It's Very Clear to All Who See: Glaus Is a Standout in His Field

By GEORGE DOHRMANN

May 31, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OMAHA — The intuitive response after watching Troy Glaus play is to tell someone. As with a good movie, the experience doesn’t seem complete until you share it.

That is why in the spring of 1994, UCLA Coach Gary Adams was sitting on weathered bleachers at Carlsbad High with his mother, Bernice, on one side and his father, Merle, on the other.

Adams had talked to his parents so many times about this talented high school shortstop that now they wanted to see him play.

“We sat down in the stands, and I asked them to try and pick out the player I had come to see,” Adams said Friday, a day before the Bruins and shortstop Glaus face Miami in the first round of the College World Series.

“My mom, she has the baseball mind in the family. My dad, he was just a fisherman. He never put on a [baseball] glove. He didn’t know a thing about baseball.

“My mom, in the first inning, picked out Troy and whispered it to me. But my dad, it was like the sixth inning, and he finally leans over to me and says, ‘Gary, I think I know which one it is you’re here to see. Is it the shortstop? The big kid?’ ”

UCLA’s coach howled.

“You see, even my dad could pick Troy out.”

Glaus is talented enough to be a top-five pick in Tuesday’s amateur draft and the third baseman on the bronze-medal winning U.S. Olympic team; strong enough to have set the Pacific 10 Conference record for home runs in a career, and fluid enough for Merle Adams, who might guess a Louisville Slugger is a type of lure, to recognize his skills (albeit five innings late).

“Troy’s just a natural . . . that good,” Gary Adams said. “And while he’s not the only reason we are in Omaha, he’s certainly one of

the main reasons.”

UCLA has given thanks many times over the last few days for its first trip to the College World Series in 28 years, and it is the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Glaus who gets much of the praise. No Bruin is more valuable than Glaus, who bats from third to fifth in the lineup.

“I’m just one player,” Glaus, a junior, said. “We’ve won as a team all year. It is nice to get the praise, but I know that we will only be successful if we all play well.”

Glaus is not the most outspoken Bruin, but pitcher Jim Parque, the Bruins’ starter today against Miami, is happy to talk about the shortstop.

“Troy is shy,” said Parque, Glaus’ roommate when the two played in the Atlanta Olympics. “But if you get him [angry], you’re done.

“He’s one of the great college players, a guy you always want on your team. Even if he stole my girlfriend I would want him on my team. Of course, that would never happen.

“We’re different people, and to tell you the truth I really didn’t know him that well until we roomed together during the Olympics. But I got to know him more and I like him.”

Professional scouts have liked him as a prospect for a long time. And, not long after Gary Adams and his parents watched Glaus play that day in Carlsbad, he was drafted 37th overall by the San Diego Padres. But he became the highest pick that year not to sign and the rewards from that decision will come Tuesday.

The Angels, with the third overall pick, are considering Glaus or Seton Hall pitcher Jason Grilli. Glaus is being represented by former Angel third baseman Doug DeCinces, the father of Glaus’ girlfriend.

“[Tuesday] is going to be an exciting day, but I am trying not to think about it,” Glaus said. “I’ve heard the talk [about possibly being drafted by the Angels], but with the draft things change so many times leading up to it. It’s going to be exciting just to be picked.”

Scouts have told Glaus, rated the third-best pro prospect by Baseball America, he may be better suited for third base, but he has asked many for the chance to play shortstop.

“I feel more in the game there because you know what pitch is coming, but really I’ll play wherever they want me to,” he said.

Glaus has started at shortstop, third base, first and even right field during his three seasons. This year he leads the team in batting (.413), home runs (32), runs (98) and is second in runs batted in (88) and hits (105). He also has 10 stolen bases.

But the most revealing statistic may be that his batting average has gone up at least 60 points each season.

“I have gotten stronger [since high school], but that has just come with age,” Glaus said. “Where I have really improved is the mental aspects of the game. Now, when I am faced with a problem, I am able to handle it much better. Fewer things affect how I am playing.

“I really couldn’t have asked for a better [college] career. The only thing that would have been better would have been to play in the College World Series three times. But we’re here right now, and that is the most important thing.”

When UCLA clinched a berth in the series by defeating Oklahoma State twice last Sunday in the Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla., Merle and Bernice Adams were in the stands. They were crying after the final out and Bernice ran down to the field afterward to take pictures of Glaus and his teammates as they celebrated.

“Troy is their favorite,” Gary Adams said. “My dad thinks he recruited Troy. He takes all the credit for him being at UCLA.

“Luckily, he didn’t pick the little second baseman that day [back in 1994], or maybe I would have had to recruit him. Then where would we be?”