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Buckley's homecoming is long awaited, much needed
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A few weeks ago I ran into Long Beach State third base coach and former Dirtbag infielder TJ Bruce. I asked him about the recent departure of pitching coach Jon “Doc” Strauss to Pepperdine. No matter what I asked him he gave me the same, overwhelmingly positive response: “We’re coming back better than ever,” TJ said.
You and the other coaches aren’t worried?
“We’re coming back better than ever.”
Better than the 2008 team?
“We’re coming back better than ever.”
Super Regional-worthy?
“We’re coming back better than ever.”
He said to trust him; the Dirtbags will come out strong. I trusted him, despite the fact that we were at Legends and no one is really too trustworthy after a few drinks there. But TJ was adamant about the fact that all of the Dirtbags’ pitching woes from the 2009 season would be solved.
As it turns out, TJ was right.
Last week it was announced that Troy Buckley, the current minor league pitching coordinator of the downtrodden Pittsburgh Pirates organization, is expected to resign his position early in September and return to his old post as the Long Beach State pitching coach. This is a huge move for a team that went through what this team went through last season.
Doc may have moved up to a more glitzy, glamorous beach (one where Pamela Anderson’s sons have been known to serve as part-time batboys, no less), but all the glitz, glamour and plastic surgery in the world couldn’t repair last year’s pitching staff. In six seasons with The Beach, a Buckley pitching staff never posted an ERA higher than 3.75.
In 2008, arguably the Dirtbags’ strongest season since the 2004 Super Regional team, with the core of Buckley’s last staff still in place, Long Beach State posted a 3.20 ERA en route to a Big West title. But with only one starter and handful of returning bullpen arms returned in 2009, that ERA ballooned to 5.18.
With 11 drafted in 2008, a lineup consisting of mostly leadoff, utility-type players. Growing pains were expected. But as the bats began to come together the arms couldn’t keep up. Games quickly went from 4-0 to 5-4. And then 10-4… And then 15-4…
I can’t tell you how many times last season someone said something along the lines of, “Long Beach has really never been the same since they lost Troy Buckley,” or, “Losing Troy Buckley was a huge blow to that program, huh?”
Jake Thompson, the once heralded righty who skipped his senior year at nearby Wilson High to pitch for the Dirtbags was reaching high 90s on the gun but getting pulled from his starts early and often. Drew Gagnon showed flashes of good stuff but was young and inconsistent. Tuesday starting was a mess, and the bullpen was touch-and-go. Lefty Adam Wilk, one of the last guys on the staff to have worked with Buckley, emerged as the unlikely staff ace, going from the relief role to starting on Friday nights.
Buckley has widely been known as one of the top collegiate pitching instructors in the country. As a former catcher, his extensive knowledge goes beyond just pitching. Although he may not have been able to please everyone within the Pittsburgh organization, some feel he was taking on a lost cause.
He now returns to college ball, an area he excelled in. He and head coach Mike Weathers have been a very successful coaching duo and kept up the tradition and prestige of the Dirtbag program.
Since Buckley’s departure nearly two years ago, the program is has taken some hits, with most of them coming this past season. His return could be the difference maker the team has needed.
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