of those 64 NCAA-bound teams led the nation in hitting?
Answer: None of them. The University of New Mexico led the nation inhitting at .363. Texas, the overall No. 1 seed, hit .289.
Question: How many of the 16 Super Regional teams does it take tomatch the number of .400 hitters produced by Birmingham at New Mexico?
Answer: They don’t match up at all. Birmingham produced five .400hitters at UNM in 2009’s regular season: — Brian Cavazos-Galvez (.403), Kevin Atkinson (.404), Ryan Honeycutt (.416), Mike Brownstein (.426) and Rafael Neda (.416). There is just one .400 hitters in the NCAA Sweet 16 field – Dustin Ackley of North Carolina.
The point here is obvious. The reputation Birmingham built at NewMexico Junior College as one of the top hitting instructors in thenation has carried over to the Division I level in a big way.
And those powerful Lobo sticks that Birmingham helped create are partof the reason his Lobos roared into the Top 20 this season andcharged to a second-place Mountain West Conference finish behind TCU,a Top 10 team that surged into the Super Regionals to battle Texas.
Of course, there is another reason Birmingham’s Lobos were so solidthroughout the 2009 season, winning 37 games and producing a winningrecord against the three Mountain West teams (Utah, San Diego State,TCU) that slipped ahead of UNM into the NCAA postseason: These Lobosbelieved they were going to win and then went out and did it.
One of the highlights of UNM`s high-energy belief came when the Lobosvisited then-No. 3 ranked Texas A&M for a doubleheader and swept theAggies on their turf, 10-6 and 9-6.
“I think at first there was a lot of talk about winning and how goodwe expected to be,” said Brownstein, the MWC Player of The Year.”It’s one thing to go out and say it, talk about it. But when youreally start to believe it, then it becomes a real expectation.”
Those expectations were never thin or dream-like for Birmingham. Hecame to New Mexico with a bring-it-on attitude and his Lobos backedhim up on the field despite a smattering of doubt from critics whohave long watched the Lobo baseball program struggle.
“I believe we can do it here and the kids believe. That’s all thatmatters,” said Birmingham. “Our program is growing so fast andimproving so quickly, we are getting a lot of different reactions.
“Probably the most important impact is in recruiting. I’m having kidscall me who were looking at other programs. Now, they want to be Lobos.”
The message for Lobo senior Brian Cavazos-Galvez when he wascontemplating whether or not to follow Birmingham from NMJC to UNMwas not to lose the hitting coach who was helping push Cavazos-Galvezto the next level.
“I used to fight Ray over some of the things he was trying to do tomy swing,” said the UNM senior. “Then I just decided to do what he said and seewhat happened.”
What happened is Cavazos-Galvez, a Louisville Slugger National Playerof the Week (May 11-16), developed into a top outfielder prospectat the Major League level. He made the All-Mountain West ConferenceFirst Team along with teammates Brownstein, Neda, Atkinson andpitcher John Hesketh. Outfielder Max Willett made the second team.
It was a banner year for Birmingham’s Lobos when it came to pickingup honors. Brownstein, the MWC Player of The Year, was placed on theLouisville Slugger All-American Second Team. Brownstein and acestarter John Hesketh were named to the 2009 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI Second Team. Cavazos-Galvez also was named CollegeBaseballInsider.com’s National Player of the Week on May 20.
There is no doubt that the reason so many Lobos snatched postseasonhonors is because of the way they pound the baseball. The Lobos had770 hits in 2009: No. 1 in the nation in hits per games played.
“In junior college, a lot of guys showed up on the Major League radarbecause I taught them how to hit,” said Birmingham, who won anational championship at NMJC. “When I came to Division I, I wantedto see if I could teach the same thing at that level.
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“This program is beginning to be known for a lot of things, but our No. 1 trademark is winning and being successful in the classroom and we plan on doing a whole lot of that again next year.” Coach Ray Birmingham, whose Lobos led the nation in hitting in 2009 |
“We led the nation in hitting and we led the nation in .400 hitters.I think I’ve proven I can teach hitting at this level. If a kid withability becomes a Lobo, I can help him become a professional hitterand improve his chances in the draft.”
Birmingham’s current challenge is coming on the recruiting trail. Hehas to replace part of his hitting crew: Atkinson, Brownstein,Cavazos-Galvez and Dane Hamilton (.372).
“That’s a challenge and it’s not a challenge,” said Birmingham. “Those guys came in here needing to be taught how to hit and I’ll do the same thing with the nextgroup. We’ll have our hitters.”
One of Birmingham’s favorite expressions is, “This isn’t my firstrodeo.” The cagy and fiery Lobo coach also knows he needs to improvehis Lobos on the mound. There is a reason Texas hits only .289, butis the top overall No. 1 seed: pitching.
“We will develop pitchers here, too,” said Birmingham. “Our missionis to put a complete team of Lobos on the field. But if a guy comesin here behind our kind of offense, he can win 12 games a year andget a whole lot of attention.
“There is no question we need more of a bulldog attitude on ourpitching staff. But we have guys coming in who can be bulldogs andRudy Jaramillo did a great job on the mound as a freshman and I thinkhe’ll grow into that role.
“We are taking the right steps to build this program and we aretaking steps in the right direction. Our goal is to reach the NCAAplayoffs and we were a game away the last two years.
“We open with Texas next year and we plan to compete on a high level.We were ranked No. 18, finished second in the Mountain West for thesecond year in a row, and we had the Player of The Year. We are doingthe things we need to do in order to get where we want to go.
“We had a successful season in every which way except we didn’t reachthe NCAA regional, but we will change that. This program is beginningto be known for a lot of things, but our No. 1 trademark is winningand being successful in the classroom and we plan on doing a wholelot of that again next year.”
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editorand sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach himat rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at TheRichard Stevens Corner.