April 29, 2002

Head baseball coach Steve Smith sat down Monday afternoon and chatted with fans online. The following is a transcript of the chat session.

For archived transcripts of earlier chats, click here.

houston: Bayor better get it's stuff together or they won't last very long...MDad

Steve Smith: Baylor has been around for 157 years; we're not going anywhere.

Knicely (Omaha): Coach, How do you feel about the recent increase in student involvement at the games? Are you happy with the new BearNuts movement? Is there anything us BearNuts can improve upon? Sic'em Bears, Knicely

Steve Smith: I have been thrilled with the student groups that have been a part of our games. At no time in my memory has the atmosphere at our Ballpark been more favorable. My greatest desire is that we would develop a group of followers that would distinguish themselves with a lot of class and creativity. We certainly don't need abusive, degrading fans. We need passionate and educated supporters. Thanks.

Greg: How do you think your pitching staff will bounce back from this weekend?

Steve Smith: Hopefully very well. That is certainly the task at hand.

Austin: Coach, coming into the season it looked as if we would lose Steven White to the MLB draft. Do you now expect him to return next season? What about Theo?

Steve Smith: I still anticipate losing Steven White. Unless I miss the mark, I would anticipate Theo returning.

Chuck in Waco: I know you're not satisfied with the season's results. The pre-season things being said about the BU pitching haven't been matched by actualities...and my heart aches for you because I know your expectations are very high. Is there much plan to use Ryan Bennett the rest of this season?

Steve Smith: I don't know if I would say I'm not satisfied with the results of our season so far. In a number of respects, we have played very well and possibly even overachieved. When you consider the fact that five true freshmen are playing major roles on this team right now, I don't know that I can be less than satisfied. I do agree, however, that the pitching staff as a whole has not performed as well as I expected. As for Ryan Bennett, I am looking to get him experience in situations that will help him prepare to be a more important factor next year.

Barrett (Selma, AL): Coach Talk a little about signing players like McCormick, Everts and Loney. Is it worth it to take a gamble on players that might be high draft picks? If they turn pro, how do you go about signing replacements with most of the better athletes already signed? Good luck this postseason. Maybe this is the year the guys will be playing their best ball at the end of the season. Sic'Em Bears Barrett

Steve Smith: I think you have to take educated guesses with signing players during the early signing period. Of the three you mentioned, only McCormick went into the season as a first round prospect. Both Clint and now James have played themselves into high draft contention. Even if we were to lose all three, we are still in very good shape recruiting-wise.

Randy (Waco): Coach, I am not even sure what a balk is, but our pitchers seem to have been called for significantly more balks than I can remember in recent years. Can you explain the kinds of actions that our pitchers are getting called for, and whether or not this year has actually seen an increase? Thanks for the good work.

Steve Smith: Basically, a balk is any action that the pitcher normally takes when he is delivering a pitch but instead picks or does not pitch at all. Last year, the NCAA rules committee changed the way that the balk rule would apply to a pitcher when he reached the set position. By rule, a pitcher must come to a stop in the set position before he can pitch. Prior to last year, any change of direction by the pitcher's hands technically constituted a stop. Beginning last year, a pitcher had to come to a more complete stop, not simply change directions. Thus enters an increased degree of subjectivity by umpires on what constitutes a stop. Justin Taylor is the pitcher on our staff who has been victimized by this subjectivity the most. He is clearly aware of it, and is trying to accomodate the subjectivities of umpires across the country,

Bill (waco): Coach you have a couple of prospects. Who do you think will go top 10 rds and who may leave(underclassmen)?

Steve Smith: I think both White and Edens will go very high. After that, it will depend on the signability of the players involved.

Brad (Baton Rouge): Coach, as a graduate of Baylor, I am a big fan of Baylor Baseball and yourself. I believe you do an outstanding job every year to get your teams ready to play. I follow the team as closely as I can from down here in Baton Rouge. Going into this weekend, you had a great shot of sneaking up and taking the Big 12 title with a sweep of K-State in addition to Texas still having to play Nebraska and A&M. After the weekend, there is still a chance, but we're longshots at best. Where do you rank a Big 12 title in your goals and do you think that the team took K-State too lightly after the sucess we've had against them in years past? Good luck the rest of the year and I hope to see you in Omaha with my other team, LSU.

Steve Smith: First of all, Texas was clearly in the driver's seat, even before we went to K-State. They have played the best baseball throughout the season, especially from the standpoint of pitching. The KSU team that we played this weekend is not the same type of KSU team that we have played over the last several years. They in fact won their series with Texas Tech in Lubbock and beat a good Nebraska team 2 out of 3 at home. In no way did our players take them lightly. We just simply didn't pitch well enough to win two games, much less three. Thanks for your kind words.

Bill (waco): You could possibly lose all 3 weekend starters. How would your staff look next yr?

Steve Smith: I think we will begin the fall with Trey Taylor and Sean Walker, and with a lot of competition for a couple of other spots. If we survive the draft with our juniors, like I think we can, we have a chance to be very good next year.

Les Hixson - Austin: Coach, I'm sure you are disappointed with how things have gone over the last month. However, I would like to complement you on improving Baylor's program to the point that 3rd place in the Big 12 is a disappointment. Now let's go beat the Red Raiders and take care of business in the tourneys!!!

Steve Smith: Thanks for your comments. My only disappointment revolves around a couple of games that we did not pitch well enough to hold leads.

BearMan: Coach, what does this team have to do to host a regional? What is the main thing that they look at for a team to host? Wins and RPI?

Steve Smith: RPI and conference finish, along with conference strength are major factors. Geographical location is another. Realistically, I think we will need to finish in the top three in the Big 12 and play well in the tournament to host.

JP (Houston): It must be great having Texas schools becoming such a hot-bed for college baseball talent... What in your opinion has brought that on?

Steve Smith: Texas has always had a lot of outstanding players, and in fact ranks alongside California and Florida for producing professional players. There has been a significant dispersement of those players to programs like Baylor, Rice, Houston and others, which has been great for college baseball in texas. We've all got great facilities and provide more players than ever the opportunity to play in an outstanding program.

BUbacker (Houston, TX): Coach, Thank you for making doing such a great job during your tenure as head coach. How pleased are you with the development of the underclassmen this year, especially Josh Ford? Good luck in the post-season. Sic'em.

Steve Smith: Because of the improvement of Josh as well as Paul Witt, our team is as strong and versatile offensively as it has been all year.

Brad (Baton Rouge): Coach, who in your opinion is the best team that you have played so far this year?

Steve Smith: Probably Houston, at the time that we played them. But I did think Texas was outstanding; they had two players unavailable the weekend that we played them.

Les (Austin): Hey Coach! It's so great to see Baylor Baseball consistently showing up in the polls every year. Thanks for the great job you've done. I'm wondering how putting guys like Jennings in the majors helps with recruiting and also whether or not those guys ever step in and make any phone calls to recruits on your behalf.

Steve Smith: The success of players like Jason and Kip Wells can do nothing but help our program. It is, however, an NCAA violation for either of them (or any alum) to contact a prospect. Prospects may, however, call them.

Steve Smith: Thanks for the questions. See ya next time.