Townsend, Humber and Niemann Aim To
Earn Label Of Best College Rotation Ever

By Brian McTaggart
January 26, 2004

Power Trios Rice’s pitching threesome of Philip Humber, Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend, who combined to go 39-5, 2.36 with 458 strikeouts in 384 innings in 2003 as sophomores, could rank as college baseball’s most dominant rotation ever. Here are 12 more starting staffs that cut a wide swath in the college game (the round players were drafted in is indicated in parentheses): SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1968 Pitcher W-L ERA IP SO Jim Barr, rhp (3) 10-2 2.31 117 110 Bill Lee, lhp (22) 12-3 1.99 122 94 Brent Strom, lhp (1) 12-4 3.09 131 147 ARIZONA STATE, 1969 Larry Gura, lhp (2) 19-2 1.01 169 196 Ken Hansen, rhp (2) 9-2 2.24 121 124 Lerrin LaGrow, rhp (6) 14-1 2.17 120 121 ARIZONA STATE, 1972 Eddie Bane, lhp (1) 14-1 0.99 144 213 Jim Crawford, lhp (14) 13-2 1.91 137 145 Craig Swan, rhp (3) 16-1 1.75 144 154 TEXAS, 1975 Martin Flores, lhp (23) 10-1 1.43 88 86 Jim Gideon, rhp (1) 17-0 1.80 125 109 Rich Wortham, lhp (2) 15-1 1.95 120 105 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1978 Bill Bordley, lhp (1) 12-2 2.73 125 110 Rod Boxberger, rhp (1) 12-1 2.00 112 88 Brian Hayes, lhp (16) 11-1 2.71 96 59 WICHITA STATE, 1982 Don Heinkel, rhp (30) 16-5 2.23 166 121 Brian Oelkers, lhp (1) 18-2 2.07 156 166 Erik Sonberg, lhp (1) 17-3 2.22 146 142 TEXAS, 1983 Mike Capel, rhp (13) 13-1 2.98 109 60 Roger Clemens, rhp (1) 13-5 3.04 166 151 Calvin Schiraldi, rhp (1) 14-2 1.74 140 117 FLORIDA STATE, 1986 Richie Lewis, rhp (2) 14-2 3.59 128 202 Mike Loynd, rhp (7) 20-3 2.45 165 223 Chris Pollack, rhp (10) 9-3 3.78 86 98 FRESNO STATE, 1988 Rich Crane, lhp (62) 15-2 3.30 161 134 John Salles, rhp (5) 15-2 3.45 177 152 Erik Schullstrom, rhp (2) 14-2 2.40 146 146 LOUISIANA STATE, 1989 Ben McDonald, rhp (1) 14-4 3.49 152 202 Curtis Leskanic, rhp (8) 15-2 3.19 116 120 Russ Springer, rhp (7) 9-3 3.49 90 89 CLEMSON, 1996 Kris Benson, rhp (1) 14-2 2.02 156 204 Billy Koch, rhp (1) 10-5 3.14 112 152 Ken Vining, lhp (4) 10-3 2.97 115 135 SOUTH CAROLINA, 2000 Scott Barber, rhp (6) 9-2 2.96 106 100 Peter Bauer, rhp (2) 13-2 3.11 124 99 Kip Bouknight, rhp (13) 17-1 2.81 144 143 —Compiled by Allan Simpson

HOUSTON—Jeff Niemann, Wade Townsend and Philip Humber aren’t unlike most boys who were reared in Texas. They enjoy hunting and fishing, favor big pickup trucks over sedans, are just as comfortable in cowboy boots as sneakers and share a passion for sports.

They grew up dreaming of perhaps becoming the next great pitcher from the Lone Star State—a list that includes Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and now Josh Beckett—and were able to parlay successful high school baseball careers into scholarships at prestigious Rice University.

While it may be too early to label any one of the three junior righthanders as the next big thing, collectively they form perhaps the best pitching rotation in the history of college baseball.

“It’s definitely a cool thing to be labeled,” Townsend says. “We always thought we were pretty talented, and now we’ve finally won the championship. This year we’re going out there to validate everything and prove it wasn’t a fluke and that we are one of the best pitching staffs ever. This year is the determining factor. If we can keep it up for two or three years instead of having just one great year, I think we could be labeled that.”

The trio last year combined for a 39-5 record and 458 strikeouts in leading to Rice to a 58-12 record and the College World Series championship. They’re projected to be first-round picks in the draft, which would make them the first three teammates to be first-rounders since Steve Hosey, Tom Goodwin and Eddie Zosky of Fresno State in 1989. It has happened only one other time, in 1979, when Michigan’s Rick Leach, Steve Howe and Steve Perry were selected.

