All Things Bubba

The photo is from the 1998 Rice Owls Baseball media guide. Not sure if I like it. Light-eyed people often look kind of strange in black and white photos. I'd like to see this one in color.

Bubba is also on the cover. It's the same photo as on Lisa's magnet.

Here's what Bubba's section says:

9 Bubba Crosby, of

B/L, 5-11, 185, Jr.-2L, Houston (Bellaire)

Rice - Solid veteran who stands as one of the top players in college baseball... Named a first-team preseason all-America by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America... Has all the tools to be a top player: good power with a quick bat, excellent speed and a good arm... Enters his junior season with a .335 career batting average, sixth-best ever at Rice... Owns the Rice career record of 17 triples... Also ranks high on the Rice career lists with 152 RBI (fourth), 34 home runs (fourth), 316 total bases (sixth), and a .701 slugging percentage (second)... Has at least two hits in 48 of his 115 career games... Member of the USA Baseball national team which had a 21-13 record in international competition last summer... Hit .322 with eight home runs and 28 RBI for the national team... Ranked second on the squad in home runs and with nine doubles... Part of a long list for former Bellaire stars to shine at Rice, including Jose Cruz Jr., Jay Knoblauh, Jason Ogden, and Mike Fox; Rice has had at least one starter from Bellaire every season since 1982 except 1989.

1997: Hit .342 with 22 home runs and 88 RBI to earn second-team all-America (The Sporting News and NCBWA) and first-team all-WAC honors... Home run total was second-best in Rice history, trailing only Lance Berkman's record of 41 last year, while his RBI total is the fourth-best season total... Had four triples in 10 postseason games to tie for the national lead with 11... Earned all-WAC tournament honors after hitting .400 (8/20) in San Diego... Hit his second grand-slam of the season in the first inning to key the win over BYU in the tournament opener, then provided the winning margin with his two-run triple in the semifinal against San Diego State... Set a WAC record with 17 total bases in the 35-4 win over McNeese State, hitting for the cycle with two home runs, two triples, a double and a single against the Cowboys... Shares Rice single-game records with six hits and seven times on bases in that game against McNeese, along with a career-best eight RBI in that game... Named WAC player of the week after his performance in the Holiday Inn/Medical Center tournament, the first Owl to receive the WAC baseball award... Had 28 multiple hit games as a sophomore... Also had two home-run games against Air Force and at New Mexico.

1996: Received honorable mention freshman all America honors after batting .318 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI in just 52 games... Set Rice freshman records for RBI and triples (six), and came within one of Cruz's rookie HR record... Missed all of the postseason after breaking a bone in his hand in a late-season game at Oklahoma State... Received a couple of votes as the SWC's freshman of the year, but his only postseason honor was as a second-team selection to the all-SWC squad as selected by the Daily Texan... Began his career with a 10 game hitting streak and later had a 16-game streak... Batted .455 (30/66) in the 16-game streak with 24 runs, 31 RBI, eight doubles, three triples and seven HR... Reached base safely 10 straight times in mid-February, a skein halted against Tulane when he took a fastball in the face; he missed only one game with the broken nose... Named to the all-tournament team in the SWC First Pitch event, going 8/15 with seven extra base hits, seven runs and nine RBI in the four-games... Bothered by a litany in injuries as a freshman, including a partially torn ligament in his right thumb, a strained hamstring, a broken nose and a broken hand... Hitting .390 before the injuries came... Rated the 13th-best incoming freshman by Baseball America... Invited to participate in the January tryouts for the USA Baseball national team, along with teammates Will Ford and Stephen Bess... Hit .350 with five home runs and 22 RBI during the fall of his freshman year, leading the Owls with 33 runs produced.

High School- 1995 graduate of Bellaire High... Three-year starter and letterman for coach Rocky Manuel... Twice earned all-Houston and all-state honors...Named Houston player of the year and Texas co-player of the year in 1994 after leading the Cardinals to the Class 5A state championship... Batted .360 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI during his schoolboy career... Maintained a 3.1 grade point average in high school.

Personal - Full Name: Richard Stephen Crosby. Birthdate: Aug. 11, 1976, at Houston. Parents: Steve and Tami Crosby, Houston (two brothers, one sister). College: Will Rice.

Crosby's Career Statistics

Hitting

Year      Avg.   G   AB   R    H    RBI  2B  3B  HR  SO  BB  SB
1996     .318   52   198  55   63   64   13  6   12  43  31  6
1997     .349   63   258  72   90   88   14  11  22  54  30  11
Career   .336  115   456  127  153  152  27  17  34  97  61  17

Boy, he sure had a lot of injuries. It's not really surprising, considering the all-out way he played. But I guess it's also not surprising that his career ended the way it did.