Clutching at every cliché in the playbooks, they beat the odds and came from behind, overcoming a second-round loss in the College World Series (CWS) to play in the championship game.
But for the third time in four years, the Cardinal had to settle for runner-up, losing June 23 to Rice by a record-setting margin, 14-2. “We couldn’t give them much of a game,” coach Mark Marquess, ’69, said of the disappointing finish against the Owls, who had never won a national title in any sport. “We haven’t made much of a game of it the last two times [we played for the championship]. ”
Still, there was plenty to be proud of. The Cardinal won 51 games—third-best in the Stanford record books—and earned its first Pac-10 title since 1999 (the team shared the crown with Arizona State and UCLA in 2000). There also were enough individual awards to mount a parade around Sunken Diamond.
Junior pitcher John Hudgins (14-3, 2.99 ERA) was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the CWS, and quickly signed a contract with the Texas Rangers. Four teammates also signed major-league contracts: Tim Cunningham, ’03 (Rangers), Ryan Garko, ’03 (Cleveland Indians), Ryan McCally, ’03 (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and Carlos Quentin, ’04 (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Junior outfielder Sam Fuld’s RBI single in the eighth inning of the final game set the CWS record for career hits with 24, besting a mark that had stood since the early 1970s. Other key contributors were freshman left-handed pitcher Mark Romanczuk and sophomore outfielder Danny Putnam, both of whom were named to the 2003 USA Baseball National Team.
Putnam finished with a .348 batting average, 16 homers and 66 RBI, earning All-Pac-10, All-Regional and All-CWS honors. He also led the team in the postseason with five homers, including a crucial game-winner. Romanczuk compiled a 12-2 record and a 4.01 ERA, striking out 80 batters in 112 1/3 innings pitched, and was named one of four Freshman Players of the Year, a Freshman All-American and All-Pac-10.
Catcher Garko garnered the Fourth Annual Johnny Bench Award—the first winner from Stanford. He hit a team-high .402, becoming the sixth Stanford player to bat over .400 for the season.
Over the summer, some 25 players participated in amateur leagues. Now that they’ve suited up with the likes of the Mankato Moondogs, Mat-Su Miners, Solano Thunderbirds, Alexandria Beetles and Rochester Honkers, they should find questions about the Cardinal—“Is that a bird, or ”—easy to field.
