'Bows' Cook a jack of all trades
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
As reliable and versatile as Brent Cook is to the University of Hawai'i baseball team, sometimes his position is the last to be filled on the lineup card. Ironically, it is because he is so reliable and versatile.
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Most players have a so-called natural position, or place they have played the most or excelled at the best.
Hawai'i's Brent Cook says, "I enjoy being in the infield or the outfield, as long as I'm in there playing, I'm happy." He has played in all 39 games this season.
"I don't really have one, to tell you the truth," said Cook, who has played in all of UH's 39 games to date. "I'll play anywhere coach wants me to play. I enjoy being in the infield or the outfield, as long as I'm in there playing, I'm happy."
Cook, a senior, grew up playing shortstop and did so through high school (Monte Vista) in Danville, Calif. But since transferring from the University of California-Berkeley before the 2002 season, Cook has played all three outfield positions, as well as second and third base for the Rainbows.
Even his offense is diverse. Last year, he led the team with a .432 on-base percentage and 40 runs scored; this season, he shares the team lead with 25 RBIs with shortstop Brian Finegan (the only other Rainbow to play all 39 games). His on-base percentage is still a respectable .415 and he is second on the club with 24 runs (behind Finegan's 30).
With injuries and slumps, the combination of Cook's various gloves and bat allows UH coach Mike Trapasso some latitude in writing the lineup card.
• Who: Fresno State (21-17, 7-5) vs. Hawai'i (20-19, 2-13) • When: 6:35 tonight and tomorrow, 1:05 p.m. Sunday • Where: Les Murakami Stadium • Parking: $3 • Tickets: $6 Blue and Orange levels; $5 Red level (adults); $4 Red level (65-years-and-old, students K-12 and UH students with IDs) • Radio: KKEA AM 1420 will broadcast tonight's and Sunday's games live. • TV: K5 will telecast tonight's and Sunday's game live. • Series history: Fresno State leads the series, 49-31; FSU won 2-of-3 March 7-9 at FSU. • Promotion: American Savings Bank will hand out rally towels to the first 1,000 spectators entering tomorrow's game. • Probable starters: Tonight—RH Cody Smith (6-2, 4.02) vs. RH Ricky Bauer (2-3 3.83). Tomorrow—TBA vs. RH Chris George (5-5, 5.01). Sunday—TBA vs. RH Keahi Rawlins (3-2, 3.23)
"You put his name down in that two or three hole everyday," Trapasso said. "You just wait to see where you're going to play him."
• What: Western Athletic Conference baseball
"I bring out my infielder's and outfielder's glove everyday," Cook said.
In the early months of Trapasso's hiring as coach after the 2001 season, gaps had to be filled quickly to replace players out of eligibility. It was as if Cook and UH were meant for each other. Cook wasn't playing much for the Bears and wasn't sure of his future at Cal or even in the game. But he happened to be teammates of former UH players Chad Boudon and Aaron Pribble during a 2001 summer league in the Bay Area. They encouraged him to join them. So he checked with UH pitching coach Chad Konishi; it was sort of a reunion because when Konishi was an assistant at the University of San Francisco, he tried to recruit Cook out of high school.
"I was really up in the air that whole summer after my sophomore year of where I was going to play or if I was going to play at all," Cook recalled. "I was either going to go back to Cal and play or hang 'em up. But I knew I still wanted to play. I just wanted a change of scenery for the most part, something different. Luckily everything's worked out."
As much as he has enjoyed his two years with the Rainbows, Cook said he will finish his degree in American Studies at Cal. He said it is a matter of logistics, as he needs fewer credits to satisfy the requirement at Berkeley than if he remained at UH. He said he does not know what he wants to do after graduating, but wouldn't mind coaching football at his high school, though not as a career. He said he helped with a football summer camp at Monte Vista.
Football was his first love in high school. He said he had offers from small colleges and that Cal asked him to walk-on. But at 5 feet 10 and 185 pounds, he felt baseball was a better fit.
"I was actually better at football than baseball at the time," said Cook, an all-league running back at Monte Vista. "Baseball offered a better opportunity to play at the college level."
Although the Rainbows suffered through their worst season at 16-40 last year and are hovering around .500 now, he said he has no regrets about playing here.
"We're building for the future right now and, hopefully, when I leave here, I can look back a couple years down the road and say I was the beginning of something special for UH baseball," Cook said. "The opportunity to play here is something special. You can't beat the support you get from the fans."
Trapasso calls Cook one of his favorite players in his 15 years of coaching because of his character.
"I don't think anybody, including us and the coaches at Cal, expected him to be as successful as he's been," Trapasso said. "All he needed was the opportunity. The drive and determination just took over."
