“I’ve always felt this is something
God wanted me to do, whether it he at
Texas A&M, or wherever it may he.
He's reinforced that in me and given
me a platform to share the lessons in life
that can he learned out on the field.
But then the game itself, I have a
great passion for the game of Baseball.",
—Mark Johnson
Teacher, Mentor, Father, Friend—Coach
By Jeremy Furtick
Sports editor
Passion.
It is a word people throw around pretty regularly, but few
truly understand. Not because passion is hard to define, but
because people are terrified of facing it.
To face your passion would mean to confront your biggest
emobons, collectively. Love, hate, joy, fear—passion is all of
these. It is every emotion humanly possible to experience, all
rolled up into one little shot of reality.
We all claim to have passions, and I for one am not too sure
if I am prepared to face them every day of my life. But Texas
A&M Baseball Coach Mark Johnson does not have this choice,
he squares off with his passions every single day.
His passion is baseball.
Johnson grew up in Las Vegas, New Mexico, a town of about
14,000 people which had three high schools. He participated
in athletics, namely football and baseball, but does not put
too much stock in his high school career.
“If you could walk and chew gum pretty good you were go
ing to get to play affiletics and be on the high school teams,”
he said.
Football was Johnson’s favorite sport, but when offered
an opportunity to play either football or baseball in college,
he chose to attend the University of New Mexico and play
baseball.
Johnson began college with aspirations to continue work
ing in the sports industry, either as a sports writer or a base
ball coach. He did not wait long to decide.
“I had written for the paper and won some writing con
tests so I had some reinforcement there,” he said. “But I made
a decision after a semester that I wanted to be a coach.”
Johnson went on to play in the New York Mets organiza
tion in 1967 after earning All-WAC and All-Region honors dur
ing his four years at New Mexico. But in 1970, Johnson hung
up his spikes and answered his calling as an assistant coach
at New Mexico.
He spent the next 15 years coaching under some of college
baseball’s most acclaimed and respected coaches. He had
tenures at the University of Arizona under Frank Sancet and
then Jerry Kindall, at Mississippi State under Ron Polk and fi
nally, two years at A&M under Tom Chandler.
Johnson describes his assistant coaching experiences as
the ultimate baseball classroom.
"If you look at my background you would have to say, ‘wow,
what an education that guy had,”’ he said. “It was an unbe
lievable classroom and I brought a little bit of each of those
guys here with me.”
Since taking over for Chandler in 1985, Johnson has ac
cumulated a remarkable 570-241-2 record to make him the
fifth-winningest active Division I head coach. He has
reached the Regional playoffs eight times, won three con
ference championships and took the Aggies to the College
World Series in 1993.
Johnson is also the only coach in A&M history to average
40 wins per season, with just under 44 over his 13 years here.
Johnson credits his success not only to his 15-year tutelage,
but to the university and his assistant coaches.
“Texas A&M draws a lot of incredible athletes that don’t just
come here to play for Mark Johnson,” he said. “I think they
come here because they are excited about the opportunity to
get a degree from Texas A&M. I’ve also had Jim Lawler and Bill
Hickey as my assistant coaches since I started here. They’ve
given us consistency and have a lot to do with my success.”
While high winning percentages and conference champi
onships are nice and also essential to having a first-class pro
gram, there is more to Mark Johnson than the stat sheet. The
52-year-old still gets a sparkle in his eye and and a grin on his
face when he talks about his passion, not his success, but his
love of baseball.
“I’ve seen so many games and so manyplays, that I can re
ally see the beauty of the game," he said. “So many things that
the fans don’t see—the bases loaded, moving the runner over,
different counts to different batters—all of those things I just
have a passion for and it’s built over along period of time. I just
really enjoy the sport and enjoy watching the sport.”
While Johnson’s love for baseball is evident in casual
conversation, it is still his job, and he has the same passion
for coaching the game as he does for watching it. Johnson
realizes the opportunity he has to influence players and
takes pleasure in giving another person a piece of what is
important to him.
“It was exciting to see that I had an effect and that I could
motivate young people, and that what I had to say could be
of some importance to them; that the lessons we teach out
here can carry over to their lives," he said.
A coach gives of himself every day on the baseball field and,
in turn, expects the same of his players. But coaches also have
their own desires and ambitions.
