Hour 2: Keith Moreland

Keith Moreland joins the program to talk the College World Series, Texas Baseball, and the MLB

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Another yacht rock classic nineteen seventy two, So Mean Champagne is the band how
About Us. When the DJ playedthis at our wedding, Lenna was over
talking with some of her friends andI was over talking with some relatives or

(00:22):
something. All of a sudden welooked kind of look across the room with
you. I was like, ohno, no, we got to dance
to this. Run the dance room, and she turned to her friends and
said, hey, I gotta go. They might have thought she had to
go to the bathroom, but shedid. She ran to the dance floor
and then we danced for that saidhow about Us by Champagne. This is
also one of Eddie Orange's favorites too. He's he likes those early seventies yacht

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rock tunes as well. In nineteenseventy two, he Moreland was a sophomore
at the University of Texas and wasswinging the hot bat for a long worn
team that got to the College WorldSeries in Omaha. He was there with
three consecutive trips. Oh freshman,I guess seventy two season would have been
culminating in the nineteen seventy five NationalCHAMPIONI I guess seventy three would have been

(01:11):
freshman year for Keith. But bynineteen seventy two you already had it in
your mind, as he joins uson the hotline right now, that you
were headed for the University of Texas. Correct. Well, yeah, that
in the shidlights from yacht Rock Radio, the Shighlights. That's another that's another
one of Eddie's favorite stay. Yeah, absolutely no doubt saw them Atgregory Jim

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how long ago that when the concertswere there in the spring of seventy three.
As a matter of fact, Okay, all right, So as good
a story as that is, Ihave to have you tell it again about
who you saw in Winston sale NorthCarolina, your first your first ball game,
I guess as a professional there inWinston Salem. You've got to let

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folks know then this is you're comingfresh from winning the national championship in nineteen
seventy five and drafted by the Phillies. And then oh yeah, first of
all, you play in dishfalk Field, which was the Palace. It's still
an outstanding one of the best ballparksin America, but nobody had anything quite

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like dishfalk We win the National championship. It takes a wall for me to
sign sign with the Phillies. Theyfly me to Winston Salem, which which
Craig, you're from that part ofthe country, but folks here may not
know. Not an easy place toget into at that time. So I
get in. I get to theballpark and the first thing I do,

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I walk in the door, don'tknow a single soul, and one of
the other guy says, hey,man, tell her. Give the clubhouse
guy a buck, and I said, okay. He said, he'll bring
you to empty gallons of water bottlesand we'll fill them full of beer because
we're going over tonight to a concertacross the I mean we walked in the

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back door with Hell's Angels to seezz Top, Marshall Tucker and of course
the Steve Miller band. Amazing.I mean we were up with the Hell's
Angels right against the stage because theHell's Angels what protected the artists? It
was, I thought, well,professional balls like this. Now. It

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wasn't a great ballpark, it wasn'tdishbuck Field, but I did get to
go see three superstar groups and myfirst nine as a professional. Early old
Ernie shore Field Home with the WinstonSalem reds Now and you were it was
it Spartanburg Phillies you were playing forback then? Yes, yeah, okay,
and and uh yeah that's what itwas, okay, and yeah,

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you know they I signed it.You know between the College World Series,
you know everything now with the youngmen that have to go about what's going
on now? The drafts not tillJuly. You only have thirty days in
the negotiation. Back then there weretwo drafts. There's one in the spring,
there's one in the fun I meanin January. You had so many

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dates you go to do. It'sjust so much different now. At least
we were drafted while we were inOmaha to play, so you know,
you either really dejected. I sawa lot of guys that were very upset
about where they were drafted, thatweren't drafted, and then guys that went
higher than they expected, how happythey were. I do like now that
the draft is after college baseball andit's all over, because it's a fun

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time, it's a great product.And we didn't know it was going to
be a matchup between ACC and SEC. Yeah that's the way it's worked out
well. And you and I havetalked about this all season long, and
the numbers all completely bored out thatthat those were the two highest RPI rated
conferences in the country by far,SEC and ACC. Should but should we

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really even be surprised at this fieldthat we're looking at. Not so much
that should we be surprised that it'sonly two conferences represented, because that's the
first time ever since the field expandedto eight. Sure, but just the
fact that you had four from theSEC and four from the ACC be able
to push their way through it becauseVirginia was a twelve seed and they got
through. NC State was a tenseed and Florida was unseeded to get there.

