All Things Bubba

Fresno St., the team that beat up Rice severely, ended up winning the College World Series. Which prompted this article, about a Rice-Fresno St. game years ago.

One particular series against Rice — must have been 1996, maybe ‘97 — stands out among my experiences.

It was a contentious series, with at least one bench-clearing incident. Rice was good. Its best player, slugger Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros, dominated college baseball that year. Rice’s other star was Bubba Crosby, who most recently played for the Seattle Mariners.

They are the main characters of this story. The other is Sugar Bear, a boisterous, beer-guzzling and beer-bellied man who may be the best Fresno State fan who ever lived. A heckler to the fullest, Sugar Bear drew a large group of college-aged cronies with his gritty charm and chant-leading talent.

In the second or third game of the series — after Fresno State ace Jeff Weaver won Game 1 — Crosby hit a home run, then stomped emphatically on home plate as he scored. Sugar Bear took exception, and he voiced it. In response, Crosby turned toward the lively section of fans and grabbed his cup. Sugar Bear found no humor in the gesture, and again, to the fullest of his vocal capacity, he let Crosby know about it.

Later in the game, Berkman blasted a monster home run that, seemingly still on the rise, sailed past the light post three-quarters of the way from the top. The crowd buzzing, Sugar Bear stood up and led a standing ovation.

LOL. Sounds like our Bubba was just a bit rambunctious in his youth.

Speaking of Bubba Crosby and Lance Berkman...someone has this interesting item on eBay. I've never seen this card. It's apparently very rare, with only ten in existence. It has Bubba on side, Berkman on the other:



Both sides are autographed, and both wrote "Rice" under their signatures. The date is 2004, which probably means the card is actually from 2003. Bubba is still in a Dodgers uniform. (He was traded to the Yankees in 2003, in a deadline deal. Quite literally - the deal was done minutes before the deadline.)