The Spartans of Springtime

(from Baseball-Almanac.com: a Michigan State perspective on the MU-MSU 1954 CWS game)

Baseball is a game that usually generates a team feeling among the players, particularly as the level of competition rises. The hard work in practice, the mental preparation, the clutch situations in games, and the time spent together on and off the diamond all lead to a spirit of camaraderie. That team feeling often lingers long after events of the season are only memories.
But seldom does any team experience the lasting camaraderie which the Michigan State College (the name was changed to university in 1955) baseball team felt after winning the 1954 Big Ten Championship, winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association Regional Playoff, and finishing third in the NCAA World Series.

Those Spartans still hold a reunion every fifth year. Starting in 1964, ten years after winning Michigan State's first Big Ten baseball championship, a group of more than twenty players returned to East Lansing and Old College Field, their field of dreams.

"Our 1954 team did not have super stars like some other Spartan baseball teams have had," pitcher Bud Erickson explained. "But what we had was chemistry. That chemistry propelled us to the Big Ten Championship and to the College World Series.

"As evidence of this chemistry, our 1954 team has held regular reunions longer than any athletic team in Michigan State history. We are all just glued together."

Following an 11-17 record and a seventh-place finish in the Big Ten for 1953, the '54 Spartans, coached by John Kobs and assistant Frank Pellerin, produced an impressive regular season record of 25-10 and one tie. State led the conference in hitting with an excellent average of .313.
Further, after winning the NCAA Regionals over Ohio University, MSC traveled to Omaha and finally lost to eventual national champion Missouri by one run.

Three of those Spartans later made the major leagues - although few baseball fans would recognize their names:

During the middle of the second year of Dwight Eisenhower's Presidency, the Spartans competed in what is still MSU's only College World Series. At Omaha in the double-elimination tourney, MSC blasted Massachusetts, 16-5, stopped Arizona, 2-1, lost to tiny Rollins College, 5-4, beat Rollins in 10 innings, 3-2, and fell to eventual NCAA champion Missouri, 4-3.

Playing the squad's fifth game in five days, Hobaugh pitched a strong game against Missouri while his teammates produced three runs. In the top of the ninth with the score tied, 3-3, State tried to rally with two outs, as Bill Hopping doubled to right and stole third. But pinch-hitter Ron Stead, who helped beat Arizona with a pinch double, popped out to end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth with none out and runners on first and third, thanks to a controversial call on a missed third strike on the second hitter (Yewcic thought it was a foul tip), Hobaugh yielded the game-winning RBI on a single to opposing pitcher Emil Kammer.

Still, the Spartans enjoyed a great season, going 25-10-1, winning the Big Ten, and finishing third in the College World Series. After the May 1st loss to Purdue, State won five straight conference games, lost to Michigan, 9-8, and played inspired baseball on the final weekend, beating Indiana once and Ohio State twice.

Those Spartans still treasure their 1954 experiences.

"We battled each other during the week," Jack Risch said, "and then we battled the other guys on the weekend.

"After that, we learned to respect and even like each other, and thank God that has continued over the years."