When the Cape Cod League season ended, one American League scouting director told Baseball America, “I’ve had the three Rice guys in every possible order. All three of them could go in the first five picks.”

“It’s pretty exciting for all of us,” Humber says. “Not just the draft part of it, but we do want to be the greatest rotation in the history of college baseball. I felt like all four of us (including junior righthander Josh Baker, who went 8-0) want to do that, and it’s something we can achieve. I don’t think we’ve achieved it yet.”

But if they come anywhere close to the numbers they posted last year, it would be hard to deny them. Niemann went 17-0, 1.70 with 156 strikeouts in 119 innings. Townsend was 11-2, 2.20 with five saves and 164 strikeouts in 137 innings. Humber went 11-3, 3.30 with 138 strikeouts in 128 innings.

“Last year was a good year, but we all learned from last year and all have grown,” Niemann says. “Hopefully we can perform at a high level this year. To the outside that might be crazy, but we’re all learning and constantly trying to get better. We want to build on last year.”

All three are built like football players: Humber is 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Townsend is 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, and the barrel-chested Niemann is 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds. Niemann and Townsend both have exploding fastballs that were clocked last year at 97 mph, while the steady Humber stays mostly in the lower 90s. They have command of three pitches, which is a must at Rice.

So it’s not surprising they’re attracting so much attention.

“Their accomplishments have put them in the position they’re in, but we’ve still got it to do,” Rice coach Wayne Graham says. “So far, I like their attitudes. They’re definitely hard-working and seem to realize that nothing is going to be given to them, and they’re going to have to earn everything. With the spotlight on them, that’s doubly true. I think they’re talented guys, and I think they understand what’s involved. I hope they even revel in it.”

There’s no doubt Niemann, Townsend and Humber are having the time of their lives, but no one outwardly displays his happiness more than Townsend. Whether it’s pumping his fist after a strikeout, staring down a batter or skipping off the mound, Townsend can’t help but let his feelings show.

“I always think it’s fun when I go and watch a basketball game when somebody dunks and does a fist pump or something,” Townsend says. “I just have fun out there. People think I’m mad or something, but all I really am is just having fun. Because I have fun, other people have fun playing with me.”

Townsend’s teammates feed off his enthusiasm, but Graham has spoken with him about making absolutely certain his opponents don’t feed off it, too.

“We want him to use his emotions strictly to encourage his team and encourage himself as opposed to being confrontational with the other team,” Graham says. “Most of the time last year it worked for him, but we’d like for him to put it a little more under control.”

Humber, who roomed with Townsend during last season, and Niemann, who roomed with Townsend on the road, seldom show their emotions on the mound and know not to take Townsend’s antics too seriously.

“I question Wade sometimes on why he does certain things, but he has an explanation for it and it makes sense for him,” Niemann says. “I try to let him do whatever he wants to.”

All three players are close friends away from the field and share many of the same interests. Niemann and Townsend are outdoorsmen, while Humber and Townsend enjoy an occasional round of golf. The avid reader of the bunch? Townsend, who read Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball” in one day.

“I think it’s a good mix,” Humber says. “We all bring different qualities to the table. You can’t make people all be the same—you can’t calm Wade down and can’t make me be crazy or all emotional on the field. The different personalities work well for all three of us.”

The close-knit relationship between Niemann and Townsend has helped both pitchers take their games to another level. There’s a healthy rivalry between the two, but more important is the fact Townsend showed Niemann how to throw the knuckle-curve, which has become an effective pitch for both.

Graham picked up the knuckle-curve in the 1990s, and Matt Anderson, the No. 1 overall pick in 1997, was the first Rice pitcher to toy with it. Townsend started throwing it as a freshman when he saw former Rice star Kenny Baugh, now a Tigers farmhand, showing it to someone.

“Throwing the knuckle-curveball is always a matter of being able to control it up and down and velocity-wise,” Townsend says. “The more I pitch the better I get at that, so the thing will get better.”

Niemann began throwing the knuckle-curve last season. He threw it more extensively during the summer than his dominating slider in an effort to develop the pitch, which can be thrown harder than a conventional curve but with a sharper break.

“People who ordinarily don’t have a very good curveball have developed great curveballs with it,” Graham says, “Townsend being the prime example.”

