AUBURN, Ala. – Hal Baird had a plan.
Invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Auburn's baseball game Saturday vs. South Carolina, the former Tigers coach wanted to bring in a reliever, Auburn pitching coach Tim Hudson.
"My plan was to call for the right-handed split finger guy and the rascal was still in the bullpen," Baird said. "I was going to call for some relief help."
With Plan A unavailable, Baird improvised, summoning his receiver, freshman pitcher Ben Bosse, from behind the plate to the edge of the grass to reduce his throwing distance.
"At 35 feet I'm okay," Baird joked. "Sixty feet not so much."'Defining moment': 1997 Auburn Tigers reunite with Coach Hal Baird (center) In a pregame Alumni Weekend on-field ceremony, Auburn recognized 65 former players, including a dozen members of the Tigers' 1997 College World Series team on the 25th anniversary of their trip to Omaha.
"It's always great coming back to Auburn," said Rob Macrory, who batted .368 as a senior second baseman in 1997. "This is like home for all of us, especially it's great to be around our old teammates."
"It's phenomenal," said Heath Kelly, a junior infielder in '97. "I told Coach Thompson this morning that you don't realize when you're doing it how important it is. When I'm back with the guys, we pick up right where we left off. It's a relationship you can't match anywhere else."
"A very surreal feeling to be here," said Josh Etheredge, Auburn's all-time home run leader who belted 20 homers as a junior in 1997. "A mentally tough team that never thought they were out no matter what."
"What made it special was how close we were as a unit," Macrory said. "It was the sum of all the parts, and we had a superstar in Tim Hudson."
"The camaraderie and the relationship the teammates had together is what made the bond that made us play as a unit," Kelly said. "A superstar and a gelled team, that's what makes it happen."
"It's really special," said Baird, who coached the Tigers from 1985-2000, leading Auburn to the College World Series in 1994 and 1997. "To think it's 25 years since David Ross' home run and that team is astonishing.
"All of these guys are special. They've done well in life, they did well when they were here, and they have a ball when they come back."Coach Butch Thompson visits with Coach Hal BairdAfter struggling to a 37-24 (12-18 in SEC play) record in 1996, the '97 Tigers rebounded by going 50-17 (17-12), famously winning the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, and defeating Rice in Omaha for the program's third CWS victory.
"They were dedicated and determined from the fall of '96 not to repeat that," Baird said. "We had three top 10 teams prior to '96. They were driven to be successful.
"It was obvious to me with David Ross, Casey Dunn, Tim Hudson, Jamie Kersh, Chad Wandall – all of those freshmen who were here in '96 – that they had made the jump. It's even more satisfying when kids have gone through a little bit of adversity and then have something like a World Series the next year. It's really validating in many ways, and in most of their cases, the defining moment of their college careers, so it's wonderful."
For 22 years until 2019, the 1997 Tigers were Auburn's most recent College World Series representatives. A quarter century later, they remain keenly invested in the program they helped build.
"To see the guys who play for Auburn now, we're excited to see the team," Macrory said. "I feel like this team is really coming around and starting to get the hang of it."
"I had a plan."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) April 23, 2022
Called on to throw the ceremonial first pitch on @AuburnBaseball alumni weekend, Coach Hal Baird wanted to bring in @AUTimHudson:
"And the rascal was still in the bullpen."
Undaunted, the savvy southpaw fires a strike. ⤵️#WarEagle I #Legacy pic.twitter.com/erSMGjCrLq
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer