Collegiate Baseball The Voice Of Amateur Baseball Started In 1958 At The Request Of Our Nation’s Baseball Coaches Vol. 62, No. 1 Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 $4.00 Mike Martin Has Seen It All As A Coach Bus driver dies of heart attack Yastrzemski in the ninth for the game winner. Florida State ultimately went 51-12 during the as team bus was traveling on a 1980 season as the Seminoles won 18 of their next 7-lane highway next to ocean in 19 games after those two losses at Miami. San Francisco, plus other tales. Martin led Florida State to 50 or more wins 12 consecutive years to start his head coaching career. By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Entering the 2019 season, he has a 1,987-713-4 Editor/Collegiate Baseball overall record. Martin has the best winning percentage among ALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Mike Martin, the active head baseball coaches, sporting a .736 mark winningest head coach in college baseball to go along with 16 trips to the College World Series history, will cap a remarkable 40-year and 39 consecutive regional appearances. T Of the 3,981 baseball games played in FSU coaching career in 2019 at Florida St. University. He only needs 13 more victories to be the first history, Martin has been involved in 3,088 of those college coach in any sport to collect 2,000 wins. in some capacity as a player or coach. What many people don’t realize is that he started He has been on the field or in the dugout for 2,271 his head coaching career with two straight losses at of the Seminoles’ 2,887 all-time victories. Miami (Fla.), 10-0 and 4-3 and wondered what he Collegiate Baseball will delve into wild had got himself into. experiences he has had in his career, including the In game three, his team quickly fell behind Miami time a bus driver died of a heart attack as his team 8-2 as he made wholesale substitutions with his team was traveling in San Francisco on a 7-lane highway and faced the real possibility of starting his FSU head enroute to play Stanford. coaching career 0-3. But first we will focus on makes this southern Incredibly, the Seminoles, still trailing 8-2 heading gentleman so special. “I think first and foremost, his foundation is rooted Mike Martin embarks into the seventh, scored seven runs over the last on his final year as a three innings for Martin’s first win as the skipper at skipper in 2019. Florida St., 9-8 and included a 3-run homer by Mike See MARTIN HAS EXPERIENCED, Page 2 Photo By Ryals Lee Jaw Wired Shut For 1 1/2 Months DEALING WITH TRIO OF MAJOR INJURIES North Carolina Central outfielder Mitchell McCrary underwent labrum surgeries on both shoulders and then was hit in the jaw with a 90 mph fastball. By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Photo by Red Rocket Photography Editor/Collegiate Baseball URHAM, N.C. — On April Fools day in 2017, Mitchell McCrary of North Carolina Central was drilled in the face I couldn’t put a straw Dby a 90 mph fastball while trying to bunt. between my upper and He was rushed to Duke University Hospital, and surgery was “ performed to repair three separate breaks in his jaw. lower teeth. It had to McCrary’s mouth was wired shut for a month and a half. Then go on the inside of my his mouth was half wired for another four weeks. He couldn’t eat normally as he craved anything that he could cheek as food eventually chew and had to cope with drinking his food for months. seeped through the sides Liquified food was sucked through a straw placed in front of of my teeth and into my his teeth next to his cheek as it seeped through small openings between his teeth and into his throat. throat. It was agonizing and torture. PITCHING COACH OF THE YEAR — Stetson Pitching Coach — Mitchell McCrary, “I found myself filling my heart with hatred and depression,” Dave Therneau is Collegiate Baseball’s Pitching Coach of The N.C. Central Univ. said McCrary. Year for 2018. The Hatters led the nation in shutouts, strikeouts, “Hate, that it was me who was given this obstacle to overcome. saves, ERA and fewest hits allowed per nine innings last season. Read about the amazing system Coach Therneau has in place See TORTURED BY INJURIES, Page 4 to help pitchers thrive beginning on page 5. Inside Collegiate Baseball ” Web Site: www.baseballnews.com 2019 College Preview Section Potential High 2019 Draft Picks Hitting Balls Harder In Games All the top players, teams