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I think everybody expected Tennessee, perhapsKentucky even though they hadn't been in
there before. A and M certainlywould have been a probable thought in North
Carolina with their late season run.But I mean, should we be that
surprised by looking at this field ofeight? You know, I'm really not
stunned. I will say this.I was not stunned about Florida State.

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They were thirty and four going intothe super Regional at home, so they
are very difficult to beat, especiallyin Tallahassee. So just starting with the
eight seed and then you go backon the other side. Tennessee really pushed
by Evanston a little bit of asurprise, but quite frankly, I don't
think Tennessee now, I'm not gonnatake it away. They could very easily

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win the national championship, but notplaying their pitching has not been what it
was. Let's say, first ofMay, their starters haven't been as good
as they have been. I stillthink that they're a very good team.
But I love that first matchup ofTennessee Florida State. Florida State's really banging

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the ball. They've got a guythat's I got one hundred and sixty strikeouts
on the mount, a left handerthat's quite good. So that's an interesting
matchup in the one eight scenario.And then after that there's pretty much some
chalks all the way through it thatyou look at. I think the Florida
A and M game is going tobe really good. Obviously, with Montgomery

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out, Craig you were there,you got to see most of that and
see what happened with him and howimportant he is to that ball club.
But they found a way to overcomeit. So I like where they're at
and that side of the bracket.And then the one that probably amazes me
as much as anybody is to seewhat Florida did because they have really struggled.

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They've had They've had four different conferenceseries where they used an opener on
Friday night in other words, aguy that was in the back end of
their bullpen and to say, giveus as much as you can get,
maybe get us through the third ofthe fourth inning. So they have been
struggling with start and pitching. Sothat's the biggest surprises Florida. And then
when you look at the acc onthe other side of that, how many

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miracles can North Carolina get? Yeah, no kidding, they mean it seems
like it seems like every ballgame thatthey have found a way to come back
late and put a w on theboard. I think, can you tell
me what you think of this?I think the two most dangerous I'm not
saying the best. I'm saying Ithink the two most dangerous teams out of

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this group are in the same bracketbracket too. I submit to you Kentucky
and North Carolina State, and especiallyin State winning that super on the road
in Athens, the way they did, but Kentucky has just been so impressive
with how they've kind of methodically gonethrough and I think people, even though
they were the number two of herall seed, expect them to fall somewhere
along the way because Kentucky had nevermade it to Omaha until now. Yeah,

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this is the first time, andthat did that not surprise you?
I really thought years past, didthat made that run? Yeah? Yeah,
you would think that Kentucky has Theyhave a I don't want to say
a bevy, but they have abunch of different guys that have given them
contributions throughout the year on the mound, and it showed up in the regionals

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they were able to go to thebullpen. I watched one regional game with
them and then two of the superswith Oregon State. And their ability to
go find somebody that come in andattack the zone the thing that they do
very well. And then I lookedup some numbers. They're like second or
third in the nation in the walkwalk the strikeout ratio. So they fill

(09:01):
a bunch of strikes with a lotof different people. And congratulations to Mitchell
Daily his third trip yes in hiscareer to the College World Series. No
doubt about it. How about yourthoughts on A and M without Bray Montgomery?
Can can? Can the Aggies stillwin the National Championship without Montgomery in
the lineup? Y know? Ithink they can. I mean, you

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know, I know they're supposed tobe I'm a long horn and they're supposed
to be Aggy's, but I'm rootingfor him. I really think it's a
great story. Slashes is a guyI've known a long time. I mean,
obviously you've got a local product thathad a big blow and camp in
one of the games with the GrandSlam. I think we're the biggest thing

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I'm worried about if this thing getsprolonged and they have to get deep into
their staff. Do they have enoughstarting pitching. They've got a lot of
guys. You know the names betterthan I do, because you've covered them
as much as I have. Butthey're starting pitching has been at times not
inconsistent. You don't win as manygames as they've won and be inconsistent,

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but at times they haven't been asdominant as you would like to have.
You would love to have to goin one of these series to have a
guy that can give you Hey,you're going to get seven or eight from
this guy in that first game,because it sort of sets it up if
you can get in that winner sideof the bracket. Because these games start
on Friday and it goes to aweek from Tuesday, so in ten days,

