Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Spring 2002

The Babe -- Without the Vices - Sallyport, Spring 2002
Another story that Graham and Berkman like to tell, each with a slightly
different version, is the so-called TCU incident. This is Graham telling the
story: Berkman is playing left field when he misjudges a ball and starts
running hard. Berkman gets to the ball but in the process steps in the only
hole in the field and then gets his leg lodged in the chain link fence. When
he gets loose, he discovers that the ball is stuck inside a paper sack that has
blown onto the field. He plucks the ball from the sack and before he throws
the ball, the sack goes flying in the air and he throws the ball right into the
sack. The ball and the sack go about 30 feet, looking like a duck has been
shot.
At that point, I decided he needed a little inspirational coaching, says
Graham. For the rest of the year, he never stepped into another hole, and he
never got his leg caught in a chain link fence, and he never threw another
ball into a sack, Graham says facetiously. So that was obviously good
coaching.
At Rice, Berkman was on a team that accomplished a lot of firsts: his team
won Rice baseball s first Southwest Conference championship, the Western
Athletic championship, the first regional, and the first berth to play in the
college world series.
Of those accomplishments, Berkman says, winning the last Southwest
Conference championship in 1996 was the highlight of his career. What the
Owls did was nothing short of remarkable. That year, the Owls had placed
next to last in the conference. But because it was the last year of existence
for the Southwest Conference, all seven school members were invited to the
tournament. The Owls beat baseball giants Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and
the University of Texas twice.
Berkman finished his last year at Rice in 1997 in an amazing fashion. He
led the nation in home runs at 41 and batted in 134 runs, both a Rice and
Western Athletic Conference record. He won a host of honors, including
National Player of the Year. The Houston Astros drafted Berkman in the
first round and were only too grateful to have him. Team owner Drayton
McLane Jr. told the Houston Chronicle that when it was the Astros turn to
pick in the 16th spot and Berkman was still available, the management
broke into a cheer and gave each other high fives.
Although some players stay as many as seven years in the minors, and
many never go to the show, Berkman spent a total of only two years in the
minors before he started his first full year in the major leagues. His father,
who is a lawyer and an agent for Momentum Sports Group, helped in
negotiating Berkman s multimillion-dollar contract.
Despite his fame
and material
success, Berkman,
at age 26, has
managed to keep
everything in
perspective. His
considers his wife,
Cara, and daughter,
Hannah, who is
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