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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
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We stock Baseball, Football and Basketball Cards
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Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9-6 3600 Old College Rd. 846-1947
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We Buy, Sell and Trade!
• Baseball
• Football
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• 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
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Page 3
Aggie Baseball