on every CB takes a look at the elite players Perry Husband gives his cheat level of college baseball examined in college baseball who have a shot codes to unlocking more ball exit in our 36-page pullout/Pages 21-56 at being drafted high/Page 34 velocity with swings/Page 8 Page 2 Collegiate Baseball Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 Collegiate Baseball Page 3 Martin Has Experienced Wild Collegiate Baseball From 0-2 Start At FSU To Winningest Coach Ever Continued From Page 2 was Jim Morris who went on to The Voice Of coach at Georgia Tech. and later Times, Loads Of Wins At FSU Amateur Baseball and 7 minutes. In the 17th inning, at the University of Miami as Continued From Page 1 Miami got two runs. In the bottom he became a Hall of Fame head of the 17th, we pushed across three coach. in God,” said his son Mike, Jr., an Collegiate Baseball (ISSN 0530-9751) is published twice a month runs to win it. “We start the game, and Mike When you give somebody your word, assistant coach at FSU for the past January-May and once in June, July, September and October “The funniest thing I heard about Fuentes (Golden Spikes Award 21 seasons who also played for his (14 total issues) by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Inc., 2515 that game was literally years later winner) of our team hits a rope to he must know you are telling the truth. dad at Florida St. N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705. Periodicals postage paid at “ when a husband and wife greeted left field in the first inning. That “That’s the way he goes about Tucson, AZ. me at a function. was the only hit we got as we lost, When that is taken away from you, then his life. He wants to be a positive “The lady asked if I remembered 10-0. you have lost one of the most important influence on people. He is extremely Postmaster: Send address changes to: that Miami game a few years ago. I “I jogged back to our dugout after polite. People are always amazed Collegiate Baseball said yes ma’am, I will never forget the game and started wondering parts of your life. That’s the way I at how kind he is, and it is a P.O. Box 50566 it. My husband came home at four what I had got myself into. The next direct reflection of the way he was Tucson, AZ 85703 in the morning, and he told me he day, we lost a heartbreaker, 4-3. feel. If a guy is on the field and says brought up. was at the baseball game. I laughed “In game three, we fell behind the Lord’s name in vain, he will hear it “But don’t mistake his kindness Overnight Mail: 2515 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705 and told her, ‘Yes ma’am, he sure 8-2 and took a lot of our starters with not being competitive. He has was.’ ” out of the ball game to give others from me. never deviated from those beliefs Past Publishers: Abe Chanin, Lou Pavlovich, Sr. Single 1-Year Subscription Rate: $28 for 14 issues. a chance to play. I knew we were and the way things should be. He Funniest Story — Mike Martin, Head Coach Single 1-Year First Class U.S. Subscription: $45 The most humorous story in his in trouble losing the first two and genuinely cares about each and Single 1-Year Foreign Air Mail Subscription: $50 career centered around a player on were staring at three straight losses Florida State University every person in our organization. Special Team Subscriptions: 11 papers each issue sent to one his team over 30 years ago. to begin the season. But on the “He wants the best for them. Mike Martin has a difference of opinion with an umpire. address — $110 (save $198 off the single subscription price), and “We had a kid who was not going bright side, we still had 57 more That’s where he gets the most 21 papers each issue sent to one address — $189 (save $399). a routine out and dropping an F- going down a 7-lane freeway! to class, and our academic advisor games to play. satisfaction — not wins and losses. Other Multiple Subscription Offers: Please inquire with sub- bomb that 500 kids will hear in “All I could think about at that told me that he had missed every “Entering the seventh inning, When our players come back scription department at (520) 623-4530. the stands. It absolutely will not moment was somebody had to class in this one particular subject we were still down 8-2. Low and because I couldn’t stop laughing. Georgia Tech. But he knew it would “What I relish in coaching is to campus and have a family as happen in the program.