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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 1991)
6 a6ed uioji v J^-i» ^ ^ ^ ^ f -p"^r K-* • »■ <Mati apixojd siAV(j ‘fosduiaa Robinson recovers from serious injury By Chris Whitley Of The Battalion Staff I t’s been a long road back for Dan Robinson. As the Texas A&M outfielder approaches his senior season, he looks forward to becoming a full-fledged con tributor to a winning ball club. To Robinson, the painful memories of March 17 are forgotten, literally. “I don’t remember a thing,” Robinson said about his collision with second base- man Trey Witte. “I remember the play before it, and that was it. I don’t remember the actual play, going for the ball, diving for it, or anything.” They collided as they were both chas ing a bloop single in shallow right field. The collision caused multiple fractures in Robinson’s jaw and cheek bones along with a concussion that left him unconscious for several minutes. “I guess the next thing I remember af ter that was waking up in the hospital three days later with Coach (Mark) John son right there by my side,” Robinson said. Robinson thought he was still at Olsen Field. “Coach, I don’t think I can finish the game,” Robinson told Johnson in the hos pital. The injury left him in the hospital for days and kept him out of service for five weeks —the amount of time his jaw was wired together. It was a crushing blow to the Aggies, who lost Robinson for the bulk of the con ference season. When his injury oc curred, Robinson led the Aggies in hom- eruns, runs batted in, stolen bases and walks, and had the second highest batting average. For Robinson himself, though, it was a much tougher struggle. With his jaw wired shut for five weeks, it was next to impossible for him to speak, and his diet consisted of only liquid foods. “Nobody would sit by me at lunch be cause I was drinking out of a straw what they were eating,” Robinson joked. “They would try to blend everything up for me. “I’d have six or seven cups of just ... you name it. Whatever they were eating, they would blend it up for me.” But what was tougher for him than swallowing pureed manicotti or downing carrot shakes was sitting on the bench for five weeks. “They wouldn’t let me do anything, so Coach Johnson just let me go home and study every day. I didn’t have to go to practice for the first three weeks,” Robin son said. He did make it back to play the last four games of the year. He was 20 pounds lighter and had just started lifting weights again. “I wasn’t physically strong, but I’d been swinging,” Robinson said. “I wanted to play. I thought that I could do just as well as I did before I got hurt.” Johnson, in retrospect, said he feels guilty about putting Robinson in when he did. “It wasn’t fair for me to put him in at the end,” Johnson said. “That wasn’t a fair shot for Dan. We were trying to make something happen, and we knew if he got hot, it could happen. But that was kind of a dream.” Nevertheless, Robinson vividly remem bers his first at-bat after being cleared to play. “When I came up to bat and the fans P. EBENHACK/The Battalion Dan Robinson had plenty to celebrate last season before he was injured. just went crazy and my adrenaline was flowing, it was just a neat experience.” This summer, Robinson played in the Alaskan League and received several ac colades. His team won the league tide, and he took home a spot on the All-Alas kan team. Now Robinson, a former JUCO All- American at San Jacinto Junior College who led his team to the JUCO World Se ries title in 1989, is eager to help make this a banner season for A&M. Aside from his talent on the baseball field, he also can claim talent in the class room. He earned an Academic Achieve ment Award for getting a 3.75 GPR in the fall. There were 16 Aggies last fall who had a GPR of 3.0 or better. “People that want to make good grades are going to get good grades. You’ve just got to find time to do your studies,” Rob inson said. When the subject of a goal for this sea son comes up, Robinson is not afraid to mention the College World Series. “I think we have the team to get there if we play like we’re capable of playing,” he said. “Of course, in baseball, you’ve got to get your breaks here and there, but if we get a couple of breaks, we’ve got a chance to go.” As for a personal goal, Robinson said he would like to bat between .350 and .400, but his main focus for this year is quite simple: “I would just like to contrib ute to the team,” he said. If he does, Robinson’s contributions might take the Aggies a long way in 1991. Allen Continued from page 8 pression on a number of professional teams. Enough of an impression to con vince the Seattle Mariners to draft him in the 11th round of the 1988 draft. After being selected by the Mariners, Allen had a decision to make. “That was a big decision for me as far as should I go or shouldn’t I go,” Allen said. “But I just felt out of high school, if I went straight into pro ball, I’d be pushed out into the dog-eat-dog world,” Allen said. “I don’t think my matu rity level was high enough to go out and deal with Ronnie Allen that. It wasn’t long after Allen played his first t-ball game at age five that he knew he had exceptional talent. “I never dreamed of it (playing college baseball) then,” Allen said. “Up through the levels I’ve always exceled, but not really until high school did I really realize I could possibly make a career out of it.” Allen also brings experience back to the Aggies after playing for the 1990 U.S. national baseball team. He worked seven innings and was 0-1 with a 2.64 ERA for Team USA. After suffering from pain in his throw ing elbow, however, Allen was forced to leave the team and return home for the summer. But Allen contends the experience he gained in his short stint with the national team was invaluable. “I got to travel around and experience a lot of different things,” Allen said. “For the time I was in there it was a great expe rience.” The experience on Team USA will help him fulfill his potential, Johnson said. “I think (it’s good experience) anytime you go against the competition those guys went against,” Johnson said. “If you get surrounded by outstanding players you may become one of them. I think it let him see that he can compete.” With his experience on the Team USA and a solid A&M career already under his belt, Johnson said Allen has a bright fu ture. “The scouts feel like he has a chance to be a top round draft choice, so we’re ex cited about him,” Johnson said. But Johnson’s thoughts quickly steer to the job Allen and the A&M pitching staff have at hand. Most of the Aggies’ big guns from last season’s staff are gone. “We lost 32 out of 43 of our wins to ei ther signing after junior year or termi nation of eligibility off that team last year, so obviously you look at pitching and say we’ve got some things we’ve got to do the re,” Johnson said. tri-state SPORTING GOODS OFFICIAL PRO-FIT BASEBALL CAP $12.95 We stock Baseball, Football and Basketball Cards and supplies for the collector. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9-6 3600 Old College Rd. 846-1947 Now open in Post Oak Mall— ^bullpen Sports Cards We Buy, Sell and Trade! • Baseball • Football • Basketball • Waxpacks, Boxes and Singles Page 10 Aggie Baseball Monday, Februaiy 11,1991 YKXm THE EDITOR: First let me thank you for picking up this section. You cannot imag ine how much work went into it. If I could have known two weeks ago, I would not have agreed to do this. The nicest thing that I can say about it at this point is that it is done. And now that it is, I must give credit where credit is due for produc ing this monster. Richard "tj" Tijerina and Fred Joe were totally responsible for the pic ture on the front page. tj deserves special mention. In fact, he deserves more than mention, he deserves extra pay. He was responsible for virtually everything crea tive that you see. Furthermore, he worked as long as I did, which seemed like forever. You're the best, tj. Douglas Pils, my assistant editor, did too much for me to mention. From writing headlines to cropping pictures to getting our late night re freshments, he did it all. Suffice it to say that Doug was up here with me laying out pages until 3 a.m. on his birthday. As you can see from the bylines, quite a few writers contributed sto ries to this issue: Scott Wudel, Craig Wilson, Steve O'Brien, Anthony Andro, Michelle Bergeron, James Bruce, Chris Whitley and Cam Lock- ley. They are a pleasure to work with and are all talented writers. I would like to tip my lens cap to the photographers who shot the pictures that grace die section, Kevin Ivy, Karl Stolleis, Stott Weaver, Phelan Ebenhack and Jay Janner. All bias aside, our photographers are the best in the nation and they don't get enough credit. This preview would not have been possible without the help of Sports Information Director Alan Cannon. A.C., as we all know him, went above and beyond the call of duty to set up interviews and give us those tidbits of information that we just could not find anywhere else. Thanks to Coach Mark Johnson for his patience in dealing with the media blitz that I unleashed upon him. Finally, thanks to the players and fans who make Olsen Field the most exciting baseball venue in the nation. They are all fine represena- tives of our beloved school. I hope you enjoy this preview as much as we enjoy watching Aggie baseball. Thanks, Alan D. Lehmann Sports Editor, The Battalion 1991 TEXAS AGGIE BASEBALL SCHEDULE DATE FEBRUARY 8-9 12 13 15-16 18-19 22-23 26 DAY Fit-Sat Tut MARCH 1-2 5 6 9-12 15-17 19 22-23 26 29-30 Fit-Sat Mon.-Tut Fri.-Sat Fit-Sat Tut APRIL 2 5-6 9 12-13 16 19-20 26-27 MAY Sat-Tut Fit-Sun, Fit-Sat Tut ftt-Sat Fit-Sat Tut Fri.-Sat Tut Fit-Sat Fit-Sat Fit-Sat 3-4 16-18 23-26 31-JONES ALL HOME GAMES IN BOLD CAPS *SWC Games OPPONENT at tIT-Pan American (3) SOUTHWEST TEXAS ST. (2) MARY HARDIN BAYLOR NORTHEAST LOUISIANA (3) WESTMONT COLLEGE (2) atLSCJ (3) at Sam Houston LOUISIANA TECH (3) at Lamar (2) SAM HOUSTON ST. AGGIE CONTINENTAL CLASSIC ARIZONA (3) UT-ARUNGTON (2) ★ARKANSAS (3) TEXAS SOUTHERN (2) at *Texas Tech (3) SOUTHWESTERN (2) ★BAYLOR (3) STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (2) at ★Rice (3) SAM HOUSTON ST. ★TEXAS (3) at ★Texas Christian (3) at ★Houston (3) SWC TOURNAMENT (College Station) NCAA Regkmals College World Seales (Omaha) 1991 Texas Aggie Starting Lineup ‘— w-LLLw-/,• <~v'L<:& ■' ,>, ^ v V7Xv 'Ll."v 1 $ ■ ", /< -v 'v-w- ; ' f 4 — : . ' V "St, * r: ' Page 3 Aggie Baseball