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By John Manuel
June 14, 2002

Victor Menocal Photo: Robert Gurganus

OMAHA--This wasn't how Victor Menocal pictured getting to Omaha.

Menocal figured the 2001 team would make Georgia Tech's first College World Series appearance since 1994. After all, that team had Mark Teixeira, Steve Kelly, Rhett Parrott--all members of a group of freshman who came to Georgia Tech in 1999 with plenty of hype and high expectations.

Menocal was their classmate, as well as a roommate and friend. The Yellow Jackets entered 2001 as the nation's top-ranked team, a club with offense to spare, several key senior returnees and experienced pitching.

But aside from Menocal's career-best .381 average, little went right for him or Georgia Tech last year. Injuries to Tyler Parker, Brian Sager and Teixeira dogged the team from the start. Menocal's spotty defense and Teixeira's injury forced a midseason move to third base, and pro scouts didn't like what they saw. Menocal, a sixth-round pick out of high school, wasn't drafted. And Georgia Tech, the preseason No. 1, lost its last four games, including an 0-2 showing at the Georgia regional, and finished out of the final Top 25.

"It was definitely a letdown," Menocal said Friday, his uniform dirty but his mind at ease while meeting with reporters in the Hall of Fame room at Rosenblatt Stadium. "I had heard a lot of things about how it might be a good draft for me, and with our disappointing season and then not getting much out of the draft, it was tough."

Those struggles--not to mention a nightmarish freshman season--have helped steel Menocal to criticism and make him one of the Yellow Jackets' most important players. He's a major reason why Georgia Tech has made that return trip to Omaha, a senior leader on one of the nation's younger teams.

Menocal entered the CWS as the team's second-leading hitter at .357-2-47, and has improved his defense to post a steady .938 fielding percentage. His early struggles and his ability to overcome them also helped him emerge as the leader and MVP of a 52-14 club that has set the program's wins record as it prepares to play Clemson on Sunday in a winner's matchup.

"Victor's leadership, as well as that of Matthew Boggs, has gone above and beyond what was asked," coach Danny Hall said. "We call him our social director. He's been an outstanding leader for us."

While being outspoken and engaging with the team's 17 freshmen came easy for Menocal, not much else in his college baseball career has.

The Braves made Menocal their sixth-round pick in 1999 out of Gainesville (Ga.) High. But he spurned Atlanta for Tech and chose No. 5, the number of his idol, Nomar Garciaparra. With that choice and Menocal's physical similarities to Garciaparra came inevitable comparisons that no one could live up to.

"As a freshman, he got off to a rough start and pressed. Each year, he has gotten better," Hall said. "There couldn't be a better guy to wear Nomar's number."

Perhaps Menocal tried too hard. He batted .195-1-19 as a freshman and had an .895 fielding percentage, making 24 errors in 50 games. He has used that experience to help shepherd Tech's large, productive freshman class.

"I've just told our freshmen to try and have fun out there when they play and try not to press or feel any pressure," Menocal said. "I know what that's like, and it's not fun. I've had my critics."

One was Baseball America. In a March 18 chat, I answered a question about the Yellow Jackets' fall in the rankings: "I'm concerned by the Jackets' infield defense. Nothing personal, but it's hard for me to see that club going deep in the postseason with Victor Menocal at shortstop unless he proves he can make the routine play consistently. He's an excellent college hitter but he's just not that reliable with the glove."

Tech assistant coach Scott Stricklin said Menocal has the chat printed out and taped into his locker. "He sees it every day," Stricklin said. "It motivates him."

"I've always thought Victor was a good player," Hall added. "He is a good college player, and as good as he is, he's a better person, he's off the charts. He's a team player. Last year when he made the position switch to third base, that was a team decision, and he handled it with the utmost class.

"Then he went undrafted and he handled that. In my mind, he's playing the best ball of his career. He's been solid defensively."

He was more than solid Friday, getting four of the Yellow Jackets' 19 hits and making two excellent defensive plays, a diving stab of a line drive and a backhand play in the hole of a Landon Powell grounder. He scored three runs and drove in one with his wind-blown triple in the first.

It's just a start for the CWS for the Yellow Jackets and for Menocal. But after where he has been in his college career, he's come a long way.

"I had a tough year from day one (as a freshman)," Menocal said. "Nothing went my way. I needed a lot of work and a lot of time in the weight room."

Friday, it all seemed worth it.