U.S. collegians pound Cuba in Honkbal tourney

By John Manuel

August 14, 2000

Team USA MVP Bobby Crosby Photo: David Schofield

The 1984 edition of Team USA included such future big leaguers as Will Clark, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire and B.J. Surhoff. That team went 37-5-1, an .881 winning percentage, and even though it didn't win an Olympic gold medal, it has endured in memory as USA Baseball's best team.

The 2000 edition of Team USA, while it had less to play for this summer, staked its claim to the title of Best Team USA team ever by finishing the summer on a 21-game unbeaten streak. Led by tournament MVP Bobby Crosby (Long Beach State), third baseman Mark Teixeira (Georgia Tech) and righthander Mark Prior (Southern California), Team USA beat Cuba for the second time in four days Sunday to win the Honkbal Baseball Week tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

Team USA won 20 of its last 21 games and its last eight in a row. The lone blemish down the stretch of the season for the club was a 2-2, 12-inning tie against the Cape Cod League all-stars. Its 27-3-1 record and .900 winning percentage are the best marks in USA Baseball history.

Crosby had an 0-for-4 day in Sunday's championship, but that didn't slow the potent Team USA offense, nor did it keep him from being the tournament MVP thanks to his defense and six RBIs. Teixeira, who finished the summer with a 22-game hitting streak, led Team USA's 13-hit attack Sunday, slugging his fifth home run of the summer while going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Teixeira and left fielder Xavier Nady (California) had run-scoring singles in the first inning. Team USA made it 5-0 in the second as right fielder Chris Burke (Tennessee) hit a run-scoring triple, second baseman Richard Lewis (Georgia Tech) doubled him home, and catcher Casey Myers (Arizona State) doubled Lewis home. Teixeira's solo homer and another RBI single by Nady, scoring Patrick Boyd (Clemson), made it 7-0 Americans. First baseman Jake Gautreau (Tulane) homered in the seventh for Team USA's final run.

Prior shut the Cubans out for six innings--running his scoreless innings streak to 24 2/3--before running into trouble in the seventh, and Cuba rallied to close within three runs with three runs in the seventh, one in the eight and one in the ninth. Righthander Kirk Saarloos (Cal State Fullerton) closed the game for Team USA for his team-leading fifth save. Team USA's staff had a 1.56 ERA for the summer, best in team history.

Team USA only advanced to the championship game after surviving a 9-8, 10-inning win against the host Netherlands club, coached by Arizona State coach Pat Murphy. Team USA blew a 6-0 third-inning lead in that one, as Murphy's charges scored the game's next eight runs. Gautreau hit a two-run homer in the ninth with two outs to send the game into extra innings. Then Ryan Budde (Oklahoma State) hit an RBI double in the 10th to score Crosby with the winning run. Saarloos struck out four in 2 1/3 inning to get the win, his third of the summer.

Myers went 3-for-4 with two RBIs against his coach to lead Team USA. "Casey played well and does so many things well that don't show up in the box score," Murphy said. "He always seems to rise to the occasion."

Righthander Dewon Brazelton (Middle Tennessee State) broke the team record for best ERA (minimum 40 innings pitched). Brazelton finished the year 6-0, 0.65 in 41 innings of work, topping the previous record of 0.86, owned by former big leaguer Scott Bankhead in 1984.