YALE BASEBALL SPRING 2017 / NEWS
From the Association Dear Yale Baseball Alumni and Friends, It’s hard to believe that we are in the middle of another Yale Baseball season! The Bulldogs are already in Ivy League play and have established a 3-1 record in the league after splitting a two-game series at Cornell and sweeping Princeton in New Jersey. The team hopes to build on the early success in the league and return to the Ivy League Championship Series. In this newsletter, you will hear from Coach Stuper and Richard Slenker, 2017 Bulldog Captain, about the excitement and enthusiasm around the Yale Baseball team. We hope that you will attend the Yale Baseball Alumni & Family Weekend on April 22, 2017 during what should be a very critical Dartmouth Series. We look forward to reconnecting with fellow teammates, friends, and coaches. If you cannot attend, I hope you will take the opportunity at some point throughout the season to catch the team in action either at home in New Haven or on the road near you. Your presence and support is an invaluable source of motivation and pride for the guys on the team and the staff. The Yale Baseball Association has much to celebrate and to be excited about. The key goal of the association is to support Yale Baseball and engage with alumni and friends and try to build meaningful relationships
with the program. While the most obvious aspect of that goal is fundraising but there are a number of other ways help enhance and strengthen the program. I ask that you consider supporting the team with a gift to the Yale Baseball Association this year. Your contribution makes the program run and enables the team to travel, train, and compete at the highest level possible. Gifts made by alumni, parents, and friends in the last year have made serious improvements to the facilities, equipment and travel experience of the team. Thank you for your past support and for your consideration of a gift this year. No gift is too small. Every dollar counts. There are multiple ways to show your support. Write a check payable to Yale University and mail it to Yale Baseball Association, P.O. Box 1844, New Haven, CT 06508-1844. Or, visit http://giving.yale.edu to pay by credit card and be sure to select ‘Athletics’ and ‘Baseball’ from the drop-down menus. And remember, all gifts to the YBA count towards your personal and class giving totals for your next reunion! Go Bulldogs! Adam Barrick ’06 Yale Baseball Association President
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C O R N E R C O R N E R
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J o h n M E N
S t u p e r
Dear Association Members, Another season has begun and we are extremely excited about this year's edition of Bulldog Baseball. We are 24 games into my 25th season at the helm and I have seen many things that leave me nothing but enthusiastic as Ivy play continues this weekend. We have been tested by a preseason schedule that was one of the toughest we have ever put together. New Mexico State is one of the toughest places in the country to play. We took one from them and battled in the other three. We gave #7 Clemson all they could handle, 10-6 and 10-8. The guys really came alive with the final two games at Wofford and kept it going by winning three of four from Patriot League favorite, Holy Cross. Injured players are returning and doing well and we found a few gems on the team in their absence. We started our Ivy League schedule on the road last weekend and finished 3-1 after splitting with Cornell and sweeping Princeton. We look forward to finally playing at Yale Field this weekend against Columbia and Penn. We will be ready. Your generosity is what allows us to do what we do. I have never been surprised by it, because I have a personal relationship with most of you, but I appreciate it and never take it for granted. We have finished first in our division two of the last three years and I have high hopes for this year as well. Please follow us online, or if you can make it to a game, great. Wishing all of you the best from New Haven. Coach Stuper T H E
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R i c h a r d
What’s your outlook on the 2017 season so far? Although our record may not seem great right now, we are very excited about this season. Everything before Ivy play is essentially the preseason for us and there are a lot of very positive things that we have going for us. We are excited to get to Ivy League play and compete for a chance to get back to the Championship and do what we need to do to win it. We definitely have the pieces, now it is a matter of executing what we can do. How would you describe this year’s team in one word? Focused. What does it mean to you to be a captain at Yale? Being elected Captain is an honor and humbling experience. The position is full of tradition and great responsibility, and I hope that I have been able to fulfill the shoes of those before me. I have had three great Captains in my time here - Cale Hanson, David Toups, and Chris Moates - and while they were all a bit different in their ways, they led by example through dedication to our team and the game. I've tried to do the same and simply push everyone to be their best self. I am really excited to be able to lead this group of guys. I've never had more fun playing baseball. What are your plans after graduation? Not totally sure yet! Best Coach Stuper memory? My best memories of Coach Stuper are from walking into our clubhouse every day. I don't think there is a coach in the country that cares about his players on a personal level as much as he does. Every day when you walk into our locker room he is in there asking guys how things are going, joking around, and keeping things loose. I've come to really appreciate this side of him and will definitely miss our daily conversations on baseball and much more.
S l e n k e r