May 26, 2007
It was Feb. 23, 2007. Baylor center fielder Chase Gerdes had just delivered a 10th-inning, walk-off RBI single that gave the Bears a 3-2 victory over Oral Roberts in the first game of the teams' three-game series at Baylor Ballpark.
Gerdes, a fifth-year senior and one of only three players on Baylor's 2007 squad to have spent at least four seasons at Baylor, sheepishly approached the gathered media to discuss his game-winning hit. There were few places in the world he would not have rather been.
Despite four years as a starter and a career littered with key contributions, the soft-spoken Gerdes has never become comfortable with speaking in public. He would rather let his actions do the speaking. Fittingly, Gerdes has quietly put together a solid Baylor career.
"He's a really quiet guy unless you're a good friend of his," fellow outfielder Ben Booker said. "Because of that, I don't think people really know what kind of enthusiasm he brings to the field every day."
Gerdes ranks in Baylor's all-time career top 10 lists for triples (tied-5th, 15) and stolen bases (9th, 52). He is one of only eight players at Baylor to have appeared in at least 90 career Big 12 games and one of only three to appear in at least 95 career Big 12 games without the benefit of a 30-game schedule. Gerdes is one of only four players in school history to steal at least 10 bases in four different seasons, and he is tied for third all-time at Baylor with 19 career stolen bases in Big 12 play.
Then there's his defense. Gerdes has anchored the Bears outfield for the majority of the past four seasons. In that time, he has made several highlight-reel plays. None was more memorable than when he threw out the would-have-been winning run at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning of Baylor's first-ever College World Series victory against Oregon State in 2005.
Gerdes does not make many diving catches in the outfield, usually because he does not need to. Taking advantage of superb routes and gazelle-like speed, Gerdes usually glides under the ball for the catch with relative ease. But in the final home game of his career - a 9-3 victory over Kansas State that gave the Bears a series sweep - Gerdes made an all-out diving catch on a Tyler Ruch dying liner in the right-center gap that head coach Steve Smith said even would have made former centerfield defensive standout Chris Durbin proud.
"In terms of going to get the ball, he's as good as any we've ever had," Smith said. "We've had guys that maybe had better arms out there - (Jon) Topolski and Durbin probably threw a little better. But he's right there with them in terms or running balls down and taking good angles."
Such defensive prowess has been crucial for Baylor this season. In 2006, Gerdes was flanked by Seth Fortenberry in left field and Kevin Sevigny in right field. That trio gave the Bears arguably the best defensive outfield in the Big 12, if not in the nation.
With the loss of Fortenberry and Sevigny to graduation following the 2006 season, Gerdes had to welcome new outfield mates. In stepped Booker in left and true freshman Aaron Miller in right, neither of which had ever played an inning of outfield at the collegiate level.
"This year he was clearly important because of what he had around him - the lack of experience in left and right," Smith said. "His position is going to be the hardest one to fill next year. The only person in the program right now that can maybe get it done is (Paul) Miles. So we'll definitely miss him."
Miller, who has been out with injury since mid-April after starting in right for each of Baylor's first 39 games this season, said having Gerdes in center was invaluable.
"Having him out there made it so much easier for me," Miller said. "I was considered an outfielder in high school, but I really didn't know how to play the outfield. There's so much more ground out there to cover (in college). There's stuff I know I'm probably not going to get to but he will. So I knew coming in that I didn't have to be a great outfielder right away because he would cover up for a lot of the mistakes I was going to make."
Booker started 50 games as a true freshman in 2006, but all his action was on the infield at first and second. Playing the outfield was completely foreign to him.
"When I first moved out there," Booker said. "I was like, `Chase, help me out.' He's taught me a lot, like routes to balls and such. I can't imagine not having him out there; I would be a lot worse off than I am now. He's one of the best center fielders I've seen, and I'm lucky to have him out there. He covers a lot of ground. Some of the balls I should get to, he's getting them for me. He's been a big influence on me learning how to play the outfield."
Gerdes may be quiet off the field, but Miller said he is quick to speak up on the field.
"He's more vocal than a lot of people probably think he is," Miller said. "He'll get on you if you do something wrong. I have a lot of respect for him. He comes out and gets his job done. He's a little quiet, but when you're out there on the field he talks to you and tells you what you're doing wrong and how to fix it."
A career .293 hitter, Gerdes entered Saturday's pool-play finale game against Oklahoma seven hits shy of 200 for his career. He has tallied 105 RBI and crossed the plate 135 times, most memorably with the tying run in Baylor's dramatic ninth-inning comeback victory over Tulane at the 2005 College World Series.
Throughout his career, Gerdes has been one of Baylor's best hitters against Big 12 Conference pitching and later in the season. Over the past three seasons, he has gone 43-for-114 (.377) in 38 games within the month of May with 36 runs, 22 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts.
Gerdes also has been one of the more patient batters in Baylor's lineup throughout his career, regularly making pitchers work deep into the count.
"He has a lot of quality at bats," shortstop Beamer Weems said. "Even when he gets out, it's an eight- or nine-pitch at bat. That means a lot to the team because we have a chance to see what the pitcher has. He doesn't give up too many at bats."
That has been beneficial for Weems this season. After spending much of his career in the leadoff spot or in the bottom third of the order, Gerdes has hit second and third - directly ahead of Weems - most of the 2007 season.
"We're similar hitters, and a lot of times a pitcher is going to pitch to me the same way," Weems said. "I'm probably going to see a lot of the same pitches. Seeing that many pitches in his at bats really helps me."
Smith has been happy with Gerdes' performance in that role.
"I tried to force him into a leadoff spot for a while, and that didn't seem to fit him even though he likes to see a lot of pitches," Smith said. "He also has been pretty good hitting with runners on base. For the last two months of our season, he's been the best player we've had. I've kept him in the three-hole against rights, lefts - it hasn't mattered. And he's been really, really good."
Part of Gerdes' development as a hitter has been learning to hit left-handed pitching. A product of Uvalde [Texas] High School, Gerdes struggled against southpaws in his first two seasons at Baylor. But since mid-April of his junior campaign, Gerdes has become a steady hitter against lefties.
"It's probably just seeing them more," Smith said. "Obviously this year we've seen them a lot. It's just experience and at bats. Maybe he's gotten a little more aggressive. He's gone through stretches where he's taken quite a few called strikes and called thirds, but he's been a much better two-strike hitter this year. That's had as much to do with his success against left-handers as anything else."
As the Bears await word from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee about postseason play, each game Gerdes plays could be his last in a Baylor uniform. When that time comes, he will slip silently away from the Baylor program. The absence of his leadership and outfield play will be obvious, even if the absence of his voice is not.
by Larry Little
Baylor Athletic Media Relations
