On Saturday, Jan. 24, Jackie Robinson stadium hosted its annual UCLA Baseball Alumni Game, welcoming Bruins from the past and present. The day started off with batting practice at 10 a.m., an Old Timer’s game at 11 a.m., and concluded with the grand event, the Alumni vs. Current Bruins game at 1:05 p.m.
Among the Bruins attending were former and current MLB players, including Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, 2008 World Series Champion Chase Utley, Free Agent starting pitcher Griffin Canning, former Blue Jays pitcher Casey Janssen, Tony Scruggs and others. Also in attendance were several former coaches, and former players who just simply wanted to pick up the baseball bat again.
The first event of the day, the Old Timer’s game, was split into two teams, Blue and Gold, and played only four innings of baseball due to time constraints. The game was not a competitive one, but rather, a chance for the former Bruins to have fun playing the sport they love and reconnect with their older teammates. The Old Timers game was essentially just glorified batting practice, with current assistant coach Griffin Barnes lobbing the ball to the plate in order to make it easier for the Bruin Old Timers to get some hits and have fun. Barnes is the brother of former Dodgers backup catcher and two-time World Series Champion Austin Barnes.
The entire game was accompanied by hilarious commentary by former UCLA baseball player and UCLA baseball head coach Gary Adams, who served as head coach from 1975-2004, and won two Division II national championships with the Bruins. Under his tenure, approximately 46 of his players made it to the MLB in some capacity. Adams, in a joking manner, stated that the entire goal of the game was to “stay away from a hamstring pull.” Ironically enough, soon after this statement, Rick Krikorian, who played from 1981-1982, appeared to sustain a leg-related injury while running to first after hitting a ground ball to shortstop (although we certainly hope he’s okay).
Adams, in a postgame interview, expressed just how important the annual Alumni game is to him: “I haven’t missed one. You know, and I love it. I love the guys. I love the camaraderie that our team’s always had…Probably my favorite day of the year besides my wedding anniversary and my wife’s birthday!”
Not only is Adams proud of the players that he has coached, but he also has significant hope for the current UCLA Bruins team and their futures in baseball: “They’re the number one ranked team in the nation, and they’ve earned that based upon how many guys they have returning from last year’s remarkable team…a lot of them are going to be in the pros and [UCLA Baseball head coach John Savage] can brag about them going to the pros, you know?”
Krikorian, who played under Adams, expressed that he was uncertain if he would have ever played college baseball if it had not been for Coach Adams: “I had four choices to go to college—Stanford, UCLA, Cal Poly, or UC Irvine. All academics…I wrote letters to school. I got one response, and I had never been to UCLA, and I went here only because Coach Adams wrote me a letter back. Told me I had a chance to make the team. I made that team!”
Being back at Jackie Robinson stadium evoked a variety of emotions within the Bruins Baseball alumni. Being at the stadium was especially nostalgic for 2008 World Series Champion Chase Utley, who also spent parts of four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. When asked about how it felt to be back at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Utley responded by saying “It feels great. It’s been a while since I’ve been back here. The field looks better than it did back then…it’s good to reconnect with some of my former teammates that I haven’t seen for a while. You know, life gets in the way, and now we’re all here, reminiscing on old times and having a blast.”
Utley also expressed how meaningful being a Bruin was to finding success in his Major League career: “ I feel extremely fortunate to spend three years here at UCLA under Gary Adams’s supervision, and Vince Baringley was the hitting coach…You’re interacting with guys you’ve never met before, but you’re teammates. Huge growth opportunities…that was definitely pivotal in my maturation.”
The Alumni versus current Bruins game, the main event, occurred approximately an hour after the conclusion of the Old Timers game. The Alumni won the game 5-4, marking back-to-back years where the Alumni have bested the current Bruins. The Alumni team did not have their own pitching staff, but rather, the current UCLA Bruins pitchers pitched for the alumni team.
During the beginning of the game, the bats of both the current and alumni Bruins seemed to be cold—each team registered a hit, but those runners were left stranded on base. It was during the bottom of the second inning where the current Bruins drove in the first run of the game, being an RBI single by senior outfielder Jarrod Hocking, where he drove in redshirt junior outfielder Payton Brennan to take the lead.
The current Bruins then proceeded to capitalize on that second inning success by putting up a three-run rally in the bottom of the third inning, taking advantage of the Alumni Bruins’ sloppy defense. For example, Hocking hit a ground ball to the alumni third baseman, but made a bad throw to second base to try and turn a double play. The bases became loaded, and junior catcher Cashel Dugger drew a walk to drive in the third and final run of the inning, making the score 4-0.
After surrendering three runs in the third inning, the alumni Bruins answered right back with a mammoth solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth inning.
The bats from both teams stayed quiet until the top of the seventh inning, where the alumni hit another solo home run to cut the current Bruins’ lead to two runs. Capitalizing on that success, the alumni Bruins pulled off the unthinkable and started a rally of their own in the top of the eighth inning. The alumni Bruins battled their way up from being down 4-2, and put on a good enough fight to the point where the current Bruins team needed to call for a pitching change. However, this pitching change was not enough to prevent the damage that had already been done, and the alumni came out of the top of the eighth by taking the lead. Neither team scored in the ninth inning, ending the game with a final score of 5-4. With this victory, the alumni have defended their status of being the reigning UCLA Baseball Alumni game champions.
The UCLA Alumni recorded 11 hits as opposed to the current Bruins’ seven hits, but the alumni made three errors to the current Bruins’ zero errors. At the end of the day, it is fair to say that the alumni still have gas left in the tank after all.
Following the conclusion of the annual preseason event, the current UCLA Bruins baseball team will turn their attention to UC San Diego, who they will play against in a three-game series at Jackie Robinson Stadium, from Feb. 13-15.
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Featured Image Photographed by Siena Hunt/BruinLife