“Materialistically we all have selfish goals that we would
like to achieve,” Johnson said. “I would like to win a national
championship; a national championship would be fun, Big
12 championships would be fun, but the problem is, every
one else has those same dreams and can get in your way.”
No one can be the big winner every season in the stand
ings, it just does not work that way. Johnson knows this and
has made sure even if his players leave Texas A&M with no tro
phies, they leave with some things more important.
“All I really want to look back and say is that we got the most
out of our athletes, they got their degrees and we made them
better ballplayers than they were when hey got here,” he said.
“I would like for them to never be intimidated in any situa
tion because they have had to handle the pressure of being
out here. If tragedy strikes on their road to their goal, I would
like for them to jump back up realizing the lessons they
learned in baseball.”
College is so fleeting, we have only a short time to make
an impact on the people we come in contact with. Every
one wants to leave a lasting impression, and Johnson is no
exception.
“I would like to be somebody who is more than just a third
base coach or the guy who makes (the players) run sprints,”
he said. “I would like for them to be able to come and talk to
me about more than baseball. I want them to look at me as a
guy who’s a pretty good person, a class person.”
To a lot of people Mark Johnson’s job may seem like more
trouble, pressure and heartache than it could possibly be
worth. But not to him— it is his passion.
“Baseball is a cruel game, it’s made to break your heart,”
Johnson said. “If you take the game to real heights in your
emotions, it can kill you.
“This is where I like to be.”
Unfinished Business
After falling victim to injury-plagued ‘97, Aggies ready to stake claim to the Big 12
By Travis Harsch
Staff writer
After going 39-22 and ending its season in the West Re
gional of the NCAA Tournament, the Texas A&M Baseball
Team is making big plans for 1998 under coach Mark
Johnson, who is starting his 14th season as the head
coach of the Aggies.
Johnson said one of the biggest obstacles his team will
have to overcome is the loss of some key players.
“We lost Matt Garrick behind the plate, Rich
Petru at short, and Brian Benefield at second.
Those guys are key people,” Johnson said.
“You throw in some sophomores in the mid
dle at second and short, and you have
question marks. But I think there’s reason
to believe we may be all right.”
Taking over behind the plate for Garrick \
will be senior Scott Sandusky, who has ex
perience catching, although an injury side
lined him for part of last season.
“Sandusky played some (last season),’’John
son said. “He had a stress fracture and didn’t get
to play as much as we wanted.”
At shortstop and second, sophomores Steve Scarbor
ough and Sean Haney are probable starters, as they try to
fill the void left by Petru and Benefield.
At first, juniors John Scheschuk and transfer Eric Sobeck
will see playing time. Rounding out the infield at third base
is junior transfer Craig Kuzmic.
Junior Jason Tyner will start in center after play
ing on Team USA team this summer. He will be try
ing to improve on his Big 12-best 37 steals of a year
ago. Flanking him in the outfield will likely be
sophomore Steven Truitt in left field and freshman
Daylan Holt in right field.
And on the mound, A&M should have a solid pitching
staff after fighting injuries for most of last year, Johnson said.
“We’ve had some pitching guys that were injured last
year that are returning: Ryan Rupe, Chris Fulbright and
^ Shane King,” Johnson said. “They could be a big
plus for us if they’re healthy and can throw.
They’re guys that haven’t thrown for a while.”
Although the pitchers are recovering,
Johnson said there is no hurry to rush any
one back to playing.
“The pitchers haven’t been able to
throw as much, and we’re really being
cautious with them. We’re not pushing at
all on them,” Johnson said.
Rupe said he believes he is recovering
well from his surgery.
“I’m about 90 percent; no telling where I’m
going to be," Rupe said. “They didn’t expect this
surgery to be an easy surgery to overcome, I’ve been doing
really well with it, so I’m pleased with my comeback. I’m
three or four months ahead of schedule.”
One of the aces of the staff will be sophomore Casey
Possum, who played on Team USA team this summer
with Tyner.
“Possum will be a key part of our pitching staff, as will
Ryan Rupe, if he’s healthy, and Chris Fulbright, if he’s
healthy,” Johnson said.
Possum said hard work has sparked the team’s desire for
success this year.
“The whole team wants to win so bad. If we have that
motivation to win, and we put ourselves to it, we’re go
ing to win a lot of ball games,” Possum said. “We’re go
ing to do everything possible to win, and I think we’ve
got a lot of great talent, and if we get on a roll, we could
win a lot of games.”
Tyner said he hopes those wins will add up to a confer
ence championship, and maybe something more.
“I’d really love to win the Big 12, and go to the College
World Series,” Tyner said. “I want to host the regional, and
give A&M and the Bryan-College Station area something
to get excited about.”
Oklahoma State, ranked No. 7 nationally, could be a bar
rier to those goals, Possum said.
“OSU finished pretty high last year, and they've got a
lot of good hitters on their team, we’re playing up there,
too, so I think they’re going to give us a pretty good run.”
Possum said.
The Aggies believe they will have a successful year be
cause of their work ethic, according to Tyner.
“This is the hardest working team that I’ve been on
since I’ve been here," Tyner said. “No one really gripes.
We’ve got a couple of guys who were ju-co national cham
pions, I think that has a lot to do with it, I don’t think this
team’s going to tolerate losing, and I’m excited.”
Ask not what your country can dofor you...
Team USA members Tyner, Possum gain valuable experience playing around the world
By Chris Ferrell
Staffwriter
Looking at Casey Possum and Jason Tyner,
you would not think you were in the presence
of two of America’s good-will ambassadors.
They look like a typical pair of college stu
dents and act like typical college students. But
through their not-so-typical abilities on the
baseball field they were able to represent their
country as members of the USA Baseball Team
which competed around the world this past
summer.
“It was an unbelievable experience to have
played with and against such great players,”
said Tyner, a junior right fielder and team co
captain. “When I came back in the fall I could
tell that I was a lot better both mentally and
physically.”
The team, which plays all-star teams from
other countries, is made up of the nation’s top
collegiate players.
“International experience is great experi
ence,” Texas A&M Baseball Coach Mark John
son said. “Anytime you get the chance to com
pete at that level, your confidence has to grow.
For Tyner to to lead the USA baseball team in
hitting, he has to feel like he can play.”
The chance to play with some of the best
players in the U.S. was also a good opportuni
ty for Tyner and Possum to improve them
selves as players.
“I got to play with some great coaches and
some guys that will be first-round picks,” Pos
sum, a sophomore pitcher, said. “And they
gave me some really good advise.
“I got a lot of experience pitching to differ
ent types of hitters. I worked on letting people
hit ground balls because I knew there were
guys back there who could always make the
plays.”
Johnson said the
experience of in
ternational competi
tion along with the
time both players
have put in at A&M is
a major positive.
“The year of expe
rience is definitely
going to help him
(Possum),” Johnson
said. “We put him in
some tough spots last
season. We brought
him in some relief ap
pearances and had
him out there as our
Friday night starter
against some good
pitchers.”
He added that Tyn
er, who was selected as
a team captain, can
build on his experi
ences from Team USA
as he becomes a more
vocal team leader.
“Jason can handle
that. He wants that,’ he
said. “Consistency
could be his middle
name. He comes to the table with a great tem
perament. He's excited about being a captain.”
But the team is not just about baseball, it is
also a chance to develop relations between
countries through sports. Which was a major
reason a player's attitude was examined as
closely as his playing ability before he was se
lected for the team.
“I thought it was a real compliment to the
program (having two players from one
school),” Johnson said. “They carried the A&M
banner all over the country. It was a real com
pliment to those guys as well because they
don’t just take the best baseball players. When
you get out on the road for that period of time
you need guys who are going to be able to get
along and not cause trouble.”
The diplomatic side of the games was felt
by both players who said everyone was always
mirminnr tn Hoot Amorir*a
“Everyone wanted to beat the United
States,” Tyner said. “It was kind of like playing
here. Everyone wants to beat the Aggies. There
are teams that feel like it can make their sea
son if they can beat us.”
Possum got a first-hand experience while
pitching against Italy.
“We were playing in Spain and we had a
Cuban first base umpire when we were play
ing Italy,” Possum said. “He called a balk on me
when it wasn’t. It wasn’t even the kind of thing
I would usually get called for. I had some words
with him and our coached tried to talk to Jiim
but he spoke Spanish.
“The Cubans are the ones who hate the U.S.
most and tried to make us lose. Every country
wanted to beat the United States.”
But it was all part of a typical day’s work
for two of America’s unlikely good-will am
bassadors.