Baseball recruit taking long road

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Today pitcher Chris George will take a deep breath and then attempt to register his first "save" for the University of Hawai'i baseball team.

He will do this not on the mound at Les Murakami Stadium, but from a classroom in Aptos, Calif.

If George passes his final exam in anthropology at Cabrillo (Calif.) College, he'll complete the final requirement for an associate arts degree, which the NCAA requires for eligibility.

Then, he'll board a plane for UH, where he has already been accepted in school, pending the completion of the AA degree, and begin taking classes Monday, the last day to enroll for the spring semester. He could be available in time for the Rainbows' Wednesday season opener with fourth-ranked Florida State.

Talk about cutting it close. If George, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-hander, can shave the corners on the plate with anything approaching such closeness, he will have been worth what one UH official characterized as, "all the hoops we've had to jump though to get him here."

Which is precisely why the Rainbows have gone to such lengths to hold the door open for him: Because he is projected as a major boost for their pitching staff. Initially out of the bullpen and, then, as a frontline starter.

While it can be problematical to read too much what a JC transfer might be capable of right away on the Division I level, when you are as cellophane-thin in pitching as the Rainbows are, you apparently take help where you can find it. When a starting pitcher — one the Rainbows project could be their No. 1 or 2 — is available, you apparently take him when you can get him.

Not that the Rainbows want to — or should — make a habit of such brinkmanship. "It is an interesting situation, one like I've never been involved in before," UH coach Mike Trapasso says.

But, then, Trapasso's never stepped into a fixer-upper of a program in the 11th hour of recruiting, the way it has happened at UH, either.

By the time Trapasso was offered the job in June and then was able to hit the ground in recruiting, most of the prospects had already been picked off by somebody else.

So when three of the UH players, who played with or against George in a Northern California summer league, offered strong recommendations, Trapasso was more than willing to listen. When they said, "he (George) is light-outs and available," Trapasso said the Rainbows took a long look.

And, they liked what they saw. They liked, for example, that George has a fastball in the mid-80 mph range and, according to Trapasso, possesses, "a hard, power slider, good change-up, throws strikes, is competitive and poised."

Now, if only he can mow down that anthropology final like it was a .210 hitter.