coxfan
07-01-2011, 06:15 AM
The South Carolina Gamecocks recently won their second straight national championship, setting records for most consecutive NCAA Tournament wins (16) and most consecutive College World Series games won (11) with their clinching win. Unfortunately, star CF Jackie Bradley exuberantly threw the last out into the Omaha stands instead of preserving the ball for either the NCAA (it was the first CWS at their new stadium) or his team. Bradley immediately realized his mistake but it was too late.
The ball was caught by an Omaha teen who has no connection with the Gamecocks, and who made it clear he has no intention of returning it. He brought the ball to Bradley, who sportingly directed the boy to the Gamecock bus. There it was autographed by all the players, who congratulated him.
Ironically, the last ball from last year's national title, which was also the last game at historic Rosenblatt Stadium (61 years of CWS), was also lost. A player on UCLA ( the 2010 runner-up) kept the ball and there seems little hope of its being recovered.
Another note: I saw that a g-u ball from the Virginia Super-Regional ( preliminary to the College World Series) was being sold with a bid already placed of $350. This is absurd, given that ALCS balls from 2010 were going for only $100-150. This shows how colleges need to get on the bandwagon of selling their g-u stuff. ( Most don't).
The ball was caught by an Omaha teen who has no connection with the Gamecocks, and who made it clear he has no intention of returning it. He brought the ball to Bradley, who sportingly directed the boy to the Gamecock bus. There it was autographed by all the players, who congratulated him.
Ironically, the last ball from last year's national title, which was also the last game at historic Rosenblatt Stadium (61 years of CWS), was also lost. A player on UCLA ( the 2010 runner-up) kept the ball and there seems little hope of its being recovered.
Another note: I saw that a g-u ball from the Virginia Super-Regional ( preliminary to the College World Series) was being sold with a bid already placed of $350. This is absurd, given that ALCS balls from 2010 were going for only $100-150. This shows how colleges need to get on the bandwagon of selling their g-u stuff. ( Most don't).