(10:31):
you could play an awful lot ofbaseball. So you've got to have
some depth, especially in starting pitching. Well, your point is well made.
In every one of their NCAA games, the starter has not gone beyond
the sixth and in most cases hasnot gone beyond the fifth, and that
inclusive Winever Grambling. They just theygave up some hits and runs and chains
of aoh got hit pretty hard.In that second game against Oregon, they

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were able to get enough relief andobviously if they get at the auction back,
it's it's real hard for a teamto be able to do something against
them after and then then they justpound the baseball the way they do,
and they I guess they kind ofyeah, they outslug teams, they do.
And you know the other thing isthey got to catch the ball when
they've had some struggles. I've listenedto coach Slash's talk this week when they

(11:18):
were doing some talking and he wastalking about the same thing. I'm saying,
Hey, we got to catch theball. We got to get the
outs that you're supposed to get,especially at this time of the year.
You got to make the place you'resupposed to make visiting. We keep more
than mere talking to college baseball.I want I want to jump to the
bigs for a second, and youget your thoughts on a couple of your
former ball clubs. Fact or fiction. The best team in the Major leagues

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right now is the Philadelphia Phillies.I would say fact, I think they're
playing the best baseball. I reallylove the Dodgers. I got to tell
you, and I know they're yourteam, and I think they just added
a piece and a deal here justrecently today or maybe yesterday that might help

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him along the line, like theDodgers. But right now, I wouldn't
want to go into Philadelphia and tryto go to Citizens Bank and try to
win a ballgame, especially with whatthey're doing from top to bottom. And
the one thing. The other thingis I'll change my mind. You and
I've talked about this before. Idid not know what Bryce Harper was going

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to finish out, how he wasgoing to be a veteran player. How
it was all going to work out. He's become a real important part of
that ball club and at a lotof people look up to him on that
ball club, and he was moreof always the kid, the great talent
that everybody's kidding. Now he's theveteran and he's their leader. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, big time.All right, before I'll let you go,

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give me your pick for the Open. I put it this way,
if you had to pick someone otherthan Scotti Scheffler when the United States Open,
who would your pick be? Youknow, it's interesting you say that.
I don't think I think that anybodyfrom the live is going to really
struggle in this. I know Deshambohas done great. I know Kepka loves

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to play hard golf courses. I'vehad the great opportunity and I know you
have to to play Pinehurst number twoand it is a it's a ball striker's
golf course. I mean, peoplethat really strike the ball. So for
me, it's gonna be somebody likeShocky that that that that that has a
chance because he's such a good ballstriker. I'd love to pick another Longmoorner

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like Jordan, but I don't thinkJordan's right now is is in that category.
And then a guy from the outsidethat hasn't played well it seems like
forever. But you can look ata guy like Justin Rose, which is
a really good ball striker and atough golf courses he plays his best golf.
I'm gonna throw a name out.A lot of people don't think about

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it, but I would bet ifhe gets off to a good start,
he could be around on Sunday.Yeah, he's played the obviously, and
uh, and the United States havebeen very very well. Uh. Well,
hey, I appreciate you doing this. I know it's a busy time
right now, and I know you'vegot a little league around the corner to
work to work for is to getgoing, and uh, we're looking forward
to it. But I appreciate youtaking the time to do this today.

(14:16):
Oh man, I look forward toit. At that time when we were
all looking at last thing before wego. Yes, I got the great
opportunity two or three times to meet, uh, what a class class person
in Jerry West. Yeah, itis a tough day for all of us
that haven't got a chance. Anybodythat that that ever got the chance of
meeting. He always treated everybody withsuch great respects. Always really well dressed

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and well mannered, and just justa really wonderful guy. A man on
the street could walk up to Jerry, he'd stick his hand out and say
hello, He's going to be aman that's going to be really missed,
no doubt about it, no doubt. I'm glad you're reminding me of that.
Hey, I appreciate you taking thetime. We'll catch up again on
down the road. This summer soundsgreat, all right. Thanks. That's
Keith Morland, the lifetime Longhorn ofcourse, and a former Big leaguer and

(15:05):
just finished that great run with LonghorenNetwork. We had a great conversation Keith
and Greg Swindell and I did inArlington prior to the Big twelve Tournament about
the legacy of Longhorn Network and theirtime doing baseball. It was a great
conversation. We had a lot offun on that, and we've got some
other topics to get to. We'llcontinue here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under

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the Zone in the iHeartRadio app