Spring Break
Void of varsity baseball team raises questions
Shawn Gauby
Issue date: 6/6/08 Section: Sports
The ping of an aluminum bat, the smell of fresh cut grass, wild 15-12 games: these things are all synonymous with college baseball. Very few Drexel students can remember the last time the University fielded a baseball team, yet the other 11 schools in the Colonial Athletic Association have a varsity baseball squad. Why did Drexel get rid of its team?
The program was dissolved in May of 2003 after struggling through a 12-34 season with a 3-17 record in the CAA, its second year in the league. The players at the time were told they were cut due to financial problems.
"They were definitely a little salty," former Drexel player Sean Joyce said. "You put so much of your time into a program, you have so many friends that come out of it, including the coaches. You just take it hard, and you just feel bad for the players who have time left and didn't fulfill their opportunity to play Division-I baseball."
Joyce played two seasons for the Dragons, graduating in 1998, and he currently works in the athletic department as the corporate sales manager. He had stayed involved with the team until it was dissolved.
Josh Yocum was a star in the Dragon outfield. He hit .320 in his time at Drexel, and he would have been a senior for the 2004 season.
"To us it seemed like a lot of BS," Yocum said. "It wasn't all that clear. We were told that it would improve the quality of other programs by dropping some. For us it was tough to buy because you don't see many other schools in our conference or even smaller schools have these issues."
Not only did Drexel lose the national pastime, the players were put into quite a bind.
"We played baseball for all our lives and we still wanted to play," Yocum said. "We felt like we had gotten the ultimate Drexel shaft by having baseball taken from us."
They had to choose between continuing their playing careers elsewhere or give up the game they grew up with to finish school at Drexel.
"I know a couple kids that transferred and actually did pretty well," Joyce said. "There's a pitcher that transferred to Delaware, and he ended up throwing a no-hitter, getting National Pitcher of the Week honors. One guy went to Temple. Also, some kids did take advantage of keeping their scholarships until they graduated and still ended up getting their degree from Drexel. They did honor everybody's scholarship if they wanted to stay. That much they did do for the players after the team was cut."
The program was dissolved in May of 2003 after struggling through a 12-34 season with a 3-17 record in the CAA, its second year in the league. The players at the time were told they were cut due to financial problems.
"They were definitely a little salty," former Drexel player Sean Joyce said. "You put so much of your time into a program, you have so many friends that come out of it, including the coaches. You just take it hard, and you just feel bad for the players who have time left and didn't fulfill their opportunity to play Division-I baseball."
Joyce played two seasons for the Dragons, graduating in 1998, and he currently works in the athletic department as the corporate sales manager. He had stayed involved with the team until it was dissolved.
Josh Yocum was a star in the Dragon outfield. He hit .320 in his time at Drexel, and he would have been a senior for the 2004 season.
"To us it seemed like a lot of BS," Yocum said. "It wasn't all that clear. We were told that it would improve the quality of other programs by dropping some. For us it was tough to buy because you don't see many other schools in our conference or even smaller schools have these issues."
Not only did Drexel lose the national pastime, the players were put into quite a bind.
"We played baseball for all our lives and we still wanted to play," Yocum said. "We felt like we had gotten the ultimate Drexel shaft by having baseball taken from us."
They had to choose between continuing their playing careers elsewhere or give up the game they grew up with to finish school at Drexel.
"I know a couple kids that transferred and actually did pretty well," Joyce said. "There's a pitcher that transferred to Delaware, and he ended up throwing a no-hitter, getting National Pitcher of the Week honors. One guy went to Temple. Also, some kids did take advantage of keeping their scholarships until they graduated and still ended up getting their degree from Drexel. They did honor everybody's scholarship if they wanted to stay. That much they did do for the players after the team was cut."
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