Townsend, who was born in Austin and raised in nearby Dripping Springs, was known more for his hitting than his pitching in high school, and wasn’t drafted. He hit .515 his senior year as well as averaging 16 points and eight rebounds a game on the basketball court.

He entered his sophomore season as the Owls’ long reliever, but a series of dominating wins over Big 12 Conference teams in midweek games—he beat Nebraska, Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas—solidified him as one of the nation’s most dominant pitchers.

“I put in a lot more work so far this year than I did last year,” Townsend says. “I think once you get there it’ll be a lot easier to fall back, but it’s a lot harder try to get it back. I’d rather just keep it, you know?”

Niemann grew up in Houston and attended Lamar High, which also produced Baugh. He won nine games as a senior and had an awkward arm action, which didn’t put him on the radar of too many schools. He also wasn’t drafted, in part because a commitment to Rice is viewed by professional scouts as an obstacle to signing players.

Niemann impresses scouts and opponents with the way he stays tall in his delivery and throws a heavy ball. He also gained velocity since his freshman season, when he was Rice’s midweek starter. As a freshman he also pitched some relief, won five of six decisions with a 3.11 ERA and walked just 27 in 67 innings, uncommon command for a young, tall pitcher. In his first start of 2003, he allowed four runs and five singles in the first inning against Texas A&M before settling down to give up just one more hit over the next five innings. He never looked back.

“We came here and had one goal in mind to be the best we could be, and we all took different things from coach and ourselves and learned from each other,” says Niemann, who had minor elbow surgery in the offseason to clean out inflamed tissue.

Humber was named the state’s Class 4-A player of the year as a senior at Carthage High in northeast Texas, where he was an all-state infielder and pitcher. He became a weekend starter at Rice almost immediately and went 11-1, 2.77 and led the Western Athletic Conference in strikeouts with 130 as a freshman.

He finished his 2002 season by pitching for Team USA in the summer, going 3-2, 1.45 as the No. 3 starter behind eventual first-round picks Kyle Sleeth (Wake Forest) and Brad Sullivan (Houston).

“My freshman year I went out and had a great year,” Humber said. “Last offseason I had a goal of winning 13 games and striking out 150 guys, and that puts like crazy pressure on you. Some of those numbers you can’t control.

“Sometimes you’re not going to have your best stuff. I don’t think the goal is the numbers, the statistics or the wins or whatever; it’s just being focused and working hard and going out and giving our team a chance to win every time you go out.”

When senior righthander Steven Herce, who went 13-3, 2.79 in 2002, went down before last season with an arm injury, Humber took over as Rice’s Friday starter and pitched well, though he wasn’t as dominant as Niemann and Townsend. Humber remained the Owls’ top starter until the CWS, when Graham decided to flip his rotation and bumped Humber to the third spot.

“By the end of the year both of them were throwing the ball a lot better than I was, and I felt like I wasn’t contributing to the team as much as I wanted to,” Humber says. “I wanted to be right up there with those guys. I wanted to be counted on just as much as they were because they were going out there and doing most of the work, it seemed like to me.”

Humber struggled to find the plate in Rice’s 5-4 win that eliminated Texas from the CWS, walking four batters, hitting four more and striking out seven through three scoreless innings.

After Niemann pitched a gem to beat Stanford in the opening game of the championship series, Humber didn’t think he’d pitch again with Townsend scheduled to go in Game Two. But when Stanford beat the Owls 8-3 to even the series, Humber was called upon in the title game and didn’t disappoint. He threw a complete game as Rice coasted to a 14-2 win.

“The night before that game me and coach Graham had a long talk, and he was just trying to figure out where my head was,” says Humber, who has ditched his split-finger fastball that was so effective in the finale in favor of a changeup. “I didn’t have any confidence. I hadn’t won a game in five weeks. It wasn’t like I was throwing the ball really bad, but I wasn’t pitching like I knew I could.

“We had a long talk and I convinced him I was ready to go and fortunately he gave me the ball. We went out and the offense scored a lot of runs, which made it a whole lot easier on me. Being able to pitch that game was the biggest thrill I ever had.”

And if all three pitchers live up to the high expectations they set for themselves in 2004, the thrills may be just beginning.

“You can’t predict another national championship, but going out and being consistent and carrying that from one year to the next,” Humber says. “We did it one year, but if we come out this year and don’t screw up and don’t let it happen again, I don’t think you can says it’s the greatest staff ever. You can say you had the greatest year ever for a staff, but to be the greatest staff ever takes more than just one go-round.”

Brian McTaggert covers the Owls for the Houston Chronicle.