Authentic Stories From The 1972 Season
What is the reason behind the success that Trinity baseball experienced in the 1972 season? Aside from the major talent on their roster, this team had established a bond that was reinforced each year they played together. The players on this team spent almost every moment with each other not just during the season, but during offseason and summer ball. A lot of the players were from Texas, so they played summer ball together in what was known to them as almost a “beer league”. Things were not as serious in the summer, and a lot of their team chemistry was formed through their leisurely play time on the hot baseball diamonds of the Texas summer. They also played in a very relaxed environment in their spring seasons under Coach Houston Wheeler.
Between the lines, these players were all business and were gleaming with confidence. Each pitcher on the Trinity baseball staff went into their starts with the expectation that they would not let up a single run and that they would finish each game they started. During Mike Bacsik’s interview, he recalled a story in which he had given up only one run, but felt so badly about it that he apologized to his fielders. This is exemplary of the high standards these pitchers held themselves to, and Bacsik felt these expectations pushed them to be great. Daffin and Bacsik described the entire team as a very scrappy group that would claw their way to victory if necessary.
Their archrival, UT-Pan Am was on their schedule every single year, and there was guaranteed to be banter between the two teams each time they played. Daffin and Bacsik recalled many times where benches were almost cleared because of the chirping that went on in the dugout and the trash talking that took place on the base paths. The ’72 Tigers were not a dirty team by any means, but they were not afraid to retaliate if they felt that they were the victim of any baseball etiquette wrong doing.
They were also not afraid to voice their opinion if they felt they were being wronged by the umpire as well. Bacsik recalled a story where they were playing UT in front of a fully packed stadium, with standing room only, and in a crucial moment in the game the umpire was refusing to call strikes that were blatantly over the middle of the plate. Their catcher at the time, James Westley, was fuming mad and started yelling obscenities at the umpire. Coach Wheeler, being the peaceful mediator that he is quelled the situation, but this story speaks to their passion for winning.