University of Georgia Athletics
Memories Still Fresh For 1990 Title Team
May 03, 2015 | Baseball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- More than 60 former Georgia baseball players lined up in front of the home dugout at Foley Field on Saturday. First in line was the Bulldog legend, the oldest living first overall NFL draft pick, Charley Trippi. who also made plays on the diamond in 1946.
Lettermen's Day is special for all the former players, who get the chance to relive some glory days, reignite some friendships and share a lot of laughs about things only they would remember or understand.
Saturday was even more meaningful for one group of former Bulldogs -- the most special group in the program's history: the 1990 national championship team. On the right-field wall is a list of Georgia's SEC championship teams (1933, 1953, 1954, 2001, 2004, 2008), but there's only one squad that took home the top prize.
Gathered together in the infield before the Bulldogs took on No. 8 Florida were 22 members of the 1990 squad, from coach Steve Webber and many of his players, to managers, trainers and even a groundskeeper.
Webber won 500 games during his 16 seasons at Georgia, highlighted by the four the Bulldogs won that season in Omaha, Neb., including the 2-1 victory over Oklahoma State in the championship game.
Prior to the start of Saturday's game -- a dramatic 3-2 Florida win -- Webber threw out the first pitch (looked like a strike), with one of the championship game's heroes, catcher Terry Childers, making the grab behind home plate.
On that special June 9, 1990, championship afternoon, in front of 16,482 at Rosenblatt Stadium, with the Bulldogs clinging to a 2-1 lead against a group of Cowboys that had scored a combined 35 (you read that right) runs in their first three games in Omaha, Childers held firm at the plate.
Then a sophomore, Childers took a throw from shortstop J.R. Showalter and held on to the ball during a big collision with OSU's Brian Kelly, who was trying to score from third.
So how often does he think about that play?
"Usually every June," Childers said with a laugh. "It was a lot of fun, absolutely."
The offensive machine that was Oklahoma State was shut down by a pair of Georgia left-handers: Athens' own Stan Payne and Dave Fleming. College World Series MVP Mike Rebhan helped get the Bulldogs to the title game by twice besting Stanford's Mike Mussina, but it was Payne and Fleming that silenced the Cowboys.
Here's what Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward had to say after the game, according to the Omaha World-Herald's game story: "When you only score one and get five hits, you look at your offense and say, `Hey, where are the bats? Where's the beef?'"
That quote was almost as good as Georgia's pitching performances throughout the CWS. The Bulldogs' ERA in Omaha was 1.42.
"And that was back when they had the aluminum bats and balls were flying out everywhere," Childers said. "Our guys threw strikes. Rebhan and Fleming, they were just so smart and had great instincts, and Stan did, too. I think we could also throw a lot of breaking pitches for strikes that maybe some of the other teams weren't able to."
A tall freshman lefty, Payne's first appearance on the mound in Omaha was as the championship game's starter. No pressure there, right? Apparently not.
Payne had only pitched a couple of times late in the season due to mono, he said, so he wasn't exactly coming in at his very best. On the other hand, because he hadn't pitched in Omaha, the Cowboys weren't very familiar with his stuff.
In six innings, Payne allowed a run on four hits, with three walks and six strikeouts. He finished a stellar first season with a 7-1 record.
"When I think back on it, I just feel lucky," said Payne, who is one of the founders of the Athens-based EvoShield, a fast-growing sports protective gear company. "You prepare yourself for those things, but you never know how you're going to react in the moment. It was just an awesome time. It was, literally, like winning the lottery. How many pitchers at that age have that opportunity?"
Two friends from Clarke Central High School, Ted Baker and Kirby Murray, helped Payne relax before the biggest start of his life. On the phone the night before, they told him to tug on his left ear before his first pitch, as a nod to his buddies. It was the perfect bit of silliness to settle him down, he said.
"I think that was the best thing that could have happened to me. I got through with the warmups and I'm standing behind the rubber when the umpire says, `Play ball.' I just pause for a minute, do it, and then I got started," Payne said. "After that first pitch, it's only a game."
Fleming took over after one batter in the seventh and, with the help of Childers' play at the plate, held the Cowboys scoreless. In three innings he allowed a hit and a walk, with three strikeouts. Fleming made the All-Tournament team, along with Rebhan and UGA first baseman Doug Radziewicz.
Georgia, the first SEC school to win the College World Series, has knocked on the door several times since. From 2001-08, under the direction of then-coach David Perno, a member of that 1990 title team, Georgia made it to Omaha four times. The Dogs were the finalists in 2008.
But for now, after 25 years, the 1990 Bulldogs still stand alone.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.