Rob Henkel Diary
UCLA pitcher Rob Henkel has a busy week ahead of him. Not only will he be the opening-night starter Friday night in the Bruins' Super Regional showdown with LSU, but the junior left-hander will also likely go in the early rounds of the 2000 MLB Draft which begins on Monday. Follow all of the action right here as Rob chronicles the events daily for UCLABruins.com.
Sunday, June 4, 2000 - The game Friday was just incredible. When we got there, the energy, the crowd was simply amazing. We were the visiting team and the pitcher that threw against us had a no-hitter through six and a third innings so we didn't start out to well offensively. The crowd was supposedly the largest paid attendance ever and it was incredible pitching out there as they were chanting all sorts of things, like "Tiger bait, Tiger bait!" I ended up going five plus innings. I wish I had done a little bit better to keep the team in the game. I didn't have my best stuff as I pitcher quite often didn't but I pitched with a lot of heart and determination. I made some pretty key pitches and only got beat on my third best pitch once to the nation's leading home run hitter (Brad Cresse), otherwise, the Bruins just weren't at the peak of their game. We made some defensive errors, we didn't hit the ball well and ended up losing 8-2.
It was one game and we were going to look for positives going into Saturday and wanted to carry that into Sunday. Saturday we came out to play. It was hotter and more humid than any of us had ever experienced. It was going to be a tough game because we were going up against a tough team and they were in the driver's seat. Obviously we had lost and didn't play up to our capabilities the night before, but Saturday they ended up getting out to a 10-0 lead. Any time you have a deficit of 10 runs, it's really hard to overcome, but we battled and clawed and scratched our way back into the game. We eventually had the tying runner at the plate and came pretty close to hitting a grand slam, the ball went right to the warning track and that gave everyone a thrill but we ended up losing 14-8.
That was a real tough game. The crowd was louder and crazier than ever, but they weren't ragging us or name-calling, they were just avid baseball fans and completely pulling for their team. The fans are just incredible here, before and after the game. You know it's a little different when you're on the playing field, but everything you hear about Southern hospitality is true.
Obviously we lost the game Saturday but as a team I thought we were really gracious. We went up to the fans after the game and thanked them for their support. And after we had our team talk, a lot of the locals wanted us to go to their barbecues and hang out with them. So eventually the whole team was over there, and they were feeding us and wishing us the best our careers. I think that was what we needed. For myself, knowing this was my last game at UCLA, being I graduate June 18. This was the reason I came back, to play in the post-season. To have a special team like we have, to make it to the final 16 out of 281 Division I colleges was great. I felt like we gave it a good run and the post-season was awesome, all that it was hyped up to be. When that final pitch was recorded on Saturday, I was pretty emotionally upset, thinking that this was possibly the last time I would play on a team with these guys. We may face other in the future in different settings, on opposing teams, and I was pretty emotional. But it was perfect to have the LSU fans so loving and so caring and understanding. Even though they defeated us, none of that showed off the field. It was quite an end to a terrific year.
Thursday, June 1, 2000 - We're finally here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We got in late last night and got a good night's rest. I'm rooming with Paul Diaz, another pitcher on the team. This morning I had a nice breakfast downstairs and then went outside and didn't realize how hot it was since we got in the night before. During the day it's real hot and humid, possibly not as hot or as humid as it could be. We went over to the field and had a light practice today. It was real good to get acquainted with the complex and the facilities. The field was not as nice as I'd anticipated. The actual playing grounds are a bit older and it has a lot of stands. There are going to be about 8-10,000 people at the games and they're all aluminum bleachers so it's going to be really loud. It will be a real band-box.
So the first experience walking onto the field got me real pumped up for Friday's game. I saw one of my buddies who was on my Cape Cod team and started talking to him and a media guy kind of pulled me aside and asked if I had time for a question or two. Before I knew it, in about 10 seconds, I was swarmed like never before in my life. More microphones just shoved right in my face, video cameras everywhere. I would say about 30 to 35 media people from all kinds of various affiliations. They were asking what I have heard about the LSU team, and how I am going to throw and if they fans are going to bother me. After finishing the interviews, I went and started stretching, just doing my warm-ups before I was to go throw lightly in preparation for tomorrow. Once again I was followed by video cameras and they were watching my every move. It was pretty interesting. I had no idea that the day before it would be hyped up like this.
Practice ended and we had a little bit of relaxation time, went back to the hotel and then had a team dinner tonight. Actually it was for both teams, an NCAA tournament dinner. That was very nice, We heard some encouraging stories about the past regionals that were here.
Thoughts about tomorrow
It's coming, it's close.
The game is going to be televised, the fans are going
to be crazy. It's a 7 o'clock game and I've heard
that people get there at 8 in the morning to tailgate.
I met with the coaches tonight and had a scouting report on the hitters. They said if I pitch my game, up to my capabilities, I'll do very well. They haven't seen a pitcher quite like me: I throw a hard knuckle curve. It doesn't have quite the move as my curveball and looks like my fastball, so if I just work down in the zone with my fastball and if I locate my three pitches I'll be just fine. It's going to be a good one tomorrow night.
Wednesday, May 31, 2000 - In the first round of the regionals in Oklahoma City our team came through in the clutch, sweeping all three games. It all began on Friday as we pulled off the 13-12 thriller win in the bottom of the ninth against Delaware. It was one of the greatest and luckiest games I've ever experienced, the whole thing with the sun balls and such. Then we just dominated on Saturday and Sunday and that was just a great feeling.
About taking on Louisiana State this weekend
To be
the best you have to play the best and it doesn't
matter who we're up against, we can play with anyone
and win if we all just play our game and pull for each
other as a team. I think all aspects of our game are
clicking right now.
As far as preparation for the Super Regional this weekend, I was in L.A. for two days which was not a lot of time to try to get my finals and classes and stuff for graduation in order. I was able to get a lot of stuff done and threw a really good bullpen yesterday, so I had three days of rest and relaxation for Louisiana State.
LSU is a great hitting team. I really await the challenge of pitching in their ballpark with their fans. Everyone's going to be rooting against us, nobody is going to be pulling for us except for our 40 family members that we can't hear. But you await that challenge and I think it's going to be a great week. I think we have great things in store for us. We're two wins away from the promise land.
To prepare for the game I have a minor scouting report on the club and I'm learning how to pitch to some of their hitters. I'm starting to visualize the strike zone and make sure I'm working off a low fastball in the count - that's going to make my curve ball better. So just throwing strikes, attacking hitters and getting ahead is going to be very improtant. Because of the humidity, I've been hydrating myself and eating because you're going to lose so much weight being out there in the sun and the heat. Actually it's pretty ironic because on Monday, I ran the perimeter at the hottest part of the day just as fast as I could - just as hard as I could - and I had a real quick time. I was really huffin' and puffin' and I was like, wow, if I can do that, it's going to make this weekend that much easier.
I can't wait for Friday night. I want to do it Friday, and want to have Josh (Karp) win on Saturday. Two and out would be great.