San Diego State coach Tony Gwynn had a 14-hour surgery to remove a malignant tumor from inside his right cheek on Tuesday night. His wife, Alicia Gwynn, told ESPN.com that doctors removed the entire cancerous growth from his parotid gland.

"All is well—it doesn't seem like last time," Alicia Gwynn told ESPN. "It turned out great. He looks good, he looks normal. His eyelids are a little swollen, but they got all the cancer. They say they got it all. His face looks good. They did an amazing job."

Gwynn, who had a Hall of Fame playing career with the Padres, originally had surgery to remove lymph nodes and tumors from the parotid glad in August of 2010, and later that year he went through eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. But the cancer recurred, and he told his team he needed another surgery about two weeks ago. This time, there won't be any chemo or radiation, Alicia told BA correspondent Kirk Kenney in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Kenney reported that doctors told Gwynn to rest for 30 days, and then he can resume his activities as SDSU's baseball coach. [...] Continue Reading »

Strike One: Shifting Landscape

College baseball truly came into its own in 1999, when the advent of the 64-team NCAA tournament field and a major change in bat standards ushered in a new era. Last season marked the start of another age for the sport, which moved the College World Series from venerable Rosenblatt Stadium into sparkling new TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, and toned down the potency of the bats again.

The new BBCOR bats had a dramatic impact on the game, as offensive numbers plummeted around the country. The consensus among coaches this fall, however, was that manufacturers had made adjustments to their BBCOR products, and players were more accustomed to the new bats. Don’t expect a return to 2010 offensive levels, but some recovery in offense seems likely. [...] Continue Reading »

It was a bad week for talented college lefthanders. Texas senior lefty Sam Stafford is expected to have shoulder surgery that will sideline him for all of the spring, while Oregon junior lefty Christian Jones will miss the season with Tommy John surgery.

Stafford was a second-round pick by the Yankees last June after going 6-2, 1.77 as a junior. But concerns about the health of his shoulder caused Stafford to wind up back at Texas for his senior year. Three years earlier, Yankees doctors advised against the signing of second-rounder Scott Bittle out of Mississippi; he returned for his senior year, which was cut short by a shoulder injury.

Stafford's physical with the Yankees revealed a small tear in his shoulder, but Texas thought his shoulder had healed over the summer, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

"When he pitched against Texas State (in a fall scrimmage), it was almost unfair," Texas pitching coach Skip Johnson told the paper. "I remember looking at one of our coaches on the bench and saying, 'He looks like a major league pitcher out there right now.' The batters didn't have a chance." [...] Continue Reading »